Katy

Last Sunday, I was finally able to watch Katy at Meralco Theater by my lonesome.  I've been wanting to for years already but never really had the opportunity or time to do so.

It was awesome! The cast received a standing ovation at the end.  And from what I heard along the corridors, they were receiving standing ovations every night during their CCP run.  It was a good ensemble with Isay Alvarez leading the cast.

I would say that I was most moved by Tirso Cruz III's performance.  He played the role of Katy's strict but loving father.  His comic timing was on point, not something you would think would come easily to a known dramatic actor.  But his dramatic skill was also used well during Tatay's final scene with Tale, his pet name for Katy.  After he told Tale something like, "Hay naku, Tale, kahit gaano ka pa ka-gaga (?) tandaan mo na mahal na mahal kita." I laughed and then started getting teary-eyed.  I could feel Tatay's love for Tale.  The sudden softness of his usually-scolding voice, the gentle embrace of a despairing Tale.  The scene got blurry as my tears started to fall.  Beautiful, beautiful performance by Tirso. :)

There were a lot of other enjoyable scenes in the play.  What stuck with me the most though was the theater at the time of Japanese occupation.  There they were trying their best to fight a revolution on stage.  It was something I was always fascinated with, the theater as battle ground for ideology and conviction.   I was wondering if this was the inspiration for PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) during Martial Law. 

Based on this review from the run last January, the set was uninspired.  However, they may have done much improvement since then since the set felt more "organic" than what was being described in the review.  There were still some lull in some scenes but overall, it actually felt quite grand.

I also absolutely LOVED the live orchestra.  It has been a while since I've watched a play with live orchestra.  I don't even remember if Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah used live or canned music.  Rock of Ages definitely had canned music.  It was awesome to see the musicians in the background, somethings part of the scene, sometimes a musical shadow.

Every Filipino musical lover should make it a point to see Katy at least once. :)