Rama Hari (Ballet Philippines)

December 2, 2012

I have long heard about the 1980 theater classic "Rama Hari," who starred Basil Valdez, Leo Valdez and a then relatively unknown singer named Kuh Ledesma.  This epic show was  a collaboration among giants in the theater world.  The choreography was by Alice Reyes, the founder of Ballet Philippines.  The libretto was by Bienvenido Lumbera, a National Artist in Literature, adapting stories from the Indian epic "Ramayana". The music was by Ryan Cayabyab, who was only 26 years old back then when he wrote the score.  The set and costumes were by the late Salvador Bernal, also a National Artist.

                                     

This year, Ballet Philippines (under Ms. Margie Moran) brings all the magic back to the CCP from November 30 to December 9, 2012, with a cast headed by pop stars Christian Bautista and Karylle.  This is must-see theater!

Must see, yes.  But I have not had the time to go buy tickets.  Then just earlier this week, I chanced upon a promo in Facebook for free tickets to Rama Hari from herworld.com.  I just answered the questions and shared their FB status, and did not think much about it anymore.  Then, last Thursday November 29, while doing surgery in the operating room, I unexpectedly get a call from Ms. Kae of herworld.com announcing that I had won THREE free tickets to this show on December 1!  I picked up the tickets that very afternoon.

Being a Saturday, my clinic on December 1 was only supposed to be up to 2 pm. However, it did not end on time.  I saw my last patient by 4 pm.  Without having eaten lunch yet, I immediately went home to pick up my wife and daughter.  We unfortunately reached the CCP Main Theater already past 6:30 pm.  We barely sat down, already regaled by the clean white stage design, and Christian Bautista's amazingly soaring voice that we caught, when after he sang, the intermission was announced!  We barely caught the last 10 minutes of Act 1.  So this article will basically be a review only of Act 2.

*********************

Act 2 tells the story of Rama and Sita encountering the evil brother and sister duo Ravana and Soopranakha.     Sookpranakha lusts after Rama and tries to seduce him.  Sita was deceived, lured and abducted by Ravana.  Rama enlists the help of Monkey King Hanuman to help him get Sita back.  Will the devoted couple ever get back together again?

Wait a minute, isn't that already the whole story we read in all the press releases for this show?  So what on earth happened in Act 1?  Anyway....

It took a while to figure out what was going on onstage.  The conceit here is that the story of Rama and Sita were being simultaneously told in both dance and song!  While Christian and Karylle were playing Rama and Sita as actors and singers, there were Jean Marc Cordero and Katherine Trofeo  playing the same characters Rama and Sita as ballet dancers.  Even the supporting roles of Ravana, Soorpanakha, Hanuman and Rama's loyal brother Lakshmana, have both singers and dancers to represent them.  Your eyes will be very busy following all the action on stage, not to mention the English subtitles they are flashing overhead!

When it reached the Ravana/Soorpranakha episode, I did not expect the language of the play to turn modern, funny and even vulgar!  There were definitely Parental Guidance moments in that part of the play, not only in the dancing, but also in the song lyrics!

                                        

Christian Bautista and Karylle really carried the show very well as Rama and Sita.  They both look regal in stage presence and demeanor.  And their singing is flawless!  Soaring and effortless, this was a vast improvement of my previous viewing experience of their performances in "West Side Story" years back, which was sadly lacking in excitement or power.  But tonight, their performances as Rama and Sita were memorably stellar, though both were a bit stiff in the dancing department but we can overlook that.

As for their ballet counterparts, Katherine Trofeo danced Sita very well indeed.  Very very graceful.  That part where she was being ravished by Ravana was heartbreaking and dramatic.  On the other hand, Jean Marc Cordero, in my opinion, unfortunately did NOT have bearing enough to look like a Rama.  He did not feel credible as the King and Hero.  The male dancers who essayed Lakshmana (Luis Cabrera, Jr.) or Hanuman (Emmanuelle Guillermo) all had better physicality than Jean Marc, so he pales in comparison when he is dancing with these other guys.  His ill-fitting old-rose-colored outfit did not really complement him as well.

