Last night, I had the privilege to rewatch Tanghalang Ateneo’s WALANG SUGAT (direction by Josefino Tolledo, choreography by Dexter Santos) at the Irwin Theater with my high school buddy Elaine Fernandez. And here’s the catch – due to a great tip from my new friend Joshua (an engineering freshman in UP and part of the ensemble in Walang Sugat), I got in for free!
That’s right – FREE! (And if you’re reading this and are interested, you could still catch a free show tomorrow and, I think, on Sunday) I’m not so sure on the details surrounding it but apparently it was due to some sort of ‘no market’, ‘paper audience’ type of thing. The thing is, we got in for FREE. (Because, honestly, I’ve already payed 250 to see it the first time it run, I would not pay the same amount to watch the same thing)
First of all, it is a refreshing experience to be a theater audience once again. DUP is stressing me out and I needed a good reminder why I’m doing what I’m doing – theater is LOVE.
Barring a few (okay it was a little major major) technical difficulties in the prologue and, of course, the irritating 30-minute delay (Whatever happened to good ol’ fashion theatre etiquette?), I enjoyed the production. I saw some stuff that was new compared to the first time I saw it. I enjoyed the acting of the leads, the chorus was great, the choreogrpahy was spot-on.
When I first saw this, my main complaint was the sounds person in charge of lapel apparently wasn’t paying attention. The boy singing ‘Bayan Ko’ had his lapel OFF for the entire first stanza – and this was supposed to be their showstopper number! At least this time, they had a better sounds person. (And yes I highly enjoyed the ‘Bayan Ko’ number more this time)
Shout out goes to my friend NICOLE ROXANNE ALDIOSA. She’s my classmate in movement and she was also part of the chorus in DUP’s Atang and the original run of Walang Sugat. This time, she plays one of the leads, Monica, the role originated by Delphine Buencamino who is currently playing Zafira in Orosman at Zafira. Shout out goes to my friend JOSHUA SOLOMON who was the one who invited me. Great job, you have a future in theater! 🙂 Shout out goes to AUGUSTUS! He’s a set-mover in the play. Of course, shout out goes to DEXTER SANTOS, the choreographer! GREAT CHOREO SIR! 🙂
Again, as with Legally Blonde, I deem it improper for me to post an in-depth critical review of this play in public given that (1) I’m a theater student and (2) I plan to make my living as a performer and not as a critic. Anyway, catch WALANG SUGAT. It’s free tomorrow, and it’s also worth the 250 ticket so also watch next week. IT’S WORTH IT! 🙂
NEXT: OROSMAN AT ZAFIRA!
Pardon the Innuendos 