The curtains are finally ready to rise again as theater companies fill out the calendar with their show dates. It’s been two long years of streaming pro-shots and online adaptations, but now we can finally watch a handful of new works and catch the resumption of 2020’s postponed shows.
Virgin Labfest
Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Tanghalang Huseng Batute
June 16 to 24
Featuring untried, untested, unstaged one-act plays, CCP’s Virgin Labfest is back live again this year. While tickets to the on-site performances have already sold out, there will also be opportunities to watch the plays via streaming. Online streaming festival passes are available via Ticket2Me. Talks and other discussions will also be streamed online.
For updates, follow Cultural Center of the Philippines on Facebook.
[READ: Ready for live theater? CCP’s Virgin Labfest is back this June]Joseph the Dreamer
Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, BGC
July 15 to 17, 22 to 24, 29 to 31
Based on the biblical story of Jacob’s son Joseph, “Joseph the Dreamer” was one of the musicals that finished its full run in Manila before the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. It was also set to be staged in Cebu in May that year, but no longer pushed through due to lockdown restrictions. The musical by Trumpets is now back for a restaging, once again featuring Sam Concepcion in the lead role. Gary Valenciano, who once played the titular role in 1999, returns to the stage this year now as Jacob.
Tickets are available via TicketWorld.
Mula sa Buwan
Samsung Performing Arts Theater
Aug. 26 to Sept. 11
A much-awaited restaging of the original Filipino musical adaptation based on the Edmond Rostand play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “Mula sa Buwan” finally announced its show dates and full cast. Gab Pangilinan, Myke Salomon, and Markki Stroem will be playing the story’s three leads. They will be staging at the brand new Samsung Performing Arts Theater at Circuit Makati. Tickets are available via Ticketworld.
We Will Rock You
Samsung Performing Arts Theater
October
Featuring songs by the iconic band Queen, “We Will Rock You” looks to be the first international musical tour in the country this year. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, the musical follows two revolutionaries off to save rock and roll. “In an age where algorithms predict our every preference, We Will Rock You is a musical
for our time: a fist-pumping, foot-stomping anthem to individuality,” their press statement reads.
The tour will be brought to the local stage by GMG Productions this October. Tickets are now available for purchase via Ticketworld.
Carousel
Repertory Philippines
November
Another postponed production from early 2020, Repertory Philippines has also announced that the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic “Carousel” will finally be staged again within the year. Details on show dates, cast, and ticket selling have yet to be announced.