[Theater] Arsenic and Old Lace (Repertory Philippines) Review

Completing Repertory Philippines' season of straight plays is Arsenic & Old Lace, a surprising black comedy that uses the tropes of the farce to great comedic effect. I figured from the title alone that this would be a place involving murder somehow but the way things play out was beyond my wildest imaginations. And thus the source material alone already gave a great basis for a good comedic play.

The cast of talent brought together for this production was larger than most plays of this nature, at least versus prior productions in recent memory. But everything came together quite nicely and resulted in a highly entertaining afternoon for me and Tobie.

This just goes to show that investing in a season ticket for Repertory Philippines continues to be one of the best investments one can make when you're into live performances of this nature. Musicals are fun in their own right but these plays find ways to use their words and other methods at their disposal to deliver a pretty solid theatrical experience.

[Theater] Silent Sky (Repertory Philippines) Review

We nearly missed out on watching the Repertory Philippines staging of Silent Sky because of a last-minute work trip that had come up for me. Thankfully we had season passes so it was possible to just coordinate with the Repertory team to adjust our viewing dates.

I cannot recommend the Repertory Philippines season tickets enough, people. Their shows are already some of the most affordable in Metro Manila and the season bundle adds additional discounts. Plus this remains to be some of the best stage entertainment we have in the local theater scene.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this production, but I naturally had some Constellations vibes as it was yet another show with some ties to astronomy. However it's a completely different experience and one that I found myself enjoying very, very much.

Guys, this is now one of my favorite plays of all time. And it's probably because I'm a nerd and a geek.

[Theater] A Comedy of Tenors (Repertory Philippines) Review

Kicking of the 81st season of Repertory Philippines is A Comedy of Tenors, a quirky little farce set in 1930's Paris. Now we've had a rather mixed experience Repertory's repeated attempts to perform comedies of this nature as sometimes the jokes just don't land well, mainly because of things feeling out of sync in terms of how the punchlines are delivered. But each new season is a new beginning an opportunity to hope for the best.

A Comedy of Tenors actually features a fairly large cast for a straight-up dramatic play and I was curious to see how things would all come together. The talent gathered for this show was a pretty diverse bunch that included some familiar faces we had encountered in many different places.

The overall result was pretty positive, and this was considering we had opted to watch the show during its opening weekend. Normally I try to buffer a bit more time to give the cast more opportunities to figure out their rhythm together but I guess it wasn't quite neccessary in this case.

[Theater] Hair (Repertory Philippines) Review

Hair is one of those musicals that I had only seen as a movie up until this point. The 1979 film is a classic in its own right but of course it had a somewhat more controlled (and perhaps focused?) narrative as it was meant for commercial release bu even then a lot of what made the story such a representative of the era still sang through clearly.

But Hair as a stage musical is a completely different animal with a drastically different story. If the movie already felt rather fun and free, the musical is all that and more as it's certainly turned up to eleven. And that is both a great thing and possibly a confusing thing depending on your perspective.

It was interesting that a play that involves depictions liberal recreational drug use and a message of freedom and peace has been staged during a time when the government has been cracking down on illegal drugs with rather lethal results. Whether or not the message of the play directly applies to our country's situation I'll leave to you to determine for yourself.

[Theater] In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Repertory Philippines)

Completing this year's regular season for Repertory Philippines is In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play. I love a good comedy and this one seemed promising enough given it's deliberately sexual flavor to its humor. And in these trying times, we could all use a good comedy.

But the play turned out to be a lot more than just cheap comedy, which I suppose is to be expected from Repertory Philippines at this point. They do have a knack for finding some interesting plays to stage. Slapstick is easy but good comedies like this that need you to think as well are a little harder to come by. And they're also tricky to execute well.

I really enjoyed this production, and I was glad that we had a good experience with the opening weekend. I tend to steer away from the first weekend as I still expect a lot of technical errors or other goofs that come along during the first weekend of performances. But in this case it was a great matinee with a pretty respectably large audience for a Sunday show and we're all the better for it.

[Theater] Agnes of God (Repertory Philippines)

As is our habit, Tobie and I have booked tickets for all 3 plays of the regular season of Repertory Philippines. The first show for the year, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike was quite the delightful comedy and not what I expected as a beginning for this season. But of course Repertory Philippines continues to explore many different concepts and themes and so not all of their plays are light as that one.

Their second play for the year, Agnes of God was a lot heavier in comparison. We kind of expected this given it was a play about a nun on trial but we had avoided doing any more in-depth research into the plot in order to avoid potential spoilers about the story.

So we came into the experience knowing  very little about the show and thus hopefully more open to where the story may bring us. And I think the end result was certainly a thoughtful one as this production had a lot of things that it wanted to say. And I think the cast managed to get the bulk of their message across.

[Theater] Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Repertory Philippines)

With the start of the new year comes Repertory Philippines' regular theater season of shows and with it our on-going tradition of sorts to see all three plays if we can manage it. And the first show they selected to kick off the year is quite the comedy,

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is quite a mouthful as a title and I could never remember it until after we had watched the play. But it does make sense for the show is really all about these four characters and thus nicely captures what it's all about as opposed to coming up with some alternative title or whatever.

As our first play for the year, it was a pretty great choice and we're all the better for it. It was funny and raunchy and quite a lot of fun. Repertory has had mixed results with comedies in the past but I think it's safe to say that this turned out well. And if this is an indicator of the rest of the season, then we're definitely in good hands.

[Theater] Stepping Out: The Musical (Repertory Philippines)

Over the years, we've made it a habit to support the regular season of Repertory Philippines. Whether it involves just booking the first three plays individually or committing to a full season pass including the musicals, the goal is to see what they have to offer for the year and celebrate the diversity of theater. Repertory is a theater company with a very rich history and it always saddens me when we find their shows not quite filled to the brim in terms of sold tickets. They remain one of the theater options in the city and one of the steady avenues for watching straight plays and not just musicals.

However in recent years we've seen them stage a musical as part of their regular 3-production season as a way to balance things out a little more. At first I didn't think much of Stepping Out: The Musical when I secured the tickets because the name of the show was unfamiliar to me and I generally avoid looking up the productions online in order to avoid spoilers.

So it was funny that once we arrived at the venue and saw the show collateral, I had to admit it all seemed vaguely familiar. But of course this only make more sense to me during the show itself.

[Theater] Almost, Maine (Repertory Philippines)

After our disappointment with Repertory Philippines' first show of the season, I was rather cautious about how to approach Almost, Maine, another play that I had secured tickets to despite not actually knowing what it's about. In many ways, I often feel that our dedication to watch Rep's regular season plays year after year is almost like an act of charity in order to continue to support the theater company. They do put up some great productions here and there but they don't seem to draw the same sort of audiences that we see with other theater companies.

But Almost, Maine is quite the game-changer and one of those plays that is so charmingly portrayed with writing that is beyond brilliant that one can't help but recommend it strongly to everyone. And given the attendance level of the show at the time we watched, I honestly feel bad that more people probably won't get to see the play.

Such a loss indeed.

[Theater] The Game's Afoot (Repertory Philippines)

So it feels like more and more Miguel Faustmann has been involved in a number of comedic straight plays being staged by Repertory Philippines. And I can't really complain since his past few productions were all quite good, especially given how they managed to successfully stage Noises Off, one of my favorite farces, and the surprisingly entertaining Run For Your Wife last year.

But The Game's Afoot was an odd production that certainly had a lot of potential but didn't quite seem to deliver during execution. Whether this was due to a bad night or an overall concern with how the play had been directed and rehearsed is hard to say. But all I can present from my perspective is that it really wasn't as great as hoped and felt like a bit of a stumble for the beginning of this year's regular season for Repertory Philippines.

This brings to mind their staging of The 39 Steps back in 2011 that totally didn't deliver on its promise of Monty Python style humor while celebrating the works of Alfred Hitchcock. But I guess you can't win them all.

[Theater] Run For Your Wife (Repertory Philippines)

I think a lot of folks underestimate Repertory Philippines since they still focus on a lot of straight plays as opposed to musicals. Sure, everyone loves a good musical and they're a heck of a lot of fun to get into for sure. But there's still something to be said about live theater on its own and all the brilliance that can be achieved there. And so Tobie and I still make the effort to go see Repertory Philippines productions when we can squeeze them into our schedule.

