"ONE MORE CHANCE: The Musical" [2024]

(featuring the songs of Ben & Ben)

Stage

Sam Concepcion, Nicole Omillo

Playwright: Michelle Ngu-Nario

Directed by: Maribel Legarda

PETA

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RATING: ⭐⭐⭐ / 5

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NO SPOILERS

A BALANCE BETWEEN STAYING FAITHFUL TO THE MOVIE WHILE ADDING NEW UNEXPECTED TWISTS

Last 27th of April, I had the opportunity to watch this play at PETA. Although this was not planned, I still grabbed the chance to see how they would present this popular movie in a stage play. We arrived at the place almost 15–30 minutes late due to delays, but we were still able to catch up with the story, and these are my observations and reviews.

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STORY:

Story-wise, I think one of the commendable aspects of the play is that the team was able to be faithful to the movie, which made the audience who watched it before able to recognize what particular scene in the movie they were watching, but the production was also able to create a new perspective. There were side details that added layers and made the story more in-depth.

CHARACTERS:

The actors delivered a convincing performance. The way they delivered their lines and how they interpreted their characters were commendable. They were able to define their objectives in the scenes. The highlight for me was John Abella's character as JP. He was able to portray a side character that someone might think is just the "other" friend of Popoy (which is the male lead), but it caught us off guard at how he was able to deliver his own story. I was impressed and surprised. There are other performers who also stood out for me, but since they all gave an awesome performance, it would take hours for you to finish reading this review if I enumerated them all. But overall, good job for everyone.

PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Stage & Props

The stage design and props were all properly placed and aligned. You'll notice that the team really spent time on how the props would appear on stage. It didn't miss a beat, and it was as if they were all in sync with the background music.

As for the LED screen, I'm not sure how they will be able to improve the setup. You see, there are moments in the play when they will show something on the screen that is way above the stage. If you are seated at the rightmost or leftmost part of the stage (where my friends and I are seated), you need to exert extra effort in looking up.

I would like to commend how the team added the two small screens at the upper parts of the stage, which show English subtitles, and I think that was a nice touch.

The lights and sounds were good. Actors were properly seen and heard. I didn't have any issues technical-wise.

Music

Before I give my comments on the music aspect of the show, I would like you to know that I'm not familiar with Ben&Ben's repertoire. The only things that I've known are their popular ones like "Leaves" and "Sa Susunod Na Habang Buhay," but still, I was able to somehow connect to their songs and how they were used in the story.

Considering the above, I think that they used a lot of songs in the play. To the point that I'm not sure anymore if a particular scene requires a song to be sung or if they just add the song for the sake of including it. Like, are they required to use all of the band's songs? It's just too many for me, or is it just because I'm not a "superfan" of Ben&Ben? Nevertheless, the actors sang it very well, and I appreciated it.

CRITICISMS/SUGGESTIONS:

If you allow me to nitpick things that I want them to improve on or suggestions that they may consider, number one would be the duration of the entire show. It is too long for my liking, and although I want to say that there were scenes that could be omitted, I would assume that they were there so that they could transition to the band's song. Lastly, it would be the ending. Of course, I wouldn't spoil anything here, but what I can say is that the ending was not what you expected. It would still be nice if they stuck to the original script, but I guess they want to separate it from the film version and stand on its own, which I totally respect.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, if you expect the play to be a carbon copy of the film, don't get your hopes up because the beauty of this play is that there is a new flavor to it that, even if you were not able to watch the original version, you will still be able to relate to it and sympathize with the characters. One More Chance: The Musical is indeed a great experience to watch!

(For more information, just visit PETA's Official Facebook account and for ticket inquiries, just go to TicketWorld.com.ph)

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