St. Louie Loves Dem Filipinos
On its last day at the AFP Theater, Dulaang UP’s St. Louie Loves Dem Filipinos continues to enthrall new audiences with its inspiring tale of a native prince who goes to the United States with the hopes of being honored in his people’s eyes and his spiraling descent into the dredges of American society.
Its extended run was made possible by great.events@manila president, Lisa Remigio-Banares, who saw it by chance and was so entranced by it that she had to make sure that more performances were made available to the viewing public. There’s even plans now to take it on a worldwide tour.
This production seems to be very fortunate as previously unavailable actors became free to join the play, such as Franco Laurel and Joaquin Valdes who alternate as Fred Tinawid, a third generation Fil-Am who also serves as the play’s narrator. Another welcome addition is Isay Alvarez, who, unfortunately, was in Cebu at the time for the Ad Congress the night that I watched, and who accepted the role of Bulan’s wife Momayon.
Datu Bulan is brought to life by Arnold Reyes, who is alternating with Miguel Castro, and who bears an uncanny resemblance to the real life image of the native prince displayed so prominently in the posters, program and with the video narrative employed during the show. Congratulations must be given to Winter David for the excellent use of video as a theatrical device, always adding but never distracting from the play, a tricky balance that is very hard to achieve.
The recounting of how tribal Filipinos were put on display during the 1904 World Trade Exposition at St. Louis, Missouri, an event that was even honored with the presence of the president at that time, President Theodore Roosevelt, and an event that also heralded the start of the influx of Filipinos immigrating to the United States to “do something great,” is eerily familiar, as the same conditions exist till now.
As celebrated playwright Floy Quintos wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “Musicals, by their very nature, seem to need happy endings. The very nature of a musical, characters bursting into song and dance, defies a sad ending. Would we have to sacrifice the integrity of the material to make it more accessible to today’s audience? A few very academic types, who’d seen and loved the straight play felt that this would indeed happen, and did warn me about the possibility of watering down a powerful story.”
Thankfully, the compelling ending of this musical showed both the triumphs and tragedies of Filipino lives abroad, an honest depiction that gains more with its stark truths than blissful illusions would have done.
The musical goes onstage for the last time today 26 November 2005 at 3pm and 8pm. You may call 891.9999 for more ticket information.
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