REVIEW: TGA’s ‘Into the Woods’ is visibly Filipino
The moment you step into Samsung Performing Arts Theater, the onslaught of capiz makes it very clear that this foray into the woods is visibly Filipino. It seems as though we’re to witness this Sondheim classic play out at the foyer of a grand bahay na bato, vast and nearly bare to evoke that this is a grand old Filipino house; so grand, there’s service doors and a great chandelier.
Once the proceedings begin and The Narrator (played by Rody Vera) enters, clad in a cozy sweatshirt and jeans, you get the sense that these fairytales are being told to you by a decidedly hip uncle who may have spent many a Sundays in such an ancestral home. It’s the cosmopolitan sort of Filipino that’s most legible in this Theatre Group Asia-produced Into the Woods: the Filipino that’s well-resourced, and the kind who sees heritage in such a bahay na bato, and not so much the colonial and hierarchical symbol it just as much represents.
Separate Elements
Stephen Sondheim (music & lyrics) and James Lapine (book) tells the story of a Baker (Nyoy Volante) and his Wife (Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante) who try to break a Witch’s (Lea Salonga) curse in order to have a child of their own. In their effort, they come across multiple fairytale characters: Cinderella (Arielle Jacobs), Jack (Nic Chien), Little Red Riding Hood (Teetin Villanueva), and Rapunzel (Joreen Bautista) who all long for things of their own. As wishes are granted and bargains struck, Act One ends in apparent happily-ever-afters, only for Act Two to unravel them into loss, moral compromise, and unintended consequences.
Chari Arespacochaga directs this production and it’s one that seems to let each element do its own thing. Ohm David’s set does the heavy-lifting of signalling the Filipino in this production. The performances are carrying out their individual arcs as though they still exist in separate stories, and Sondheim and Lapine’s material lay down the themes already clearly baked into the material. What stands out are lessons of being careful what one wishes for, and that children watch closely what adults do.
Though each element of this show is by and large, as the company describes it, ‘world class,’ there’s much left to be desired in terms of each of these fusing into a cohesive vision. Tonally, Arespacochaga’s direction makes it so that the show is hard to pin down. It doesn’t come across as particularly whimsical as fairytales are, nor dark as Grimm’s stories tend to be, nor witty and humorous as Sondheim and Lapine’s work undoubtedly is.
Shining Performances
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The cast called to inhabit these woods is worth the price of admission. Foremost is Lea Salonga as the Witch who reminds audiences that she is a sensational character actress as much as she is a singular leading lady. Clad in her costume that seems to recall both the mangkukulam or bruha and a storybook old witch, she disappears into the role through her altered voice and gait. She delivers both the grotesque humor and the bruised heart of her character from start to finish.
Another standout performance is Josh Dela Cruz as he hams it up gleefully as Cinderella’s Prince, a charming Gaston-type with just the right dose of irony, and brings a smooth, alluring danger to the Wolf without overdarkening the tone.
Nyoy Volante and Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante, share an easy onstage rapport playing a married couple. While both excellent with beautiful voices, Volante is less vivid as the everyman Baker while Bradshaw-Volante as the Baker’s Wife seemed tailor-made to mine the humor of her character with her impeccable comedic timing.
Arielle Jacobs gives Cinderella a warm, enchanting presence; Teetin Villanueva makes Little Red a feisty, clever delight. Among the supporting turns, Nic Chien’s Jack—deeply likable, adorably naive—holds his own in his first featured role in a musical, while Eugene Domingo makes Jack’s Mom her own with a Filipino accent, which added some dynamic Filipino texture to the performances.
Mark Bautista’s Rapunzel’s Prince, on the other hand, feels like that of a smooth announcer unwilling to puncture his handsome-prince image. Joreen Bautista showed off her strong vocals as Rapunzel, but it is not quite matched by character presence. Carla Guevara Laforteza also lends the Giantess an inexplicable southern drawl.
Much Texture
Raven Ong’s costumes mix Western fairytale silhouettes with Filipino textiles and embroidery. This multicultural fusion is more apparent if you’re close to the stage, but from further away, it’s the silhouettes that come across more clearly, deepening the impression that these are European fairytale characters that are unraveling against a backdrop of capiz.
The 19-piece orchestra under Gerard Salonga’s baton keeps Sondheim’s score vibrant, and the cast handles its rhythmic and melodic challenges with ease.
The rest of the production’s aspects certainly add texture to the show such as GA Fallarme’s multimedia projections, Cecile Martinez’s choreography, and Megumi Katayama’s sound design. The lighting (by Cha See) helps spotlight where one’s attention should be though it offers little mood progression, nor does it help chart the story’s tonal descent.
Visibly Filipino
Overall, it’s a polished and daresay exportable production, this Into the Woods. It is certainly visibly Filipino as far as the set goes, and undeniably Filipino as the creatives involved and people onstage are of Filipino descent. Yet despite quite literally framing this story in wall-to-wall ventanilla and capiz shells, it’s still a musical about western fairytales told without any deeper engagement with Filipino culture.
Tickets: P1500, P1800, P2800, P3500, P4750, P5500, P6000
Show Dates: August 7 – 31, 2025
Venue: Samsung Performing Arts Theater, Circuit, Makati
Running Time: approx. 3 hours (w/ 15-min intermission)
Company: Theatre Group Asia
Creatives: Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics), James Lapine (book), Chari Arespacochaga (Director), Gerard Salonga (Music Director), Ohm David (Set Designer), Raven Ong (Costume Designer), Cha See (Lighting Designer), Megumi Katayama (Sound Designer), Cecile Martinez (Choreographer), GA Fallarme (Multimedia Designer), Johann dela Fuente (Hair and Makeup), Aina Bonifacio Ramolete (puppet design), National Artist Amelia Bonifacio’s Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas (puppet execution), Jamie Wilson (Assistant Director), Farley Asuncion (Associate Musical Director), Hershee Tantiado (Assistant Costume Designer), Meliton Roxas (Associate Lighting Director), Aron Roca (Associate Sound Designer), Manman Angsico (Vocal Coach)
Cast: Lea Salonga, Arielle Jacobs, Eugene Domingo, Josh Dela Cruz, Carla Guevara Laforteza, Jamie Wilson, Joreen Bautista, Mark Bautista, Nic Chien, Nyoy Volante, Mikkie Bradshaw Volante, Rody Vera, Teetin Villanueva, Tex Ordoñez-De Leon, Sarah Facuri, Kakki Teodoro, Amihan Bonifacio Ramolete
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