September 12, 2026
Anita (Kakki Teodoro) and her husband Maki (Marvin Ong) had been separated for the past three years on bitter terms. Since then, she was raising their young adult musician daughter Kath (Janine Teñoso) as a single mom. She had been seeing less and less of her gang of best friends the "Barkadolls," namely Juls (Justine Peña), Detski (Marynor Madamesila), and Mito (Baus Rufo). She did not even feel like attending their 25th high school homecoming.
Anita had artistic inclinations since childhood, into songwriting and performing. However, got pregnant with Kath at age 17, and because of this, she had to give up a lot of her showbiz dreams in order to raise her daughter. Anita's active imagination was full of fantasies -- that she was a powerful CEO of a construction company involved in government contracts, or a big-time mommy influencer with an ideal home life and husband.
"Muli" is an original OPM musical with book by Charissa Pammit and Jose Paolo dela Cruz, and music and songs by Nica del Rosario and Matthew Chang. The mundane story of a 42 year-old woman whose dreams were sidetracked by a teenage motherhood was energized with flashbacks of her colorful high school life and outlandish what-if scenarios which took her away from her current humdrum existence as plain housewife.
There were 11 catchy original songs written by the team of del Rosario and Chang with throwback and current styles ranging from dance hiphop to pop ballads, to drive the story forward. Not taking the usual jukebox route was a big risk for show producers Flipmusic, a music production company responsible for some of the biggest OPM hits for the past 15 years from Sarah Geronimo's "Tala" (2016) to Bini's "Salamin Salamin" (2024).
The show opens with the song "Iba't-Ibang Mundo," where Young Anita (Felicity Kyle Napuli) expressed her youthful dreams. In the fun song "Barkadolls," Anita and her high school gang professed that they will always have each other's back. The first act showstopper was an elaborate and profane (!) fantasy revenge number disguised in the seemingly innocent title "Ina Ninyong Lahat," that culminated with a hilarious "Wicked" reference.
We get to meet the men in Anita's life in Act 2. In the song "Liham," Maki appears as the "Perfect Husband" role of Anita's own fully-produced podcast. The song "Sarili Nating Kwento" was a duet sung by Anita with her high school crush Ian (Vien King) in the talent show of their school fair of St. Aurelia's School back in 1999. The late-90s flashback scenes resonated positively with the audience as they giggled with 'kilig" with their nostalgic recollections.
Anita's daughter Kath was played by 27 year-old singer-songwriter Janine Tenoso in her debut as a theater actress. Tenoso first made a name for herself as a finalist of a TV talent show "Born to Be a Star" in 2016, and went on to have hit records since then. Her singing talent was well showcased in her solo numbers "Silver Spoon" and "Happily Ever After." Acting-wise, Tenoso was able to hold her own in Kath's heart-to-heart scenes with her protective mother.
I know Kakki Teodoro can sing since the first time I saw her onstage in "Pamana" (2013). She would of course gain mainstream recognition as her award-winning portrayal of Nimia in "Himala: The Musical" in both the stage (2018) and film (2024 as "Walang Himala") versions. In 2019, I had seen her headline a one-woman show "Every Brilliant Thing," but apparently she never played lead in a stage musical before until now.
Teodoro's Anita was front and center of the entire show as it explored her memories, dreams, nightmares, and her very state of mind. Pammit and Dela Cruz's book was practically a series of psychoanalytic sessions where Anita was revealing her most innermost thoughts, insecurities, fears, and denials. We know Teodoro can steal any scene as a supporting actress, now we know she can dominate an entire show with her larger-than-life persona.
Teodoro sang in 8 out of the show's 11 original songs, mostly with her Barkadolls, leading the ensemble, or duets with her male partners. Her most emotional performance was in the title song "Muli," which Anita sang in duet with her precious Kath after a gut-wrenching revelation that made the audience audibly gasp. Teodoro carried Anita's arc full circle with the delivery of her valedictory anthem "Baka Bukas," expressing readiness to face the future.
The multiversal flow of the storytelling can feel rather abrupt as Anita shifted randomly from her present reality to high-school to imagined fantasies which can be puzzling. I watched this show on a matinee on its opening weekend so there were still a number of technical issues noted. Scene transitions can be noisy or took too long to set up. Anyhow, these would eventually iron themselves out as the company performs more shows in its three-week run.
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Muli: An OPM Musical runs at the Maybank Performing Arts Center in BGC on weekends from September 11 to 27, 2026 at 8 pm, with 3 pm matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets can be bought from Ticketworld at the following prices: ₱3,914 (Level 1 Center), ₱3,502 (Level 2 Center), ₱3,296 (Level 1 Sides), ₱2,678 (Level 2 Sides), ₱2,472 (Level 3 Center), and ₱1,854 (Level 3 Sides).
The show is directed by Andrei Pamintuan, with Gabbi Campomanes (assistant director), Julian Abuda (choreographer), D Cortezano (lighting and set designer), Santi Obcena (costume designer), Jodinand Aguillon (wardrobe stylist), Harly Daria (hair and makeup designer), Sarah Facuri (video designer), Arvy Dimaculangan (sound designer), Julian Hernandez (sound engineer).
The ensemble also includes Raflesia Bravo (as Anita's sister and as a senior high teacher), Harly Daria, Jon Abella, Gabo Tiongson, Elian Dominguez, Miah Canton (Kath understudy), and Matel Patayon (Anita understudy).
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