Photo Coverage: ROMEO & BERNADETTE Manila Opening Weekend

The first thing I did right after the curtain fell on Repertory Philippines' preview of musical comedy ROMEO & BERNADETTE was to email Mark Saltzman, bookwriter and lyricist, to tell him that his show was OUTRAGEOUSLY HILARIOUS!

Saltzman, who is based in the U.S., has been so helpful as a "volunteer consultant" to the Manila production since the rehearsal process began early this year.

Repertory's 73rd Season Valentine offering is Saltzman's "camp meets opera" take-off from good old Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

ROMEO & BERNADETTE promises entertainment at its funniest, with Neapolitan melodies you recognize but whose names you can't quite remember, i.e. "O Sole Mio" ("Now Or Never" recorded by Elvis Presley) or "Matinatta" ("Morning Song") by composer Ruggerio Leoncavallo, among others.

The Manila production stars young thespians PJ Valerio ("High School Musical On Stage," "Altar Boyz") as the love struck Romeo and Cris Villonco ("Hamlet," "Mulan") as the spoiled brat, bride to be Bernadette.

Directed by Repertory's Associate Artistic Director Joy Virata, ROMEO & BERNADETTE also features veteran and newbie actors capable of performing strong supporting roles: Red Concepcion (Brooklyn Guy/Dino), Liesl Batucan (Brooklyn Girl/Donna), Dido de la Paz (Sal Penza/Usher), Juno Henares (Camille Penza), Kenneth Keng (Tito Titone), James Paoleli (Don Del Canto/Airport Supervisor), Jamie Wilson (Lips), and Rem Zamora (playing eight different roles!).

Choreography by Deana Aquino; costume design by Santi Obcena; set design by Denis Lagdameo; lighting design by John Batalla; stage management by Gidget Tolentino and Mia Marcy; and musical direction by Jojo Malferrari.

Remaining performances are on February 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27 at 8:00 p.m. and February 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28 at 3:30 p.m. at the Onstage Theatre, 2nd floor, Greenbelt 1, Paseo de Roxas cor. Legazpi St., Makati City.

For inquiries and tickets, call (632) 887-0710 or log on to repertory.ph; (632) 891-9999 or log on to ticketworld.com.ph.

Orchestra Center tickets: PhP 650.00. Orchestra Side tickets: PhP 450.00 and Balcony tickets: PhP 300.00.

Photos by Ed Altares