This is already the second to the last day of their entire run that we saw tonight. But for some reason, it still feels a bit rough and unpolished. The book was quite funny, irreverent at certain points, and flirting with rated R territory (I had my 8 year old daughter with me!), but yes, it is funny (when it is intelligible). The music is quite pleasant pop. But nothing really that got me humming when I got out of the theater. I do want to find a copy of the soundtrack and listen to the music and the words better.
Could the problem be the actors? They seem to be very new in the theater world to carry an entire play (albeit being one-act, and only lasting an hour). You know they worked very hard, but somehow it fell short a bit for me.
The actors who played Matthew and Luke are quite good and in fact look like real boy band guys. Their dance moves and posturings are boy-band authentic. The guy who played Matthew (PJ Valerio), in particular, projects to the hilt like a real boy-band face-man. His best song was "Something About You," which was about sexual abstinence. The ending line is quite naughty and hilarious.
The guy who played Luke (Reuben Yu) was the best dancer of them all, very athletic in a Marky-Mark sort of way. His singing voice is also very strong, as he gets to deliver on the highest notes. His gangsta-style delivery of lines can be quite unintelligibly corny at times, though. Cool though.
The other three don't really look like boy-band members, so it strains the credibility. The guy who played Abraham (Chevy Mercado) was a very good singer but his acting, dancing and overall projection was really very awkward.
The guy who played Mark (Red Concepcion) is also a very good singer. His solo number "Epiphany" is the funniest song there in my opinion. However, is he really supposed to look so blatantly gay? The way the song's lyrics go, this guy Mark should still be in the closet, isn't he? While I think the actor who played him went too much over the top with his gay flamboyance, his delivery of the word "lust" in one serious scene is just too memorably funny.
The one that marred my total enjoyment of this musical so much for me is the guy who played Juan (Reb Atadero). He simply is not funny at all. Everything he did, be it acting or singing, his awful accent or just his mere standing on stage, was so awkward and even painful to watch. The scene where Juan had to run around screaming on stage bawling his eyes out was so long and simply too uncomfortable and unfunny. Might just be the way the character was written, though.
Overall, it was just OK for me. Just ay't, as Randy Jackson would say. This was clearly for the teens and 20s set, it seems. Those in this demographic in the audience this night really seemed to have enjoyed so much. I do not want to concede, however, that I am already to old for this musical. Hahaha! I do really want to get my hands on a soundtrack album to appreciate it more.
hey doc!! i got to watch the play on their last evening performance. uhmmm..just like what u said,, the entire play was OK. i agree to what u said about that Juan guy..geeee!! he's really annoyin. he's an eye sore actually. they should've assigned it to other guys..ehehehe! i read some reviews about this play in NY and i was quite expecting to have the same reaction. oh well...the play i watched was really for the yuppies (am still a yuppie but i wasn't not impressed) who just wanna see cutie guys like Matthew and Luke...and laugh at Mark's funny antics. hihihi!
