BWW Interviews: BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS' Joel Trinidad Talks Playing the Bad Guy

"To be an effective villain, you have to get the audience to love you." - Joel Trinidad

Manila, Philippines, October 8, 2013--For every protagonist there is an antagonist when telling a good story. However, playing the latter is more challenging, according to Joel Trinidad, who currently plays "Night" in Trumpets' latest offering, "The Bluebird of Happiness," which features book and lyrics by Jaime del Mundo and music by Rony Fortich, and runs until Sunday, October 20 at Meralco Theater.

"Playing the villain is 'infinitely' more enjoyable for me," Trinidad told BroadwayWorld.com.

"As a villain, you got to do things that normal, decent, unselfish and well-adjusted people stop themselves from doing. There's nothing like it," he added.

He also stressed that without Night, the villain in this brand new musical adaptation of the Belgian play "The Blue Bird" by Maurice Maeterlinck, the two child lead actors would have no adversity to overcome.

"It's this adversity that makes them appreciate their lives more," he said.

Looking back at the audition process, he described it as nerve-wracking.

"During the auditions, it was just me, my rival, the director [del Mundo] and the musical director [Sweet Plantado] with a keyboard in a tiny room.

"The other guy and I had to learn two songs on the spot; we then sing them in turn, right in front of each other. It was intimidating as hell," Trinidad recalled.

Even if he were doing the villain role, he would not find a way for the audience to hate him; but, rather, the opposite.

"To be an effective villain, you have to get the audience to love you. You need to understand why the villain acts the way he does. No one thinks that he is evil; even the most hateful person on earth thinks he has a good reason for his actions. You have to find that reason, and then use that as your motivation," he said.

Besides his project with Trumpets, Trinidad also currently plays a supporting role in Repertory Philippines' (Rep) "Alice in Wonderland." He is also rehearsing for Rep's "The Producers" and working on two major musicals for Fourth Wall Productions and a full-length monologue, which G Tongi, his co-star in "The Producers," has commissioned him to do.

He is also writing and directing "SOS: Showcase of Original Scripts," five short Halloween-themed comedy plays, starring Tongi, Reb Atadero, Arya Herrera and Bibo Reyes on October 21 and 28, 10 p.m. at Caixa Bar and Restaurant in Makati Golf Club.

In his around 24 years on stage, he has a long list of productions under his belt: the one-man comedy "Defending the Caveman," the radical Tony Award-winning musical "Avenue Q," for which he was nominated for an Aliw Award, his self-penned musical "Breakups & Breakdowns," "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," "A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino," "Proof," opposite Lea Salonga, "The Rocky Horror Show," "Falsettos" and "Amadeus," among others.

For tickets to Trumpets' "The Bluebird of Happiness," call (632) 901-4364 or visit ticketworld.com.ph.

Photos by Trumpets

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