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| Romeo & Bernadette |
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| It is a great musical comedy with a Shakespearean twist. |
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by Dr. Richard Gunnar Juve
Sunday afternoon I saw one of the great musical shows of all time at the Repertory Philippines in Makati. It was appropriate to take my wife on Valentine Day and Chinese New Year. My feng shui was right and the energy on a positive flow. When the chi is following you know the actors are on a physical and emotional high on the New Year of the Tiger. In this show the actors had a great feng shui arrangement. This is a romance musical and the femme fatale is Bernadette who does a superior job of sweeping Romeo off his feet and speaking liquid vanilla accented New Yorkese and her buddy Donna is a class act portraying a young single female seductress from Brooklyn.
I’m a guy from the Bronx and know the language of the city, that includes body language and this team had it all. The acting team could talk the talk from the streets and walk the walk with the hand and body motions. The accents were right on. For an American it is a hard act to imitate, and this PI crew were able to play the role of the NY, Big Apple, Inner City people with absolute accuracy. They are accomplished and versatile. It is a great musical comedy with a Shakespearean twist.
The show is recommended as another “don’t miss it”. It is performed better than what you will see in London, New York, Boston or Connecticut. The musical play is flawless. It moves, is snappy, and sparkles with excitement. The ladies are androgynous beauties. Each one of the players are stars. It is tough to say who out performed whom. PJ Valerio (Romeo) has a good voice, Cris Villonco as Juliet/Bernadette almost convinced me she was from the bowels of Brooklyn while Liesl Batucan, was the girl from Flatbush and Carnacey Street. Juno Henares, (Camille Pemnza) was too beautiful and delightful to be a vexing mobster’s wife, with a Brooklyn accent who could have been a seductress. (Sal Penza), Dido Dela Paz had a hard job being the hood mobster and loving father of a daughter about to marry a young hit man performing on the job training (OJT).
James Paolelli (Don del Canto) was excellent but you expect that from a New York inner city kid. Rem Zamora had four roles and was commendable in each. He needed a bit of work on his fag role. His hands did not display those motions of a real fruit.
To top the cake, there is a four piece live musical cast. This is not a piped in sound track. It is the real thing. This production keeps you laughing awake and happy. The artistic director Baby Barredo, Rem Zamora Assistant Director, Deana Aquino Choreographer, Denis Lagdameo, set Designer, John Batalla Lighting Design, and Gidget Tolentino, Stage Manager and Mia Marci Asst. Stage manager did superior jobs.
Every member of the cast was excellent
The production was that of a well trained and directed theater company. I congratulate Joy Virata and her inspired team.
I saw Duets and Romeo ...is of an equally high standard. You will leave this stage musical in a happy frame of mind. It is a romantic show with infinite character studies. If you have a voracious appetite for good live theater, then take the time to enjoy this show in a comfortable setting in an accessible theater. Help unclutter your life and see this live stage production. This is your lucky year because you have a theater company of this high caliber in your city. I got emotionally involved in this show because this was how my buddies and some girl friends acted and spoke. I was laughing, but some others in the audience were not. Alan Aulda stared in a film produced some 15 years ago that delt with his daughter getting married. She is courted by a New York guy or maybe from Long Island, but he displayed the hand, and body motions and attire of guys I went to high school with. I was laughing, but no one else in the theater was. I guess you have to grow up with that kind of thing. His wife was Jewish girl, he was a catholic and his daughter was getting married in a Jewish ceremony. It was hilarious and this Romeo production is a take off on New York culture which is like no other culture in the world. I laughed a lot in this show as well. New York City is a multi cultural society packed with immigrants and accents are often hard to replicate.
The acting was superior, the stage setting superb and the timing perfect. Sit down front row and enjoy the show.
The show is being performed at Onstage, Greenbelt 1.
Check www.reoertory.ph
Phone 8870710
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What's more, we will mail the tickets to your home at no extra cost to you. What have you got to lose? 
REP maintains two groups of eight singers who are available for special after-dinner entertainment, product launches, or other corporate affairs. One group is composed of veteran, professional solo performers; the other, of talented, young, up-and-coming singers. The program features show-stopping performances of show-tune medleys arranged for solos, duets, and octets with simple choreography.
