Mon 2 Jul 2007
End of the 5th Run of Zsazsa Zaturnnah (Ze Muzikal)
Posted by EJ under Cartoons & Comics , Music , Theater[4] Comments
Waiting for the show to start
It seems that my family is currently on a gay entertainment streak of late. We watched Follies de Mwah at Club Mwah last week and then there we were last night, at the final show of the 5th run of Zsazsa Zaturnnah (Ze Muzikal).
Last year, I was gifted with the collected edition of Carlo Vergara’s graphic novel, Ang Kagila-Gilalas Na Pakikipagsapalaran Ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah and also ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh was released. So by yesterday, I and a whole lot of other people already knew about the plot and had heard or read quite a number of reviews on the production.
I was disappointed. The raves and reputation of the play were not justified by the overall performance of the production – or maybe they were exaggerated. One can only stay amused by the vulgarity characteristic to screaming faggotry for so long. After awhile, once the initial shock has settled, one starts to look for genuine talent and quality showmanship. Eventhough this was already the finale, I and present company agreed it lacked a lot of punch.
The dancers and supporting cast weren’t the professionals I expected of Tanghalang Pilipino – more like they were drafted from some high school play. The transgender dancers at Club Mwah are far better by miles. The sidekick Didi character’s (Nar Cabico) scene-stealing was funny at first, but became annoying and was evidently out of control. Queen Femina (Kalila Aguilos) majorly lacked villainy. Her Amazonistas were boooring and wishy-washy. Overall, I had expected a lot more.
However, Ada (the gay hairdresser protagonist before swallowing the magic rock to become Zsazsa) was portrayed well by Vince de Jesus. The best I can say is that I did not know how H-O-T Eula Valdez (who played Zsazsa) is until last night. 
August 7th, 2007 at 1:27 AM
WOULD YOU PLS EXPOUND THESE STATEMENTS? =)
The dancers and supporting cast weren’t the professionals I expected of Tanghalang Pilipino – more like they were drafted from some high school play. The transgender dancers at Club Mwah are far better by miles.The sidekick Didi character’s (Nar Cabico) scene-stealing was funny at first, but became annoying and was evidently out of control. Queen Femina (Kalila Aguilos) majorly lacked villainy. Her Amazonistas were boooring and wishy-washy. Overall, I had expected a lot more.
August 7th, 2007 at 2:25 AM
I can’t really be bothered to expound much further. Not really a bashing, nor a run of the mill rave. To be taken as room for improvement for the 6th run perhaps?
Having watched the Follies de Club Mwah the week before led to the comparison/impression stated.
The (raw?) talent of young Nar is definitely there, but like a kite, must be reeled in from time to time and not let loose as to affect the impact of other characters in the performance.
Again, Femina & the Amazonistas were ho-hum.
Ze Muzikal’s raves and reputation led me to expect more oomph. It was good, but I wasn’t blown away as I was led to expect.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:54 AM
the 5th run was a lot challenging in terms of staging because it was originally done in a smaller venue, more intimate, and the spectacles were effective. at the rcbc, umm, i agree that most parts (femina and amazonistas and other prod numbers) lacked punched — again bcoz of the venue. the director didn’t add something new to the staging. Yeah, Nar is 16 and he can still grow. But getting the role at that age IS something.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:45 PM
The staging challenge should definitely be addressed then. Use the larger size to an advantage? When I watched A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the same venue, the characters were able to “fly”. Maybe also improve the set to look less shabby.
Agreed. Here’s to Nar’s growth and acting maturity. One of his challenges will be to not always be stereotype-cast into roles similar to Didi.