All for love of Mommy Kate

DELA CRUZ. Feted in imminent revival of the iconic stage musical.

From Jan. 17 to 27 at the CCP Little Theater, we are directing Spotlight Artists Center’s revival staging of the acclaimed Filipino stage musical, “Katy!,” with Isay Alvarez in the title role and Tirso Cruz III, Dulce, Aicelle Santos, Gian Magdangal, Epy Quizon, Tricia Jimenez, and other standout players also starring.

The musical was a big hit when it was initially staged in the late 1980s, with many SRO performances at the Rizal Theater and the CCP.

Why mount a difficult production like “Katy!” again?  Partly because foreign musicals have been dominating local performing venues again, so it’s time to set things right by “telling our own stories and singing our own songs.” —And, what better way to do that than by reviving a show that was hailed as the best artistic event of the year when it was first mounted?

Admiration

“Katy!” is personally significant to us, because it was born out of our admiration for its subject, bodabil queen Katy dela Cruz, whom we got to work with, know and love in the ’70s, when we directed a long TV feature and tribute to her. She was no longer the big star she used to be, but we were struck by her talent, vitality, verve and love for living.

Her reminiscences of times and performances past were unique and fascinating, and the many photographs that she brought out to illustrate her storytelling documented the many stars, both local and foreign, she had performed with in the course of her decades-long career.

So, when we were  asked by Celeste Legaspi to suggest a topic for the first production of the then newly formed Musical Theater Philippines, we proposed a musical on Katy’s life and times—and the rest is local musical-theater history.

Mommy Kate was special to us because she represented, not just the country’s colorful bodabil tradition, but also the gutsiness and survival instincts of the Filipino, who along with Katy, coped with and triumphed over many adversities, including World War II, in the course of the 60-year section of her life that the musical play dramatizes.

ALVAREZ. Portrays the bodabil queen in Spotlight’s CCP production

With script and lyrics by Joey Javier Reyes and songs by Ryan Cayabyab, the same memorable story is being told again for a new generation of viewers, who we hope will similarly be heartened and inspired to rediscover the roots and sources of their own pride, creativity and passion as a people.

The fact that a new cast is telling Mommy Kate’s colorful and inspiring story for a new generation of theater lovers means that we can’t just repeat our storytelling template and matrix of old, but need to make it vital and pertinent anew for the revival production’s audience.

In this regard, we are heartened by the love that our cast and production staffers have developed for Katy dela Cruz and everything she represents, which has inspired them to rehearse longer and more intensely than usual as the show near its opening date at the CCP. —See you there!