Two Sondheim productions opened in Manila this weekend alone, with a third showing next month! Boy oh boy, it's a great time to be alive in this city, traffic notwithstanding!
Coming in to watch a Philippine Opera Company production, the average audience member already has high expectations. But this particular production will blow you away! Name a category and it. Will. Surpass. Your. Imaginings.
The glorious costumes unto themselves were worth the price of entrance already! But then you add the gorgeous music, the expressive singing, the efficient yet beautiful set... and certain shocking-yet-dramatically-necessary bits of directing and acting... and BAM!! It's a winner!
La Boheme meets Beauty and the Beast in this terribly relatable tale of love in all its forms: unrequited, ill fated, catastrophic, and redemptive. And since never did a human being walk the earth who did not at one time or another find one's soul lit brightly by a flame whose warmth was not reciprocated (aminin niyo!!!), every one will find themselves sympathizing with Fosca, the bookworm invalid who loves Giorgio, a handsome officer, who, for all his vaunted goodness, irritated some audience members for behaving so inconsistently... Like he was on a see-saw, veering from callousness to grace. To find out where he lands, go watch!
The lovely Shiela Valderrama had the entire audience sympathizing with her Fosca, while Vien King stole the females' hearts with his physique and "Prince Charming" tenor voice as Giorgio.
Although there were a few times when the live chamber orchestra overpowered the singing of particularly low notes, the overall experience was like bathing one's ears in a symphony of colors! For while it IS a Sondheim musical and therefore the songs might not be considered "catchy," they were certainly very beautiful...(Oh.So.Beautiful)... and PASSION-ately sung! 😉
PASSION runs until Sept. 29 at the RCBC Plaza! Go watch it to be reminded of the painful perils and powerful pleasures of that most inconvenient of emotions. Thank you so much Karla Gutierrez for bringing this show to Manila! Can't wait to see what POC will come up with next!
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