And St. Louis Loves Dem Filipinos

Last night, Rosa and I stepped out and saw Dulaang UP's latest offering, and St. Louis Loves Dem Filipinos, The Musical written by Floy Quintos and directed by Alex Cortez. Truth be told, it had been quite a while since I've gone to theater on my own accord, and so with Rosa. Call it a long-called-for treat.

The World Expo of St. Louis Missouri, 1904. American anthropologists come to the Philippines and decide to take a sampling of the country's different ethnic groups to show off at the World Expo, all in the name of "benevolent assimilation". Among the chosen people are two from the Bagobo Tribe, the proud Datu Bulan and his loving wife Momayon. The Datu with his countrymen sail forth to America in the belief he goes there to do great things. but with the opening of the world Expo, things take a sad turn for the Prince. They are seen not as a proud people, but specimens and freaks on Parade. As the Expo closes, the Datu choses to stay behind in hopes of having a better life. The passage of two decades, the Great Depression, and the Great California fire of 1920 change the Datu and eventually strip him of his identity. The american-born Filipino narrator continues to search for the Datu he once knew and finds himself in the Datu.

What can I say? The musical was awesome, very well done. I'd never seen the original non-musical form of the piece, but wow. The songs were very memorable, specially the love song between Bulan and Momayon (Waiting Still), the narrator's song for Bulan (If You Must Change), and the finale (Paglalakbay). Arnold Reyes' performance as Bulan was breath-taking, as well as the other actors and actresses who told and sang the tale with him.

I gave Sir Floy Quintos a big hug after the play, and I congratulated Sir Alex. The Musical left me asking there would be a soundtrack out very soon. (They managed to do that for Victoria Lactaw, I really hope they can to the same for this.)

I really, really do recommend watching this musical.

Karl came around with molo soup for Rosa, a grilled sandwich for me, and a heading-home for all of us. Papa took me home to Cainta from Philcoa, and though tired, I just couldn't sleep with St. Louis still swimming in my head.