October 15, 2023
The story of Snow White was written by the Brothers Grimm, and published in their collection of German fairy tales in the year 1812. However when Walt Disney released his full-length animated classic "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" in 1939, this maiden whose "skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony" became a beloved character for children all over the world.
The truthful magic mirror revealed that to the vain Queen that her step-daughter Snow White is the fairest woman in the kingdom. To escape the Queen's plot to kill her, Snow White ran off into the woods where she sought shelter in the house of seven dwarves. The Queen disguised as an old peasant and put Snow White into an enchanted sleep with a magic apple. A Prince woke her up with true love's first kiss.
This stage musical version of the Snow White fairy tale is current production of the Repertory Theater for Young Audiences (RTYA), now on its 31st year as the children's theater arm of Repertory Philippines. It is also the only production Rep mounted this year. The delightful book, music & lyrics were by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, the same team behind another hit children's play RTYA staged in 2018, "Rapunzel! Rapunzel!" (MY REVIEW).
With their rhyming lines and lyrics keyed for younger audiences, Vogt and Friedman made some major tweaks to the familiar story of the Disney classic. Perhaps to address the controversial issue of the Prince randomly planting a kiss of an unconscious Snow White without her consent, it was shown here that they've met in a ball and were actually falling in love at first sight with each other even before that kiss. After Snow White was revived, there was an additional scene where the heroes and the evil Queen have a showdown.
Several aspects of that 2018 production were also found in this new show. The director is still RTYA's founder Ms. Joy Virata. The very colorful and fanciful costumes were also designed by Raven Ong. The dramatic lighting design was still by John Batalla. New members of the artistic team were: Stephen Vinas for the choreography (which went from ballet to tap), and London-based Kayla Teodoro for the set design (from the pastel-colored forest to the cute dollhouse-like dwarves' cottage).
In the "Rapunzel" show I watched, the antagonist Lady Zaza was played with glee by Carla Guevara-Laforteza. This time around I again catch Laforteza playing the evil Queen. She had a short bob hairstyle and severe make-up so I did not recognize her at first. However, she certainly knew how to work this villainous role for the kids in the audience. She could be dark and scary, yet balanced with a tongue-in-cheek delivery of her lines and wicked laughter. (Pinky Marquez and Julia Serad alternate as Queen.)
Jillian Ita-as still looked like a pre-teen when I first saw and heard her sing a "Frozen" song on the CCP stage in "Disney in Concert: Tale as Old as Time" in 2014 (MY REVIEW). Now almost ten years later, she is playing the title role in a Rep production. Her diminutive height may make her look much, much younger than her actual age, but her cherubic face, natural charisma and crystal-clear singing made her a good fit as pure-hearted Snow White. (Kiara Dario, Ashlee Factor a.k.a. Pappel, and Fil-Am talent Anyah alternate as Snow White.)
Neo Rivera first caught attention of theater critics when he took on the challenging title role in the 2022 restaging of Trumpets' "Joseph the Dreamer". Now, he is taking on the role of the Prince Alexander Emmanuel Heinrich Nicholas Philippe Augustus, and he brings to the role a lovesick charm, which seemed to delight the little girls in the audience, especially when he went up and down the aisle stairs in certain parts of the play. (Rapah Manalo and MC dela Cruz alternate as the Prince.)
Sebastian Katigbak played the key role of the Magic Mirror a tad too much swish, but his solo number "I Got the Queen" with tap dancing was a showstopper. (Franco Ramos and Chino Veguillas alternate as the Mirror.) Chesko Rodriguez also played the Prince's butler Rupert a tad too prissily, so his "shipping" with Snow's more mature nursemaid (Cara Barredo) was rather unconvincing. (Diego Aranda and Dingdong Rosales alternate as Rupert. Abi Sulit and Ring Antonio alternate as the Nursemaid.)
Vogt and Friedman departed from Disney's depiction of dwarves as little people, instead going for the current norm of inclusivity, specifying that they should be of all "sizes, shapes, ages and sexes." And diverse they were in the show I watched -- stage veteran Nelson Caruncho, Ralph Oliva, Barbara Jance, 16 year-old StarMagic artist Omar Uddin, ensemble member Liway Perez, dwarf swing Czar Decena, and, most remarkably, the very cute Sophie Banaag, the youngest member of the cast -- telling us to “just call us friends” instead.
However, the definition and image of how "dwarves" should look like are simply too deeply ingrained in us, so it may take some time for kids and parents to accept Vogt and Friedman's definition, despite their noble intention. In fact, I thought the two actors who played the palace guards in that show I watched looked more like dwarves than the actual "dwarves." (Also alternating as Dwarves are Kenny Isidro, Jay Barrameda, Basti Santos, Reese dela Vega Iso, Tiago Santos, and Mica Fajardo.)
Watching this hour and a half (with an intermission) was a rollicking fun time, especially with the kids in the audience all engaged and interacting with the colorful and wacky characters and their silly antics. It was heartening to hear the excited chatter and laughter of future theater lovers, which is certainly always an additional bonus when we watched these delightful RTYA productions over the years since 1992.
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