It just struck me that I watched the DUP production of “Isang Panaginip na FILI” on a very fitting date, for today is the death anniversary of one of our best yet one of the most underappreciated national heroes, Macario Sakay.
Please read this article on Sakay if you have time to spare.
Back to the FILI musical.
It was an excellent show, well worth the P150 I paid for my ticket (That’s UP price, the normal ticket price is P250 for outsiders). The show I watched had Joel Molina starring as Jose Rizal, Eric Dela Cruz as Tunying/ Simoun, JC Santos as Basilio, Micaela Pineda as Juli, Astarte Abraham as Maria Clara, Greg De Leon (from CMu!) as Kabesang Tales and Emlyn Santos (also from CMu!) as Donya Victorina. Congratulations to Kuya Cholo Gino, Choir Master extraordinaire, and to Eric Ferrer (one of CMu’s finest tenors, and Ernesto to my Norina in Don Pasquale) who I got to see in alternate roles as an ilustrado and as an about-to-be-executed prayle.
Apart from refreshing my memory about the immortal second Rizal novel, watching the musical made me realize anew just how relevant the Fili’s themes remain today. The issues of autonomy over colonization, the separation of church and state, a physical revolution versus a moral and educational one... and most especially, the importance of being WORTHY of independence and self-governance.
Some memorable lines from El Filibusterismo, the novel:
"Hate only creates monsters; crime, criminals; only love can work wonders, only virtue can redeem. If our country is some day to be free, it will not be through vice and crime, it will not be through the corruption of its sons, some deceived, others bribed; redemption presupposes virtue; virtue, sacrifice; and sacrifice, love."
"The school of suffering tempers the spirit, the fighting arena strengthens the soul. I do not mean to say that our freedom must be won at the point of the sword; the sword now counts for very little in the destinies of our times; but I do say that we must win our freedom by deserving it, by improving the mind and enhancing the dignity of the individual, loving what is just, what is good, what is great, to the point of dying for it. When a people reach these heights, God provides the weapon, and the idols and the tyrants fall like a house of cards, and freedom shines in the first dawn."
"We tolerate vice and thereby become accomplices in it, sometimes we go so far as to applaud it; it is only just, then, very just, that we should suffer the consequences…….. He is the God of freedom, Mr. Simoun, who makes us love it by weighing the yoke upon our shoulders. He is a God of mercy and justice, who improves us with His punishments and grants happiness only to those who have merited it with their exertions. …… Mr. Simoun, as long as our people are not prepared, and enter the struggle deceived or compelled, without a clear idea of what they are to do, the best-planned movements will fail and it is better that they should fail, for why give the bride to the groom, if he does not love her enough and is not ready to die for her?"
I am not here to debate upon the reality of Rizal being the national hero, as opposed to Bonifacio who took up arms. It remains a fact that Rizal wrote two novels which surpass even the great Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas in the nobility of their message. Through these novels, we have a glimpse of what a Filipino nation COULD be. Rizal dreamt of it, and died for his dreams. And it is every Filipino’s sacred duty to continue the fight, and to continue working for this nation’s betterment.
~ ~
Shallow rant and rave: JC Santos and Mica Pineda (Basilio and Juli) were the perfect couple onstage! It’s hard to believe that such a good-looking duo could exist outside Hollywood. Forget Brangelina. Those two couldn’t hold a candle to the chemistry that JC and Mica had. The entire audience screamed in kilig when they shared a kiss (hehe, some girls were so loud, they almost ruined the show for me), and of course, they got thunderous applause come the encore. The cast was full of goodlooking people, but when you put JC and Mica onstage, all the others pale in comparison, looks-wise.
Which brings me to my point that, no matter how much I may be against it, looks really DO count a lot when one is in the performing arts. I have nothing against JC and Mica, and have the highest regard for them, especially since I got to know Mica personally in a Theater class and have only praises for her talent, dedication and professionalism. But I couldn’t help noticing that the lead roles mostly went to the best looking people. I feel that if one is an actor and is not blessed with an aesthetically pleasing face and form, one has to work doubly hard and display more talent for one to be given the lead role.
