Performances

“When I become a great actress, come and see me. Promise?”
Nina, Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull”

NEXT TO NORMAL

Next to Normal is a Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway rock musical with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. It is centered around the Goodman family’s struggle to maintain normalcy in their ‘perfect’ suburban life in light of their matriarch’s bipolar disorder. It tackles topics such as grief, psychiatric illness, suicide, drug use, ethics in modern psychiatry, and familial relationships. In this 2020 production, I play two doctors who help Diana on the road to recovery: the world-weary psychopharmacologist Doctor Fine and the sexy, assured rockstar-like psychiatrist Doctor Madden.

Directed by Missy Maramara and co-directed by Darrell Uy, with musical direction by Ejay Yatco and choreography by Franco Ramos.

SPRING AWAKENING

Spring Awakening is a Tony Award-winning Broadway rock musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s play of the same name with music by Duncan Sheik, and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in the late 19th-century, the story revolves around teenagers’ struggle with discovering their sexuality and growing up in a rapidly changing Germany. In this 2019 adaptation, I play the sleepless and anxiety-riddled Moritz Stiefel whose struggles with his sexuality severely affect his academic and home life.

Directed by Missy Maramara and co-directed by Darrell Uy, with musical direction by Ejay Yatco and choreography by Mica Fajardo.

SKIN-DEEP

Skin-Deep is a critically-acclaimed original Filipino musical by Vincent de Jesus. The musical follows seven individuals who win an all expense-paid month of free plastic surgery and beauty procedures at a highly advanced ‘beauty resort’. What follows is a maelstrom of events and introspection that exposes their insecurities and true desires. In this 2018 staging, I play the flamboyant, love-starved, openly gay wedding planner Pipay Organza who is hoping to find true love after his makeover.

Directed by Mia Fortugaleza with musical direction by Vincent de Jesus, Celine Bengzon, and Xander Blanco, and choreography by Misha Fabian.

RENT

Rent is a Tony Award-winning Broadway rock musical by Jonathan Larson loosely based off of Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme. The story revolves around a group of struggling artists in New York during the peak of bohemian life in Alphabet City and the persistence of the HIV/AIDS crisis. In the 2018 staging of this production, I was Benjamin ‘Benny’ Coffin III – the local landlord and former roommate/friend of Roger, Mark, Collins and Maureen – and in other shows, I was also a member of the ensemble.

Directed by Nicolo Magno with musical direction by Abi Sulit and choreography by Franco Ramos.

Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady

Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady is a critically-acclaimed original Filipino superhero musical with the book by Carlo Vergara, and music and lyrics by Vincent de Jesus. It is a tale of two ordinary sisters caught in the middle of an epic battle between the revered foreign superhero group (Fuwerza Filipinas) and a secret Filipino agency (Kayumanggilas) plotting to take them down. In this 2017 adaptation, I play Jeryc Sans Rival – a government employee turned violent stray dog/werewolf under the care of Kayumanggilas.

Directed by Issa Manalo Lopez with musical direction by Kevin Maske and choreography by Delphine Buencamino.

STAGES OF LOVE

Stages of Love is an original Filipino jukebox musical, book by Andrei Pamintuan. It chronicles the lives of five pairs whose narratives are all interconnected by their visits to a coffee shop, the Luneta Perk. In this 2016 production, I play M1, the type-A coffee shop owner and manager who trains his younger, recently single crush.

Directed by Andrei Pamintuan and co-directed by Boo Gabunada, with musical direction by Abi Sulit and choreography by Rianna Raymundo.

SANDAANG PANAGINIP

Sandaang Panaginip is a satirical comedic Filipino musical by Rene O. Villanueva that revolves around the corruption, betrayal, reformed leadership, and unifying love in the kingdom of Tralala after the illness of King Alexander. In this 2015 production, I play Prinsipe Anshari – the prince of Parachibum who demands payment from the kingdom of Tralala.

Directed by Jerry Respeto, with musical direction by Maynard de Guzman and choreography by Toneng Aguilar.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a Tony Award-winning, Broadway musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn and book by Rachel Sheinkin. The show centered around the fictional Putnam County Spelling Bee where six quirky adolescents vie for a chance at Nationals, run by three quirky grown-ups. The show is a semi-improvised comedy and allows the invitation of real audience members as ‘guest spellers’ each night. In this 2014 play, I portray former finalist William Morris Barfée – who has only one working nostril, spells with his “Magic Foot”, and has a terrible peanut allergy that eliminated him the previous year.

Directed by Andrei Pamintuan with musical direction by Abi Sulit and Jamie Ozamiz and choreography by Sam Turingan.

GENESIS

Children of Eden is a Off-Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by John Caird. The musical is based off of the Book of Genesis – with the Act I telling the story of Adam and Eve, Cain, and Abel, while Act II tackles with Noah and the Flood. In this 2013 staging called Genesis, I play Adam, the Original Man struggle of breaking his relationship with God and his eventual relationship with Cain and Abel, and a member of the ensemble.

Directed by Francis Matheu, with musical direction by Cassie Manalastas, Krystal Kane, and Marek Sison, and choreography by Kina Bikina.