Admittedly I wasn't immediately keen to watch Run For Your Wife since I was totally unfamiliar with the source material. I had no frame of reference about how good or bad the play could be, but curiosity and an empty gaming schedule slot all came together to sort of conspire and get us to watch the show last Sunday.

And I am so thankful that we did. This was pretty much one of the funniest plays that I've ever seen and quite the brilliantly executed little farce as well. And a good farce isn't easy - it relies a lot on the talent of the cast to juggle all the crazy situations and do so with a straight face. The team behind this play totally killed it.

[Theater] 4000 Miles (Repertory Philippines)

I found it a bit surprising that Repertory Philippines did not announce their 2015 line-up at the end of last year. That was the pattern established in recent years so I was a little concerned that no announcement was visible on their social media pages and such. And given how we've been regular subscribers to their full season for the two years at least, I really hoped it didn't mean anything bad.

It was in mid-February that we noticed a poster for 4000 Miles while going around Greenbelt 1, and so that was rather reassuring. And while it seems their regular season this year only consists of two straight plays instead of three, I suppose that's better than nothing.

And what drew us most to this play is the fact that the cast includeded Baby Barredo as part of the primary cast. We had last seen her in Orange Osage County, and she was pretty amazing in that role. So we were rather keen to see how she would perform in this production, which had a vague yet potentially interesting plot based on the limited synopsis published online.

[Theater] Scrooge (Repertory Philippines)

This play marks the last show in this year's Repertory Philippines line-up. When we had first booked our tickets for the season at the start of the year, we had the option to only get the straight plays or include the musicals as well. Personally I was only interested in Scrooge and Pinocchio was a side bonus at best. But since it was cheaper to get all of them bundled together instead of buying Scrooge tickets separately, we went in for the full deal.

What had most drawn us to want to see Scrooge was the fact that Miguel Faustmann was set to play the titular role. So it was a little disappointing when we found ourselves watching an alternate cast with a different actor in the leading role. And while the show was still decent, it wasn't quite as fulfilling as we had expected the show to be.

But hey, those are the risks of booking tickets so far ahead. There's little to no chance of adjusting to casting changes made during the season, and Repertory Philippines seems to have a bit of a pattern of behavior in this department in recent years. Just look at the bait and switch that happened with The Graduate.

[Theater] Pinocchio (Repertory Philippines)

When I opted to get the bundle offer for all of Repertory Philippines' shows for the year, the one show that I wasn't particularly keen on was the annual children's musical that comes after the regular season for the straight plays. But since it was actually cheaper to get all 5 shows instead of just the other 4, I went for the bundle anyway.

Pinocchio turned out to be a completely different play than what I expected. It wasn't particularly great, but it certainly had a bit of an endearing charm on its own. And given this was my first exposure to how Repertory handles their children's show, it was also a bit of learning from a different perspective.

Do I plan on watching all Repertory Philippines' shows in the future? Perhaps not - I know when I'm not the target audience. But at least I now know that it's not exactly a horrible experience and I wouldn't mind taking on another deal like this even if it includes this sort of musical.

[Theater] Noises Off (Repertory Philippines)

It doesn't feel like too long ago I took the time to write a review of the movie version of Noises Off, which was a movie that both my partner Tobie and I enjoyed a lot even before we met one another. And when we found out that we both shared an appreciation of it, we made the time to watch it again. It was a pretty funny movie with a quirky cast that may not have been perfect, but it was still quite endearing.

Fast-forward to the end of 2013 when Repertory Philippines announced that they were stating a production of the Noises Off play that the movie had been based on. This was in fact the primary reason that we had opted to get Year Passes for all of Repertory's shows this year - to see how they'd manage to pull off this production. And given how we had enjoyed the movie, it was a bit of a tricky thing since it was very well possible that we might have too high expectations for the show and thus making disappointment almost inevitable.

But we had an even better result - we absolutely loved the production!

