Why Via Antonio thinks theater work is ‘soul food’

Via Antonio (center) with CJ Novato and Sam Concepcion, who alternate as Popoy in “One More Chance the Musical” —CORNERSTONE ENTERTAINMENT

A love team doesn’t have to be clustered to a specific age range,” said actress Via Antonio, who has worked with and observed the three major onscreen partnerships of ABS-CBN, KathNiel, DonBelle and KimPau.

“I’ve been a fan of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla (KathNiel) since I got to work with them in ‘2 Good 2B True.’ We all know that their [real-life romantic] relationship had been on and off while they were doing the teleserye,” Via told Inquirer Entertainment in a recent interview.

“Donny Pangilinan and Belle Mariano (DonBelle) really had something going on while doing ‘Can’t Buy Me Love,’ but Kim Chiu and Paulo Avelino (KimPau) don’t,” she said of the lead cast of the local adaptation of the Korean series “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?”

“The concept of a love team in our industry is universal. It doesn’t have to be clustered to a specific age range. Even if it’s teenage love, the Pinoy audience will still appreciate it because, as a nation, we’re all fans of romantic comedy. We generally prefer to watch something that’s light.

READ: ‘One More Chance’ musical leads see John Lloyd Cruz, Bea Alonzo as inspiration

“The love story usually starts with two characters fighting, with them having different backgrounds, like in the case of the characters of DonBelle in ‘Can’t Buy Me Love.’ One is poor, the other is rich; they don’t agree in the beginning, but later become very much involved in each other’s lives.

“The Pinoy audience likes what we call ‘suntok sa buwan’ situations, the Romeo-and-Juliet format, the story that says nothing is impossible in love. Just like in the case of ‘Secretary Kim,’ where one is a CEO and the other is an ordinary employee,” she observed.

These days, Via plays support not in a rom-com, but to an onscreen partnership just the same. She is Anj, a good friend of the characters Popoy and Basha in the stage play adaptation of the 2007 hit drama “One More Chance (OMC),” starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo.

Important elements

“We remain faithful to the script. It’s OMC, featuring the music of Ben&Ben, and so much more. It’s in the ‘so much more’ that you can expect a lot. I’m part of the Thursday barkada, which was used in the movie greatly as the sounding board of Popoy and Basha. In almost all movies, you will discover important elements about the lead characters through the stories told by their friends. In the stage play, it’s good that we were given more grounds to introduce Anj and the other characters and develop what else we can add to the narrative of OMC,” Via pointed out.

“I got to know the role of Anj and why she readily has those witty comments for Popoy and Basha. We will get to know the two characters through their friends. At the same time, we will also understand how a breakup and breakthroughs affect a group of friends. As they say, family is predetermined, but friends are the choices you make in life,” she added.

In this musical produced by the Philippine Entertainment Theater Association (PETA), Sam Concepcion and CJ Novato alternately play Popoy, while Anna Luna and Nicole Omillo are alternates for Basha. Kiara Takahashi and Sheena Belarmina share the character of Tricia (played by Maja Salvador in the movie), while Jeff Florez and Jay Gonzaga alternately play Mark (Derek Ramsay). Bea Saw played Anj in the movie version.

Via took up theater arts at the University of the Philippines. Growing up, she also studied dance, and later, voice. “I’m an only child so I had the privilege of trying a whole range of things every summer. My parents were very supportive of my interest in extracurricular activities. Eventually, I was able to pin down that it’s in the performing industry that I wanted to end up in,” she recalled.

“My parents and I had moments of friction when I was in college because they would see how difficult the theater arts course was. They realized that not all actors are given the opportunity to flourish in terms of finances. It’s true that when you’re part of a stage play that runs for several weeks, you have no choice but to turn down offers that could’ve helped put food on the table. But this is what we love, our soul food as actors,” explained Via, who is now managed by Cornerstone Entertainment.

‘Life-giving’

“The beauty of having a management that is supportive of whatever you want is that the decision is still up to me. If there’s an inquiry for work, my handler would try to include this in my schedule. My instruction is to accept as many jobs as possible, while I can still be physically active, while I’m still in my prime—just like OMC, which I believe will propel me to something bigger because it’s already big,” Via added.

“Each project is life-giving. It supplies us with the passion and love to push through to the next. Work, of course, has to feed us, but it also teaches us to save and somehow manage our funds to enable us to do the work we love in the next months.”

Few people know that Via is taking up a master in counseling and will be graduating this semester. “Art is enough to give me life, but at the same time I saw that this is another field that I can specialize on. I can do counseling with my background of arts, because there exists art therapy,” she explained.

“This is also for my future. When the body is not able to move because of old age, I will still be able to do counseling or become a therapist, and be part of the healing ministry. That’s my plan of action.”

“One More Chance The Musical” runs until June 16 at the PETA Theater Center in New Manila, Quezon City. INQ