December 5, 2022
Billy Bigelow (Gian Magdangal) worked as the barker of a carousel in a small town in Maine. One night, two young millworkers, Julie Jordan (Karylle Tatlonghari) and Carrie Pipperidge (Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante), took a ride on the carousel. Billy and Julie developed an obvious attraction for each other, much to the annoyance of the carousel owner, the widow Mrs. Mullin (Roxy Aldiosa). She banned Julie from her carousel and fired Billy for taking Julie's side.
After Billy and Julie were married, things were not going too smoothly with the couple. Word even got out around town that Billy beat Julie. He also got involved with a notorious man named Jigger Craigin (Noel Rayos) who was trying to convince the jobless Billy to join him to rob Julie's former employer Mr. Bascombe (Red Nuestro) during the town's yearly clambake picnic. When Billy learned that Julie was pregnant, he reluctantly accepted Jigger's plan.
"Carousel" (1945) was the second musical created by legendary theater-meisters Richard Rodgers (for music) and Oscar Hammerstein (for book and lyrics) after their smash debut "Oklahoma" (1943). This was based on a much older Hungarian play entitled "Liliom" by Ferenc Molnar with the same dark plot and flawed characters. However, its name lives on mainly because of its two immortal songs -- "If I Loved You" and "You'll Never Walk Alone).
For people who only know Rodgers and Hammerstein from their big hits like "Sound and Music" and "The King and I," they may be in for a surprise with "Carousel." The story about toxic men and submissive women was not bright and cheery at all. There were casual depictions of lecherous men making sexualized moves on women in several scenes, all very uncomfortable to watch, which may be the intention of director Toff De Venecia. Aside from this, the afterlife scenes with the Starkeepers may also come off as too bizarre.
Dance was an integral part of this musical. As choreographed by Stephen Vinas, they were contemporary balletic interpretations of the plight of Billy and Julie's daughter Louise (ballerina Gia Gequinto in her Rep debut) with anachronistic props like cellphones and a ring light. These dance interludes have a very serious mood to them, danced to instrumental music only, not to songs with lyrics. If one is not fond of this type of dance, he might find these parts tedious and too long. I still do not know what those two silver blocks really represented.
However, the acting and singing prowess of its lead actors cannot be denied. Karylle's soprano was more brilliant and stronger than I've heard her before. Too bad she only had "If I Loved You" as her main solo showcase. Gian Magdangal really captured Billy Bigelow's handsome but brutish character. Aside from "If I Loved You," his powerful renditions of "Soliloquy" and "The Highest Judge of All" were riveting in emotional substance.
Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante always had that delightful, scene-stealing stage presence, and her turn as Carrie was no different, with her cheery renditions of "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" and "(When I Marry) Mr. Snow." Senior actress Mia Bolanos really stood out when her Nettie Fowler led the ensemble in the ebullient "June is Busting Out All Over" and then sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" heart-rending exquisiteness -- not just once, but twice.
Lorenz Martinez played Carrie's husband Enoch Snow in a comic style. Among the ensemble, Cara Barredo and Steven Hotchkiss play various roles, Julio Laforteza made his mark with his dance moves, as Roby Malubay also did with his deep baritone. Playing live dueling piano accompaniment were musical director Ejay Yatco and Joed Balsamo. Notable among the technicals were the lighting by Barbie Tan-Tiongco and the costumes by Jodinand Aguillon. Hoping the microphones could still be improved so that the lyrics won't sound garbled.
***
Watch Repertory Philippines’ Carousel at the #CCPBlackBoxTheater from November 26 to December 18, 2022. Tickets are available through TicketWorld and the CCP Box Office: 8832-3704 | 8832-1125.
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