I highly recommend this show to all open minded Filipinos who, if not of legal age, are of a mature enough level to take a little nudity and graphic sexual play-acting in stride. Despite its overt sexual depictions and unnecessary (in my opinion) displays of flesh, FILI remains a hit show, one that I hope will be re-staged soon so more schools can book tickets for their students to watch.
(Regarding nudity in theater, expressing my thoughts would take another blog post altogether, but I really do not think believe it is EVER necessary.)
Go see the musical and have your memories refreshed and your patriotic sentiments renewed!
I end with the closing line from the musical: “Ang mithiin mong bansa, Rizal, malapit nang makamtan... malapit na.” Let us continue hoping, praying, and working so that this WILL be so.
ooohh im gonna watch it today:D
ReplyDeletewow.... thanks for watching gabi.... too bad, you missed my opening..... hahahahhahaha
ReplyDeletehehehehehhehe..... if you are referring to ma clara's skirt going a little too high, i'd like to make it clear, sir jacq borlaza (the brillant actor who played padre salvi) did not realize that astarte abraham's (ma clara) skirt was caught during that particular scene. even we at the production was scared when astarte's skirt went waaaaaaay too high..... hehehehhehehe. our apologies. :D
ReplyDeletesame sentiments here... hahaha
ReplyDeleteThanks for watching Gabi....
thanks for watching our show. =)
ReplyDeleteHi Kuya Cholo! Re: the nudity... I was actually referring to the Egyptian IMUTHIS scene
ReplyDeletethe costumes were too revealing for my prudish sensibilities. may mga nakita yung audience na dapat hindi makita!
sayang i missed your opening! Congratulations again on a hit show. :)
*evil grin*
ReplyDeletehahahahaha...... the original concept for the imuthis chorus costume was much too revealing than the one you saw...... btui na lang eric pineda desgined the costumes for imuthis and the imuthis chorus (i think even the victorina gowns were desgined by pineda, too....)
ReplyDeleteis this from the Leon Ma Guerrero translation????? i remember reading this part from the Guerrero translation and it was captivating.....
ReplyDeleteoh it's not only on the stage. it's everywhere. billboards, ads, tv, movies, toys, fairy tales... it's pretty much stereotyping i guess. the ideal Barbie look. slim and fair-skinned without blemishes and long straight black hair.. there are exceptions once in a while but it still pretty much is around. we've been studying these things in Art Stud 2. hehehe :)
ReplyDeleteadvertisers claim to ride on the current trend but who can tell if they are riding on the trend or making them themselves? someone (i forgot if it was my prof or one of the people who wrote one of the articles we had to read) said though that many people are starting to want something different. a change in the Barbie look. at least i for one am one of those people :)
oh it's not only on the stage. it's everywhere. billboards, ads, tv, movies, toys, fairy tales... it's pretty much stereotyping i guess. the ideal Barbie look. slim and fair-skinned without blemishes and long straight black hair.. there are exceptions once in a while but it still pretty much is around. we've been studying these things in Art Stud 2. hehehe :)
ReplyDeleteadvertisers claim to ride on the current trend but who can tell if they are riding on the trend or making them themselves? someone (i forgot if it was my prof or one of the people who wrote one of the articles we had to read) said though that many people are starting to want something different. a change in the Barbie look. at least i for one am one of those people :)
Oh my gosh you mean, naging conservative na yung ayos ng nakita ko nung saturday??
ReplyDelete*boink*
yes it is... grabe, reading some parts just makes your blood boil, no?
ReplyDeleteInteresting point you brought up, Cato. Media and media consumers... it's like the chicken and the egg, you don't know who is leading whom any longer.
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad thing when a society gets too materialistic to the point that we judge people based on appearance, or by what they wear and what luxury items they own.
It's quite refreshing to be in UP, where the "aristocracy of intelligence" and not "the aristocracy of wealth/looks" is paramount... where the only thing that matters is what you have between your ears :) (or, in CMu's case, one's musicality).
True that it's wrong to judge people by what they wear, but it's also true that the person should still seek to make himself pleasing to look at, or presentable. it's a way to show your respect for yourself and those around you.
ReplyDeletethat said, i guess it's only human to make judgments on looks, because it's a way of figuring out how a person regards you. But to be fair, one shouldn't leave it on looks alone (this is where the brain comes in). And "how expensive" is not important...