JAIME del Mundo once tried his hand at doing administrative work for a school. It was the time rehearsals were ongoing for a musical he had just co-written with Luna Inocian and composed by Lito Villareal.

But after theater company Trumpets premiered Jaime?s ?The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,? he promptly resigned from what he called his ?grown-up job.?

?When I saw how people were moved by the material, it took me aback. I realized I couldn?t give up my life in theater. The potential of reaching people through the stage outweighed any desire of the stability that a full-time job could give,? he says with a laugh.

Since then, he?s penned several other musicals, such as ?The Little Mermaid? and ?The Young King? for Trumpets and ?The Happy Prince,? ?The Fisherman and His Wife,? and ?Good as Gold.?

This September, audiences will see his ?NOAH (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat),? a reworked version of his children?s puppet musical ?Mr. Noah?s Big Boat,? with additional songs and with actors this time around.

For this musical, Del Mundo collaborated with first-time composer Rony Fortich, music director of Hong Kong Disneyland.

Plays and opera

Arguably, Del Mundo has become one of the most prolific and produced Filipino librettists in English. His chamber musicals have been staged ?from living rooms to basketball courts.?

His large-scale musicals like ?Lion? has enjoyed several re-stagings throughout the years, and ?Mermaid? was performed as part of the festival of performing arts in Qatar, and will be touring various Asian countries before the year ends.

?I like to think of myself as a director who just happens to write and act,? he says.

His passion and interest for words, images, stories and music evolved into a love for opera.

?The combination of music and drama made sense to me,? he adds.

He was eventually invited by the Singapore Lyric Opera and Lyric Opera Malaysia to direct ?Tosca? in both countries. He went on to direct other operas abroad, including ?The Merry Widow,? ?Eugene Onegin,? ?Cosi Fan Tutte,? ?Macbeth? and ?The Magic Flute.?

He helmed the US tour of ?Mayo, Bisperas ng Liwanag.?

His love for and work in opera informs the way he crafts musicals.
?I see the structure of writing and directing a musical in music terms. I?m more aware of the tempo, rhythm and pacing of the material, of what an audience can grasp through the music and the lyrics, of how a line carries,? he says.

Not easy

He points out that ?writing English musicals in a Third World country is a challenge,? which is why it is a craft he handles with thought and care.

For ?NOAH,? he modernizes the retelling of the Bible story by incorporating an environmental angle. He has integrated the problem of garbage disposal in the plot as a metaphor for ?self-cleansing.?

His characters will be brought to life by actors Carlo Orosa (Noah); Sheila Francisco (Mrs. Noah); and Sam Concepcion alternating with Fred Lo as the Narrator.

Production design is by Mio Infante (tasked with creating an ark and life-size animal puppets and costumes); and choreography by musical theater director and actor Audie Gemora, modern-ballet danseur Gerald Mercado, tap expert Patricia Borromeo and hip-hop dancer Alfred Luason.

?Musical theater is a great opportunity to explore stories, to change perceptions, to allow audiences to take an emotional journey,? says Del Mundo. ?Musical theater is a wonderful, fantastic, loveable, majestic and magical place to share important messages.?

?NOAH (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat)? runs September 4-27 at Meralco Theater. Call 631-7252, 0921-7263642, 0917-8842105 or 891-9999, or e-mail trumpetsinc@gmail.com.