A Critique of Ang Huling El Bimbo: The Musical Acting

A Critique of Ang Huling El Bimbo : The Musical
Acting
Dingdong Novenario’s “Ang Huling El Bimbo: The Hit Musical” tells
about the story behind this phenomenal song produced by
Eraserheads. The story emphasizes on the tragic tale of four teenagers
who met in a university with the goal of achieving their dreams:
Anthony (or also called as Al), a closeted gay Business Management
major who then became a businessman; Emman, a patriotic
probinsyano who then became a government worker; Hector, a Mass
Communications major who became a bigtime TV director; and Joy, a
free-spirited girl with hopes and dreams of becoming successful one
day. Everything was doing well until what they thought “an adventure
of a lifetime” made each of them miserable.
They were all Believable and convincing throughout video I found that
I’m in tears watching it. But perhaps one of the greatest thing about
their acting was its ability to invoke nostalgia within the viewer. Even
someone like me, with limited exposure to Eraserheads and theater
play was able to recall times. However it leaves to others actors that
their part was left unearned for example, the Character of Andre , who
is introduced as Joy’s Boyfriend, is used for all two scenes, one
introducing him and the one is casting him aside. And the another one
is the glossing over the hector, Anthony, and Emman’s love interest,
serving little more than as a point of conflict in the characters lives
which they repair their relationship without any difficulty at the end.
And some present-day characters, while each playing their role well,
look quite different from Their younger counter parts.
I got that the scenery was trying to inject societal issues in the story
such as LGBT, friendship, corruption, and basically tackling the evils by
representing them through characters like Councilor Banlaoi. The way
the Musical established the parallels between the present and the past
versions of the characters was also well executed, although I must
admit that there were moments that the Eraserheads songs did quite
suit the theatrical approach. I felt there may have been a limited
budget for the stage. However the last part for the finale was a great
touch. It served up the look and feel of an epic finale and it was what
this stage musical needed to provide justifiable enough closure yo the
tale of the four friends. The props bused such as the car and picture
frame were handled beautifully, with each prop used having purpose in
the environment constructed. The set it self as if one looking at a
memory , with the panel of woods at the sides feeling as if one was
feeling remnants of something broken, accompanied by the
background projections and revolving stage.
Of course, the songs would be nothing without the assistance of the set
production and stage clothes. Most Importantly, the clothes qorn by
the cast felt appropriate for the era of Musical was set in, assisting
heavily in building the believability of the characters These parts were
wonderfully encompassed by what I consider to be the best part of the
customes that gives clues for the personalities was the rendition of
‘Pare ko”. Scorned in kove, dresss in army fatigues along with the rest
of their squadmates, perform what would be the best described as
military training exercise. By Transforming “Pare ko” into a military
tune chanted by the cast of military outfits, while using props such as
rifles and flags, the scene cemented itself as the highpoint of the
Musical. Overall the customes tells the audience something about the
character, gives the audience a lead into what the production will be
about and who the character is regarding the action of the
performance.
The lighting design in the stage play is farnmore than just making sure
the audience can see the action and actors on stage. It create a mood ,
enhance the atmosphere and even intensify emotions. The method
used to light the stage will impact on the way the stage picture os
perceived and should reinforce the overall dramatic impact of the
stage play. The most common method they used for lighting os called
McCandless System. It has warm color in one front and a cool color in
the other,it blend for a natural appearance and contrast with each
other to provide definition. The stage lighting design has theatrical
performance, one Visibility which doesn’t really need explanation, the
basic concept of this is to illuminate things on Stage that the audience
should see and keep the lighting off parts off the stage the audience
shouldn’t see. Overall, in order to provide good quality theatre stage
lighting design most lighting is designed as group of acting areas. The
luminaries lighting each acting areas are arranged to achieve desired
visibility, to adequately reveal actor’s form and make sure the actor
appears separate and distinct from the scenic background.
It shows the highs and lows of growing up: from the bright hope filled
and happy moments of young friendship and love, to dealing with
heartbreaks, to more personal and somber issues likes acceptance, the
depth of real friendship and even guilt. The story isn’t all smiles and
laughter. The actors who played the young and adult version of Eman,
Hector and Anthony also deserve a lot of credit for the consistency in
their portrayals. Sadly, this was not the case for the characters of joy,
who was supposed to be the star of the show. While my heart broke for
the character, I was far too distracted by the glaring difference in the
portrayals of Gab Pangilinan and Menchu Lauchengco- Yulo to fully
appreciate the character.
Ang huling El Bimbo is like a mirror held up to the audience, a mirror
reminding us of our own privilege. And that’s realistic. Like Hector,
Emman and to an extent, Anthony ( because he has an issue of being
part of minority of himself, being gay) we are privileged. The musical it
reminds us theat to look at JOYS in our lives- the people we might have
pushed aside and forgotten about because they get in the way of
what’s convenient for us. But in the same vein, it also reminds us to be
like JOY, to take control of our own narratives and remember that if
there’s Anyone who can do anythin to make our lives better, it’s
ourselves.

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