The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Arvin T. Ello / Correspondent
Two years after it wowed audiences as a one-act play staged at the ninth edition of the Virgin Labfest, graphic novelist Carlo Vergara’s Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady is set to return next month as a full-length musical produced by Manila’s newest theater company Dalanghita Productions, in cooperation with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (Peta); directed by award-winning writer/director Chris Martinez; and featuring songs by prize-winning composer/lyricist/musical director/writer/actor Vincent de Jesus.
Leading Lady is about Mely Moran (Bituin Escalante and Frenchie Dy), a woman in her mid-30s who gets hired as a maid by Fuerza Filipinas, a company-sponsored band of six English-speaking superhumans—leader Madre de Dios (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Astarte Abraham), Nena Babushka (Giannina Ocampo), Windang Woman (Caisa Borromeo), Bazooka Man (Jeff Flores), Popoy Pusakal (Chesko Rodriguez) and Leading Man (Markki Stroem and Hans Eckstein)—tasked to “eradicate injustice, bring honor to the Filipino people and serve all mankind,” and whose rules compel them to keep their relationships professional.
Trouble comes when Viva (Natasha Cabrera and Kim Molina), Mely’s flighty and resentful younger sister who dreams of gaining prestige, lands a job that requires her to infiltrate Fuerza Filipinas’ headquarters—one that she’s willing to do after being led to believe that Madre de Dios and her fellow superheroes aren’t the great defenders they project themselves to be to the ordinary people who adore them.
Also involved in the trouble is the group Kayumanggilas, made up of supervillains who acquired their powers after ingesting a special formula called “Chemical Q” and whose aim is to destroy Fuerza Filipinas. They are Senyor Blangko (Nar Cabico and Domi Espejo), Henyotic (Vince Lim and Mikoy Morales), Jeryc Sans Rival (Elliot Eustacio), Maracas Marko (Red Nuestro) and Itak-Atak (Red Concepcion).
Much to explore
Transforming his one-act play—which was restaged at last year’s edition of the Virgin Labfest, and which featured Kiki Baento as Mely, Skyzx Labastilla as Viva, and Eckstein as Leading Man—into a full-length one was a dream that Vergara previously couldn’t imagine happening. After one performance of the one-act play, someone had approached Vergara and proposed the idea of it turning into a musical. Vergara, without thinking twice, said yes to it, but was unsure how everything would happen.
“There’s still so much to explore [in the story]: How did Mely get the job? What’s the root cause of the conflict between the two sisters? There are [things that still] need to be addressed,” Vergara said in an interview on the sidelines of the press conference for the musical in Quezon City on April 13.
The events in the one-act play are inserted in Act 2 of the musical, and though there were a lot of changes involved—considering the many characters added to it and exploring what happened before and after those events—Vergara placed Mely and Viva in a totally different world of domestication.
“They are [not only] in situations that seem too big—na ‘di lang ako naging kasambahay—but also involved sa gulo ng superheroes,” said Vergara, who firmly believes that “where you are is where you are meant to be.”
Vergara first started writing plays when he became involved in the musical adaptation of his National Book Award-winning graphic novel Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah. This adaptation, titled Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Musikal, was first staged in 2006 by acclaimed theater company Tanghalang Pilipino and directed by Chris Millado.
“I had no idea about story structure. It was an experiment,” Vergara said. He had to read books on how to write plays and consult with his theater friends, like Tuxqs Rutaquio, who played Ada, the effeminate hairdresser who swallows a cosmic stone to become Zsazsa Zaturnnah, in the stage adaptation (and who is Leading Lady’s production designer).
Stories about superheroes
Vergara’s passion for comics and science-fiction stories moved him to writing and drawing. His plays, including his most recent one, the Virgin Labfest 10 play Missing Peace, tell stories about (super)heroes.
“My general idea is: anyone can be a hero,” the graphic novelist said. And in Leading Lady, the superhero is a kasambahay.
No doubt about it, Vergara’s devotion to creating stories has gone to a new level.
“When I write a story, it should be for comics. That’s my default,” he said. According to him, when he wrote Leading Lady, there were no other titles that came to his mind except that. No working titles. He said that’s how he creates titles for his works.
When the spark of a serious idea comes, Vergara doesn’t normally start writing or take notes. He lets the idea incubate for a year to really get the right mix for the story and study his characters.
Vergara is always looking for humor in his stories. For him, it comes out naturally in what the characters say.
“I can’t do ‘serious’ art. If you ask me to do, for instance, a Schindler’s List, a massacre piece or a [highly] political story in our current landscape, I can’t do that. My idea of morality—I self-censor,” he said.
Carlo wants to surprise his readers and audiences with his stories. “There is something you haven’t seen yet. I love the gray areas, where you can play and experiment. Laughter makes people relaxing and vulnerable to accepting more or something else,” he said. With AID
Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady: The Musical will open on May 7 and run until June 7 at the Peta Theater Center, located at 5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City. Shows start at 3 and 8 p.m. For inquiries, call or send a text message to Dalanghita Productions Inc. at 0998-5311389 or send an e-mail to dalanghitaproductions@gmail.com. For tickets, call Ticketworld at (632) 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph.