Director Anton Juan has transformed the classic play of Bienvenido Noriega, Jr. into a refreshing new musical. The cast has been selected, and rehearsals started. The musical, entitled, “Bayan Bayanan: Texts from Home,” is being produced by Erehwon Center for the Arts, and scheduled for show on July 15, 16 and 17, 2022, at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
New songs have been composed by Anton Juan, himself, along with Cleofe Guangco-Casambre, who had composed for the play, “‘Rizal’s Sweet Stranger;” Russ Narcies Cabico, who is also a theater and television actor and singer; pianist-composer Andrew Bryan Sapigao; and composer-musical arranger Jonathan Cruz.
Making up the cast are well-known theater actors as well as first-time stage performers. Professional theater actress and singer Banaue Miclat-Janssen portrays the central character, “Manang.” Banaue has performed in various spaces and films in the Philippines and abroad. She is an Aliw Awards Foundation Hall of Fame for Best Performer awardee.
Ava Olivia Santos, a singer, recording artist, and an actor in theater, film and television, portrays a Filipino nurse, struggling to carve a better life for herself abroad, seeking a fairy tale love.
Nicole Roxanne Aldiosa, a soprano who is both a theater actress and musical director, teams up with tenor Carlo Angelo Falcis, who is singer, actor, voice coach, to portray a comically annoying couple, status seekers who believe that any life abroad, even hardship posts, are better than life in the Philippines. Jacinta Remulla, who is known for her acting in “Suntok sa Buwan,” has been casted as the couple’s sultry and flirtatious niece, “Connie.”
Richard Macaroyo is Pol, the TNT, luckless in so many ways.
Completing the Bayan Bayanan cast are: Christine Angelica Evangelista, Carlo Mañalac, Timothy Carlo Racho, Kendrick Tamayo, Abigail Sulit, Jane Florence Wee, Matteo Teehankee, Karina Macaspac, and Adrian de Ubago. All with golden voices, and engaging acting talents. Watch the show and be moved by their refreshing performances.
