‘Muli: An OPM Musical’ explores hope amidst regrets over the roads not taken
Not too long ago, middle-aged people questioned their life choices in a process called “mid-life crisis.” Then the younger generation, who were barely 25 years old, went through the same journey they called “quarter-life crisis.” Now, according to the creative team of Muli: An OPM Musical, which will run this September, this kind of soul-searching happens to all generations. Yet, while the traveller inevitably encounters sadness and regret along the way, especially over the paths not taken, the musical is far from being a “downer.”
At curtain call, one take-away that the audience can bring home with them is “the courage to have that second chance, and say, ‘Yes, I can rebuild my life,’” said executive producer and playwright Charissa Pammit during the press conference on August 10.
At the heart of the musical is older Millennial and 42-year-old Anita, a full-time housewife who suddenly finds herself questioning her choices in life. Playing Anita is Kakki Teodoro. The trigger was the act of digging up her collectibles, possessions, and other stuff accumulated over the past decades. Memories then flood in: an early pregnancy, an equally early marriage, and the death or postponement of her dream to become a singer-songwriter.
As Pammit described it, “She had to put her life and dreams on hold because of the family that she had.”
Teodoro admitted that the journey will reveal her character’s “insecurities. That’s why she starts questioning: Paano kung heto na lang ang ginawa ko?”
Marvin Ong said that his character Maki, Anita’s spouse, also has his own regrets, asking himself what if “naging perfect husband siya, at mas nabigyan niya ng atensiyon iyung relationship nila?” Ong said that the couple, at this point in their lives, is “still struggling” with their relationship, “trying to put it back together … to try and patch things up for the better.”
Not too late
Not surprisingly, one motivation for the couple’s desire to do better in their lives, individually and together, is the welfare of their young daughter, played by Janine Teñoso, the celebrated showbusiness artist now making her theatrical debut.
Interestingly enough, it is Teñoso’s character who encourages her mother to move on, move forward, and finally realize her lifelong aspirations. Pammit said that what the younger woman is telling the older one is essentially, “It’s not too late to pursue your dreams, even if you’re 40 years old. You don’t have to worry about me all the time.’”
That all-too-familiar scenario, familiar to many people – unfulfilled goals, life detours, and the road not taken – resonates with Panmit and her longtime friends and artistic collaborators, director Andrei Pamintuan and Jose Paolo dela Cruz who co-wrote the musical’s book and lyrics with her. The genesis of the material started during Pammit and dela Cruz’s trip to Tagaytay. One conversation led to the “what-ifs and the things that you did not do but had always wanted to do,” said dela Cruz.
“When we’re with people our age, we talk about possibilities in life,” he continued. “What should we be doing? What should we not be doing? And then, out of the blue, somewhere between Manila and Tagaytay, that idea came to us.”
The original concept was a love letter to the millennial generation where they belonged. “But the more we wrote it, we realized that this is something that is not exclusive to millennials,” said dela Cruz. “Anyone from any generation cannot get over [something from] their childhood or teen years. We all have those memories that we will always come back to.”
The first version of Muli revolved around characters in their 20s; Pammit later pivoted, wanting to “explore what people in their late 30s, 40s, and 50s are going through.”
In a way, Muli is one what-if of dela Cruz that has come true. The seasoned journalist who writes about real people and real events in a profession where the practitioners “do not have the liberty to make up things” (as he puts it) had “always wanted to write fiction.”
For her part, Pammit had wanted to do another musical ten years after her original production Sa Wakas, the acclaimed rock musical that unfolded the complexity and heartache of a love triangle in a non-linear fashion.
Unconventional
Paminutan, who directed Sa Wakas, apparently will bend many conventions in more ways than one in staging Muli. Although the cast and crew understandably do not want to give spoilers, there were hints throughout the press conference of shifts in time in order to reveal the growth of the characters and the transformation of their perspectives. Aside from the flashbacks, there were allusions and references to multi-verses and alternate universes, which probably reflect different realities that could have happened had the characters made different choices.
For some of the Gen-Z actors, one learning curve had to do with dealing with the outmoded practices and devices of the 1990s, like the concept of modem-dependent internet, among other Gen-X oddities.
The occasional trip down memory lane in the musical can also bring a nostalgic look at a life that was simpler and happier. “It’s looking back at a time when we were younger and not worrying about too many things,” Ong said. “We didn’t have flood control or wars. We look at our past through rose-tinted glasses.”
Teodoro said that the audience will see different aspects of her character possibly in different timelines. The first is the aforementioned dutiful housewife. The second is Anita as “a young teenager, full of hopes and dreams. We are going to see her as a pop star who is overconfident, sometimes arrogant.”
There are plans to release a cast recording of the Muli soundtrack in the future. The 11 original songs, created by singer-songwriter Nica del Rosario and musical director and composer Matthew Chang, may have different soundscapes and “flavors of sound,” said the former. However, they will still sound “like one organic thing. It doesn’t feel like you are listening to an album of 11 different people.”
Perhaps more important, Chang added that the songs “will push the story forward,” with each one having “a very specific purpose of helping the story,” in effect contributing to the musical’s world-building. Pamintuan added that they will “span different genres …. reflecting the multiversal world that Anita goes through.”
From time shifts to different dimensions, the journey is still meant to encourage. Ong said that he hoped that the audience who visits a brighter past becomes “inspired to bring those times back.”
That decision in turn just might persuade them, especially for folks well beyond their 20s, to forge toward a more rewarding future. “Sometimes it’s harder for us to start again. A lot might be holding you back,” said Pammit. “You feel like you’re not good enough, you don’t have the time anymore, or you’re already set in life. But you don’t have to settle. You can always dream of something new. We want to give that feeling of hope to everyone who watches this show.”
Muli: An OPM Musical will be staged on select dates from Sept. 11-27 at the Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, at the BGC Arts Center in Taguig City.
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