Philippines Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: Like Elphie, WICKED Film is Confident in Its Skin
by Oliver Oliveros - November 19, 2024

NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKED. While Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 'Evita' begins with Argentinians mourning the death of their beloved Eva Peron, the Ozians of the fictional Land of Oz in Stephen Schwartz’s 'Wicked' rejoice for the supposed death of their perceived nemesis, The Wicked Witch of the West,” in Bro...

MISS SAIGON And Me: A Three-Decade Chase
by Vince Vicentuan - October 03, 2024

Musical theatre became a transformative part of my life when I first encountered 'Miss Saigon' as a young adult in 1989....

PAROKYA NI EDGAR Musical Plays Last Two Weeks at Newport Performing Arts Theatre
by Oliver Oliveros - June 10, 2024

How can Newport World Resorts top its biggest original Pinoy musical hit, ''Ang Huling El Bimbo'? Work around the music catalog of another beloved OPM band, Parokya ni Edgar....

RENT Sheds Light On Those Intimidated, Ignorant About HIV/AIDS
by Jude Cartalaba - June 02, 2024

RENT, the late Jonathan Larson's masterpiece, was a cultural sensation in 1996, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical and a Pulitzer for Drama. But does it still resonate with today’s younger audiences?...

MISS SAIGON Remains Relevant, Given the Continuous Acts of Violence and War Today
by Gilbert Kim Sancha - May 12, 2024

After its phenomenally successful run in Australia in collaboration with Opera Australia, GMG Productions, in association with GWB Entertainment, presented this new and stunning production in Manila, 24 years after a six-month commercially successful run in the Philippine capital....

PRINSIPE BAHAGHARI is Ripe with Life's Foremost Lessons
by Oliver Oliveros - January 25, 2024

The 1943 children’s novel by French writer poet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 'The Little Prince,' is a classic literary piece meant for adults. Instead of children-friendly explorations of friendship, love, and fantasy, it blows heavier with darker themes of loneliness, obsession, and loss....

ASIAN PERSUASION: Jhett Tolentino's Bid to a More Inclusive Hollywood
by Vince Vicentuan - December 01, 2023

Amidst excitement and anticipation, 'Asian Persuasion,' a film by Tony and Grammy-winning Filipino producer Jhett Tolentino, premiered on Monday evening, November 27, at SM Megamall Cinema 2. During the exclusive press screening, press members along with the cast and creatives talked about the futur...

Review: HAMILTON Builds An Impactful Legacy
by Rayne Jarabo - November 22, 2023

How the 18th-century American Revolutionary War is depicted in the Pulitzer Award-winning musical 'Hamilton' continues to thrill patrons and theatergoers, now in its last week at The Theatre at Solaire. This production marks 'Hamilton’s' first international tour, which will soon transfer to the Etih...

Review: In TICK, TICK…BOOM! Midlife Crisis, Oozing Talent Are Inescapable
by Jude Cartalaba - August 18, 2023

Jon (Jef Flores, Khalil Ramos), the protagonist in Jonathan Larson's 'tick, tick.... BOOM!' is a struggling composer who is days away from turning 30. He can’t help but hear that internal clock clicking: he doesn’t want to turn a year older without something groundbreaking to show....

Review: IBARRA's Memorable Moments and Excesses
by Jude Cartalaba - June 19, 2023

With the birth of a new theater company, Tanghalang Una Obra, whose creatives were closely associated with Gantimpala Theater Foundation, comes 'Ibarra,' a reworking of the latter’s yearly production of 'Kanser,' based on Dr. Jose Rizal’s first novel, 'Noli Me Tangere.' But this time, it presents th...

Artistic Integrity or Profit?
by Jude Cartalaba - June 15, 2023

A little over 10 years since Actor's Actors Inc.'s The Necessary Theatre premiered John Logan's Tony Award-winning play 'Red' in Asia, the theater company brings back the two-hander on stage. Bart Guingona still plays the abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, while JC Santos plays his fictional studio...

Review: TWENTY QUESTIONS, 20 Years Later
by Oliver Oliveros - May 25, 2023

If you were to stage a 20-year-old two-hander post-pandemic, it’d be a smart move to update its directorial decisions and the script’s words and dialogues, especially with the play’s themes about young love, pre-marital sex, and peer pressure meant to resonate, at the least, with the Gen Zers today....

At Best When There's Singing and Dancing on Screen
by Oliver Oliveros - January 12, 2023

Learning music mogul Clive Davis gave the imprimatur to 'Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody,' the biopic of Davis’s former protegee and the late music icon Whitney Houston, promises topnotch musical sequences, which would not disappoint--even the most critical superfans. ...

Review: Marriage is Not Perfect; It Never Will Be
by Rayne Jarabo - November 29, 2022

Witnessing a postmodern reimagination of a sublime 20th-century Rodgers and Hammerstein musical makes one realize there is a darker, yet more revealing, life’s perspective. In Repertory Philippines’ 'Carousel,' director Toff de Venecia incorporates what we obsess about in this digital age, e.g., mob...

Review: One's Triumph Could be a Saving Grace for Many
by Vince Vicentuan - October 18, 2022

'I Will, the Musical' successfully premiered at the iconic Manila Metropolitan Theater stage on October 14, almost a year after it was filmed at the Music Museum and streamed online in 2021....

Review: Uplifting, Harrowing Tales from Mindanao
by Oliver Oliveros - October 03, 2022

To say 'Anak Datu' is immensely personal and political is an understatement, and the uninitiated ticket buyer could find it rather deceitful at first. Pre-opening, TP’s marketers were masquerading the production as a play with music told in multi-universes than a multi-layered creative protest at th...

MULA SA BUWAN Has Killer Song Hooks, Melodies, and Lyrics
by Oliver Oliveros - August 29, 2022

True to its original form, the zarzuela, 'Mula Sa Buwan,' whose original title 'Cyrano: Isang Sarswela,' fuses songs, dances, romance, and revolutionary overtones, which, in essence, is immensely faithful to its main inspiration, Edmond Rostand’s 1897 French play Cyrano de Bergerac, more specificall...

Review: Nina Campos, with Guest Gerald Santos, In Concert at Pinto Art Museum
by Vince Vicentuan - May 04, 2022

A summer night couldn’t be more propitious: an amphitheatre sitting loftily atop rugged Antipolo terrains adorned with humongous homalomenas, philodendrons, and alocasias growing uninterruptedly, a buzzing crowd of guests gushing over the museum’s Castillan-influenced architecture jutting into the n...

BWW Review: LEA SALONGA at The Music Center at Strathmore
by Elliot Lanes - April 26, 2022

There are very few times in a reviewer’s career where he/she can honestly say they saw a perfect performance. This past weekend at The Music Center at Strathmore international star of stage, screen, and the concert stage Lea Salonga gave a perfect performance. Her Dream Again Tour has a song list t...

'Expanded' WEST SIDE STORY in Philippine Cinemas, Feb. 16
by Oliver Oliveros - February 14, 2022

On Valentine’s week, Steven Spielberg’s first full-length musical film, 'West Side Story,' which recently been nominated for seven Oscar Awards, including this year’s 'Best Picture,' finally screens in Philippine cinemas starting February 16....

BWW Review: ISLAND SONG is Worth the Watch, Amid Streaming Hiccups
by Rayne Jarabo - December 04, 2021

Staging 'Island Song' virtually seems to fit in this pandemic season since live events are currently limited in the Philippines. However, Artremix Productions successfully made it possible to inspire theater enthusiasts and practitioners not to lose hope, as if theater is still alive [physically]. T...