TWO YEARS after its debut, the original Filipino musical Walang Aray will return to reinforce its themes of love and revolution, at the PETA Theater Center from Aug. 29 to Oct. 12.
The musical garnered acclaim in 2023, with eight wins at the Gawad Buhay Awards in 2024, for outstanding Musical, Ensemble Performance, Stage Direction, Book, Original Score, Choreography, and acting performances for Neomi Gonzales and Shaira Opsimar.
This year, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) is giving Walang Aray new life, to be enjoyed by new audiences.
“This season, we explore how love and power intersect, examining how our romantic, familial, and national relationships are shaped and often wounded by systems of control,” said PETA artistic director J-mee Katanyag, at a press conference in Quezon City on July 28.
She added that Walang Aray “reimagines history and invites us to ask, what if love is not a feeling, but a revolutionary act?”
Inspired by Severino Reyes’ sarswela Walang Sugat, the latest production of Walang Aray is helmed by director Ian Segarra, playwright Rody Vera, and musical director Vince Lim. For this run, they are joined by Norbs Portales as associate director.
Walang Aray presents a love story between Julia and Tenyong, set during the Philippine revolution of 1896. Many of the award-winning lead cast are returning: Shaira Opsimar and Marynor Madamesila who alternate in the role of Julia, and Gio Gahol and Jon Abella as Tenyong. They are joined by a new cast member, transwoman Lance Reblando who also essays the role of Julia.
BLIND CASTINGThe project marks Ms. Reblando’s first time to play a female lead, seen as a step forward for LGBTQ+ representation in musical theater.
“I’m thankful for PETA because I never knew this could happen, that I could be a leading lady. It’s a dream come true,” she said.
On what she will bring to the table as Julia, she said: “I think my presence alone gives a different flavor to the character, because I bring with me my lived experience as a transwoman.”
As for Mr. Gahol, who is the choreographer in addition to playing Tenyong, it was important that PETA open the various roles in the play to auditions from actors of different genders and identities.
“As a gay professional, I will always advocate for my community in any space. We didn’t feel the need to announce it as a marketing stunt. We just went and did it,” Mr. Gahol said.
He added that the exciting thing about having three different Julias to play off of is “to see the kind of love each Julia is capable of.”
The rest of the cast is a mix of old and new faces: Bene Manaois and Rendell Sanchez alternating as Miguel; Kiki Baento and Divine Aucina as Monica; Carlon Matobato and Ice Seguerra as Lucas; and Neomi Gonzales, Jolina Magdangal, and Gold Villar-Lim as Juana.
It will be Ms. Magdangal’s theater debut, and the first time for the role of Lucas to be played by a transman, Mr. Seguerra.
“When we did the rewrite, we had the chance to review the text and think of how it is relevant to the times. We discussed with Rody Vera that the Philippines was nonbinary until the Spanish colonized us,” Ms. Katanyag said.
“We cast these people because they fit the role. They were great when they auditioned.”
IMPROVEMENTSAs for what Walang Aray will be like in 2025 versus the original run in 2023, associate director Mr. Portales said that the themes are sharper now that they refined the dramaturgy.
“We want to manage the laughs, because we don’t want the sharpness of the wounds and the healing of these wounds to be lost amid the laughs,” he said.
Musical director Mr. Lim added that about “95% of the vocal and instrumental arrangements will be improved on.”
“The biggest difference is the new talent coming in, which brings a whole lot of good energy,” he said.
For Jun Reyes, grandson of Severino Reyes, the goal of Walang Aray is to “reinvent the sarswela into a modern musical.”
“The vision is for it to be translated to a modern audience, to actually entertain. Part of the entertainment process is the jokes, and the music with a more modern arrangement, so that the message of tumindig at umibig allows the classic sarswela of my grandfather to reach more audiences,” he explained.
“The basic spine of it has the original story, with the cast, the plot, the twists and everything, but we changed all the music. Essentially, it’s the same structure.”
Produced by PETA in partnership with Indie.Go Media and Metrobank, Walang Aray runs from Aug. 29 to Oct. 12 at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City. Tickets are available via Ticket2Me. — Brontë H. Lacsamana