                                     

The singer who played Ravana (Christian Rey Marbella) had a fantastically high voice.  His songs were reminiscent of those of Judas in "Jesus Christ Superstar."  The more famous Ravana may have been Robert Sena, but Mr. Marbella did not disappoint.  The dancer who played Ravana (Timothy Cabrera) similarly had that appropriate sinister look, presence and dancing skill.  The singer who played Soorpranakha (Amparo Sietereales)  had a lot of fun with her naughty role and sang powerfully with evil glee, and so did her ballet counterpart (Rita Angela Winder) match this with lustful dance moves.  The singer who belted the songs of Hanuman (Breznev Larlar) had a strong voice to match his sense of humor, as did the dancing counterpart of this simian role (Guillermo) with his physical comedy.

"Rama Hari" was really a stage experience of a different sort we rarely encounter now.  The live music played by the Manila Symphony Orchestra, with the amazing vocal stylings of the UP Concert Chorus, was perfectly rendered and in sync with the busy stage action. It is indeed must-see theater.  Go catch it as it runs only up to December 9, 2012.

*****

UPDATE: September 23, 2023

The classic ballet rock musical "Rama, Hari" is being restaged this year, 44 years after its original staging at the CCP in 1980.  Since then up to now, five of its creators have been named National Artists -- choreographer Alice Reyes, composer Ryan Cayabyab, writer Bienvenido Lumbera and Rolando Tinio, and production designer Salvador Bernal. This is the first time the show was performed again since 2012, which is the show that I described above. 

Because of the renovations being done at the CCP, the venues were this time around were the Metropolitan Theater (September 15 and 16) and the Samsung Performing Arts Theater (September 22 to 24). The featured dance company this time around is the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, on its third year of existence. The live music for selected performances will be performed by the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, under the baton of Toma Cayabyab. 

Playing Sita again after a little more than a decade, Karylle Tatlonghari has matured as a singer and a stage actress, yet still without any visible signs of those additional ten years when you see her on stage. As Rama, Arman Ferrer's command of his vocal instrument continues to gain more and more strength and confidence, befitting of the titular hero he is playing. Their dance counterparts in the show I watched were Katrene San Miguel and Ejay Arisola.

I did not remember that the other singers in the cast were actually playing more than one character, which can be confusing. Aside from the villain Ravana in Act 2, Poppert Bernadas had the role of a court minister (?) in Act 1, singing "Awit ng Pagsinta." Audie Gemora mainly sang the role of Rama's father King Dasaratha, but a little earlier he also sang the role of Sita's father King Janaka.  Jon Abella sang both the roles of Rama's loyal brother Lakhsmana and the monkey king Hanuman. 

So far from her ingenue role in "The Kundiman Party" where I first saw her, Miah Canton's vocal prowess has grown so much as heard in two villainess roles here. In Act 1, she played Kooni (the witchy adviser to Kaikeyi, the king's third wife), and in Act 2, she played Soorpanakha, Ravana's demon sister.  Katrine Sunga sang two roles -- Kaikeyi in Act 1 singing "Ika'y May Pangako" with her impressively strong stratospheric cries of "Itaas! Itaas!", and the Golden Deer in Act 2. 

Among the dancers, the standouts for me were Renzen Arboleda (as Lakshmana), Danilo Dayo (as Hanuman), Tim Cabrera (as Ravana) and Sarah Alejandro (as Soorpanakha). 

Act 1, which I was not able to see back in 2012, told the story of how Rama won the competition to earn the right to marry Sita, and how his father King Dasaratha, owing to an old promise he made, was coerced by his third wife Kaikeyi to name her teenage son Bharata as the rightful heir and send Rama into a 14-year exile in the wilderness. 

Now finally, I can say that I have seen the complete show.