BELIEVE, The Pop Musical? was billed as an attempt to ?combine film, theater and music? and ?inspire viewers to overcome their fears.? The musical, which debuted in Cebu in late July this year, held its Manila premiere recently at the Music Museum.
It turned to be a mish-mash of a live concert, a stage play and flashes of MTV?more like Christian MTV since the thematic thread that ran throughout the show involved love, loss, faith, redemption and every other big word pertaining to the deliverance of man from his wretched earthly condition.
Five friends with different problems hook up with one another, in the end sharing the main secret of how they overcame their individual troubles. One is a cancer patient, another is a former drug addict, the third is a lovelorn international rock star, the fourth is a young widow and the last one has been abandoned by her family.
God is their only way out of the fix and each troubled soul expresses the need for heaven-sent comfort through radio-friendly pop songs.
The concept looked very interesting, but the voyage towards redemption was spotty and, in some instances, incoherent.
The show opened with the five main performers belting out parts from Boyzone?s ?No Matter What.? The lyrics, ?No matter what they teach us/What we believe is true,? echoed as an overarching mantra.
It wasn?t a big opening number, but a meandering ballad, although Radha (as the abandoned character) and Keith Martin (the recovering addict) provided the highlights in an otherwise ordinary ensemble performance.
Bright spots
Not coincidentally, Radha and Martin also delivered one of the show?s brightest spots. In a juxtaposition of two distressed characters onstage, they rocked their frustrations to the crunch of Evanescence?s ?My Immortal.?
A minor sidelight had Martin on solo piano, exploring his inner Stevie Wonder while essaying the emotional rebound of an ex-addict finding spiritual fulfillment.
The less uplifting scenes were those that showed the simpler troubles faced by the other performers. The challenge after Martin?s incandescent performance would have been to keep the emotive force alive and kicking. But it was difficult to imagine a similar outpouring from the female rock star character whose problem with her boyfriend was minor, or the thirty-something Joe, who couldn?t find someone to love.
What-could-haves
Seriously, the show?s writers could have reviewed the Sermon on the Mount to find the real dregs of society who deserve invoking God?s name to be reborn in their darkest hour. Or they could have wrung more sympathy for the material (and empathy from the audience) by featuring a battered wife, a man-whore, or even a blind person suffering from AIDS.
Without rhyme or reason, there was the solo turn of the violinist that closed out the third quarter of the show. Also, the cancer victim?s road to salvation wasn?t fully explored. After rejecting Christ as his healer and savior against the wishes of well-meaning friends, he appeared 10 minutes later hale and hearty.
The other performers, which included Guji Lorenzana, Marq Dollentes, Benjie Layos and Mae Ann Araneta, had the credentials and thespian chops to competently take on their roles. So it was more likely that the song selections accounted for the show?s failure.
Given the adversity of situations presented in the musical, such songs as David Gates? ?Lost Without Your Love? or Michael Jackson?s ?She?s Out of My Life? seemed out of place.
It may be a stretch, but rather than search for divine intervention to her distress, the loveless rock star could have shouted out ?Natural Woman? or even Helen Reddy?s ?I Am Woman? to declare her personal independence from material things as well as recalcitrant lovers.
As it happened, the affirming numbers were reserved for the two karaoke-style numbers at the show?s end. The enthusiasm and energy came rather late.
