In a meeting with Rem Zamora, Repertory actor and marketing guy, last month for a partnership, I thought he made a mistake when he said that they have “Romeo and Bernadette” in their line-up. What? Romeo and Bernadette? Shouldn’t it be Juliet who’s Romeo’s perennial partner as literary history’s star-crossed lovers? Who doesn’t know Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet?
As Rem explained, Repertory Philippines' Valentine offering is Mark Saltzman's musical comedy ROMEO & BERNADETTE which is a creative spin-off of the famous pair’s story brought on by a guy who was trying to seduce his date, who unfortunately felt sad and depressed after watching a “Romeo and Juliet” play. And so the guy starts off by telling the girl that Romeo really didn’t die from the poison he drank and instead slept for 500 years (channeling Sleeping Beauty here). When Romeo wakes up, he found himself in modern day Verona and chanced upon a modern Italian-American girl (yes, Bernadette) who looks exactly like his long-lost love Juliet. The chase brought Romeo to Brooklyn where he was caught in-between warring mafia families on top of the bad fortune that Bernadette was set to marry someone else.ROMEO & BERNADETTE stars PJ Valerio ("High School Musical On Stage," "Altar Boyz") and Cris Villonco ("Hamlet"). I should say that the young actors filled the roles quiet excellently from the looks department, the acting and the singing parts.
Rem ("Sweeney Todd," "Jesus Christ Superstar") does not only have a role in the play but eight roles to boot! He plays an accordionist in Verona, a famous opera singer, a corrupt immigration officer, a gay florist, a priest, a kick-ass female dance instructor, a female couturier, and an old man (father to Donna).
The musical also features Repertory veterans Red Concepcion (Brooklyn Guy/Dino), Liesl Batucan (Brooklyn Girl/Donna), Dido de la Paz (Sal Penza/Usher), Juno Henares (Camille Penza), Kenneth Keng (Tito Titone), Jim Paoleli (Don Del Canto/Airport Supervisor), and Jamie Wilson (Lips).
ROMEO & BERNADETTE can be seen at Onstage, Greenbelt 1, Makati City. Opened last February 5, the musical will run on February 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28.
1 comment:
Thanks, Denise
=) Oliver
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