The past year was witness to the rejuvination of the theater industry and with its new-found vitality, stage productions are happening one after the other. Which is a good sign since the theater has been losing patrons to cinemas and movie discs, and the younger generation losing interest in watching plays. What better way to celebrate this second wind than by reviving the spectacular production of a timeless tale -- The Sound of Music.
Been to Resorts World Manila lately? You may have notice the promotional materials for The Sound of Music on the stairs and the escalator panels and the life size cutouts scattered all around.
Looking Back
The Sound of Music is making a comeback after years of absence in the local theater scene. The first local production was done 30 years ago by Repertory Philippines (1980) and featured Mechu Lauchengco, Raymond Lauchengco, Risa Hontiveros, Javier Arriaga, Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Gianina Revilla and Angela Adams as the von Trapp children; with Baby Barredo as Maria; Chito Ponce-Enrile as Captain von Trapp; Celia Diaz Laurel as Baroness Schraeder; Freddie Santos as Max Detweiler; Irma Potenciano as the Mother Abbess; and Audie Gemora as Rolf (the love-struck young Nazi who duets with Menchu's Liesl on "Sixteen Going on Seventeen."
A second Repertory production in 2006 featured Crisel Consunji, Vanessa Paoleli, Nicole Yulo, Vincent Ching, Steven Hotchkiss, Bryan Homecillo, Fame Flores, Nicki Perrett, Bianca Rogoff, Luis Nieto, Sophia Reyes, Nacho Tambunting, Holly Dallison, Krystal Kane, Ashley So-Chan, Gaby Tantuico, Eunice David, Bianca Henares, Spencer Hiday, Noemi Oineza, Vea Salvador, Alessa Zialcita alternating as the von Trapp children; with Monique Wilson, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Liesl Batucan alternating as Maria; Audie Gemora and Michael Williams alternating as Captain Von Trapp; Miguel Faustmann and Bonggoy Manahan alternating as Max; Camille Lopez-Molina and Pinky Marquez alternating as The Mother Abbess; Jennie Nuyda, Rina Reyes and Cherie Gil alternating as the Baroness; Jaime Barcelon, Irra Cenina, Topper Fabregas and JM Rodriguez alternating as Rolf Gruber; Joy Virata as Frau Schmidt and Sister Margaretta; and Robbie Guevarra as Herr Zeller, among others.
Marching Forward
The 2011 production will feature a powerful cast: Joanna Ampil and Cris Villongco alternates as Maria; Audie Gemora and Ed Feist alternates as Captain Georg von Trapp; Pinky Marquez and Sheila Francisco alternates as the quiet and understanding Mother Abbess; Miguel Faustman and Robbie Guevarra alternates as Max Detweiler; Pinky Amador and Lynn Sherman alternates as the captain's fiancee, Baroness Elsa Schraeder. Playing the von Trapp children are Tanya Manalang, Rachel Coates, Paolo Luis Ocampo, Luis Nieto, Danielle Sanghio, Rebecca Coates, Atasha Mulach, Janina Punzalan, Alessandra Allado, Roberto Sison, Anton Posadas, Justin Sian, Alida Moberg, Paula Therese Zamesa, Sofia Yabyabin, Alexa Villaroel and Shanti Gleason. Marvin Ong and Bryan Homecillo alternates as Rolf Gruber.
Joanna Ampil as Maria
Audie Gemora as Capt. Georg von Trapp
Other supporting cast members include Debraliz Valisote as Frau Schmidt; Eduardo Bouffard as Franz the Butler; Lorenz Martinez as Herr Zeller; Jennifer Villegas and Carla Guevara alternates as Sister Berthe; Sarah Facuri and Pamela Imperial alternates as Sister Margaretta; and Jillian Pena and Maxine Sian alternates as Sister Sophia.
Tanya Manalang as Liesl von Trapp and Marvin Ong as Rolf Gruber
The charming von Trapp family
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and with the musical book written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is the story of Maria Rainer who was appointed governess of the seven children of widower Captain Georg von Trapp. The play features popular songs such as "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," "Do-Re-Mi," "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," and "The Sound of Music."
(l-r) Audie Gemora; RWM's Jeff Evora; and director Roxanne Lapus
Some production notes: notable director Roxanne Lapus is at the helm of staging and direction; Orchestra music is provided by The Manila Philharmonic Orchestra led by Maestro Rodel Colmenar; vocal directress is Lyn Fabella; costumes provided by noted couturier and designer to the stars, Francis Libiran; production designer and scenographer Mio Infante will provide the picturesque details; adding to the visual feast is video producer Paul Soriano who will showcase video animation scenes simultaneously with the theater performance.
(l-r) Joanna Ampil; Cris Villonco; and video producer Paul Soriano
(l-r) set designer Mio Infante; costume designer Francis Libiran;
Shiela Francisco (Mother Abbess); and
Pinky Amador (Baroness Schraeder)
In a nutshell, The Sound of Music is a 1950s play with the state of the art gimmicks. One of the challenges was choosing the dream team and of course, the dream cast especially the children who will potray the von Trapp offsprings. In the press launch, it was revealed that about 300 actors auditioned for the various roles and it took the creative team days to decide on who will make the cut and land the coveted roles. A lot of great talents and big names in the ligitimate stage even auditioned and wrote in their CVs that the role they want is to be part of the ensemble and not even the lead roles, just to be part of this momentous production.
(l-r) Marvin Ong; Tanya Manalang; and Miguel Faustman (Max Detweiler)
(l-r) Jon Joven; vocal directress Lyn Fabella;
and Ed Feist (Capt. von Trapp alternate)
The creative team behind the Manila production of The Sound of Music maintained the essence and wholesomeness of the original story but the play was edited for faster story winding and they avoided to plagiarize the movie screenplay. "We removed four scenes that the original playwright used to make set changes. Then we added one scene using a song from the movie during Maria's trip from the Abbey to the Von Trapp Villa. The set design will try to accomplish the same scene and the big stage will be fully utilized."
The Sound of Music press conference
When asked about the production design, Milo Infante shares that, "When I design, I take the venue into consideration. Newport theater is huge and so we had to make it less scary especially since some scenes have only 2 people on stage at a time." Another goal is to make the scene transistions seamless despite having bulky period furniture and decors. The set changes will be different and fast so as to minimize, if not totally eliminate, the lull time for the audience.
Maria and Capt. Georg von Trapp
"Every playwright has a message but it gets lost in translation. The Sound of Music has two very important messages: 1) the best way to serve God is to do His will (as imparted through Maria; and 2) integrity (as imparted through Georg von Trapp, an Alpha male with flasw but with one shining quality of integrity -- standing by his beliefs)." Roxanne Lapus has directed a lot of shows but according to her, The Sound of Music has the best production team of all, "That's why despite the challenges, things were resolved, by God's grace."
I'm excited to watch The Sound of Music with mom on the gala night. With what I saw and heard at the preview, I am sure that this production will be of world class quality.
The Sound of Music OST
This spectacular Philippine production is made possible by Ultimate Entertainment and Resorts World Manila and will run from October 15 to December 11, 2011. For ticket reservations and inquiries, visit any Ticketworld outlet or the Resorts World Manila Box Office.
