I'm no stranger to West Side Story, having watched it countless times on film and stage. My first taste of this wonderful musical was when I was in high school, with my schoolmates as casts. I fell in love with it since. So when my cousin informed me that a friend of hers got me a ticket to STAGES' West Side Story (yesterday's show), I was thrilled. It's no Broadway, but I know I'll be getting performances equal to it.
The musical is to be shown at the Meralco Theatre, running from September to October of this year. Tony, the main man, is played by Filipino balladeer Christian Bautista, while Maria, the lead actress, is played alternately by local singer-actress Karylle, and London West End's Joanna Ampil (a Filipina who has starred in musicals in London). The theatre-going public won't know who plays Maria until the start of the show. Mine had Karylle on it.
The STAGES production of this awesome musical was breath-taking. They really placed a lot of effort into the set, everything was just spectacular. The play does not require a big stage; the charm of it is its being performed beautifully in a compact setting, and this the production was able to magnificently do. They utilized each prop to its fullest extent. Music was superb; lighting was phenomenal; even the costumes were patterned as closely as possible to the movie.
And now, the casts. There was amazing dancing like never before seen on stage, and impressive performances from all concerned. I'm not that blown away by the singing of Karylle and Christian Bautista, though. The songs may be challenging for them, with high notes and all, but well, they were tapped to perform this musical, weren't they? I mean, they should have known the vocal prowess and range that the songs entailed. At any rate, it was a wondrous experience for me.
P.S. The picture is courtesy of Clickthecity.
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