[Theater] August: Osage County (Repertory Philippines)

I make a distinct effort to avoid the opening weekend of any theater production. I sort of want to the cast to get through that first run through with live audiences so they can work out the kinks and really grow into their roles fully. I know, I know, they rehearse these things for months at a time. But if you've ever had to take the stage, you'd know that it's a whole different world once you're up there when the curtain goes up and you see the packed house waiting for you to utter your first line.

Admittedly I knew little about August: Osage County other than the fact that it pretty much swept the theater awards for best play across different award-giving bodies including the Tony's and the Drama Desk Awards. But I avoided reading about it since I didn't want to spoil myself in terms of what the story would be about.

Since we bought the Year Pass for Repertory Philippines' 2014 season, it was really just a question of selecting dates for watching each of the shows. And this time around, we ended up catching the show during its opening weekend, since it fit the goal of watching one show a month.

[Theater] Wait Until Dark (Repertory Philippines)

Since my partner and I had rather enjoyed the experience of having season tickets for Repertory Philippines, this year we decided to invest in getting the new Year Pass option that offers a bundled rate for all five Repertory Philippines production for the year. Spending P2,400 for 5 plays is a pretty sweet deal no matter how you look at things.

The first straight play for the season was Wait Until Dark, which is a play that was also adapted into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn. Admittedly I had never heard of either the play or the movie - it just happened to be part of the bundle.

 I haven't seen too many plays that tried to capture the suspense thriller genre - it's something that we more commonly expect from movies these days. But I can totally appreciate the greater challenge there is in orchestrating the kind of emotions needed for a play that wants to scare its audience. And in this regard I think that Repertory Philippines did a pretty decent job of bringing this show to life and kicking off their 2014 season in a rather grand way.

[Theater] The Producers (Repertory Philippines)

I'm a big Mel Brooks fan. I know I have my biological father to blame for this, but I don't regret this fact one bit. Sure, sometimes it's hard to find people who can fully relate to Mel Brooks humor these days, but then the folks that do get it make it all worth it.

Beyond his movies, Mel Brooks also has a bit of a thing for musicals, as seen in the limited musical numbers worked into his other comedies and of course his actual theater work. I don't think any of us could have predicted what a great musical The Producers would become based on the movie alone. But I guess there's something about two friends trying to cheat their way into money that makes for good musical comedy.

I was surprised when I first found out that Repertory Philippines intended to stage this musical locally. It's not exactly an easy show to run and it's one that's a little close to my heart given my longtime love of Mel Brooks. So I knew I had to see it in order to satisfy my curiosity and this certainly for an interesting play to cap off my 2013 theater year.

[Theater] The Graduate (Repertory Philippines

This year Tobie and I had experimented with getting season tickets for Repertory Philippines. That meants that we got somewhat discounted rates in exchange for committing to watch all three shows of Repertory's regular season. And the experience has certainly been interesting with the two other shows Boeing Boeing and No Way to Treat a Lady.

Now I have to admit that I originally committed to the season tickets because of this play - The Graduate. And the big reason was that it was originally advertised to feature Cherie Gil in the infamous role of Mrs. Robinson. But one thing led to another and there was a casting change before the show could even start rehearsals and so Tobie and I ended up with tickets to the show but with a different actress.

Still, the show must go on and so did we and the end result wasn't that bad. There was the minor issue of both of us inevitably imagining what the play would have been like had Cherie Gil pushed through with her performance, but for the most part we tried to stay focused on the actual cast in order to come to a more informed decision about it.

[Theater] No Way to Treat a Lady (Repertory Philippines)

Given Tobie and I had booked ourselves season tickets for the 2013 regular season line-up of Repertory Philippines, it has been a little tricky juggling our weekend schedule sufficiently to ensure we actually watch the shows that we had paid for in advance. But theater is theater is theater and I'm glad that Tobie is willing to work with this particular hobby of mine.

Admittedly I knew little to nothing about this show before going to the theater - but I do have an interest in comedies and an appreciation for the older film noir style of movies. No Way to Treat a Lady tried to promise to deliver on that and I was definitely curious to see how this would turn out.

Plus typically the Repertory Philippines regular season tends to consist of straight plays and not musicals. So I was pretty surprised to find out that this was in fact a musical - which sort of added some value to our already discounted tickets. Yay life.