Shamaine Buencamino, as Atang de la Rama, had all the nuances of Atang's generation, the way she spoke, moved and existed on stage. I know that generation well because of my parents - they had a way of being. The women were feisty to cantakerous (to quote director Alex de Guzman) and I so wanted to hug Shamaine for being my mother that night. My mother was a singer too and was very Atang. Shamaine had the right vocal inflection, the right body language, the right fiber that would be an old but spirited Atang. Gosh, GUSH, what a good actress she is.
I remember hearing about Atang de la Rama when I was a kid and after watching this show, was bowled over by her story. Oops, she married pala Amado Hernandez ... know him? He wrote the most beautiful Tagalog that can grip one's heart. Atang pala was the one who sang "Bayan Ko'? And Huseng Batute ceased to be a Tanghalan ... I saw the man on stage! Yan. Filipinos have no sense of history kasi. How lovely to know - at last - about our great Atang de la Rama after researching on the life of Michael Jackson. Kahiya. Thank you Floy Quintos for writing this musical and thank you, Alex for making it work on stage. Delicious. Funny. Our children need to see more musicals like this to emulate the Filipino artist.
Ayen is always stunning on stage. The songs she had to sing were pretty intricate with a wide range to cover and this she did unflustered. 'Nasaan Ka Irog' is a song that should be heard again and again. The music was endearing. The rest of the cast gave excellent support. Congrats to everyone! Tour this in schools all over the country! You made me and my husband very happy last night ... and we only saw one Act
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