(Image of the 2nd staging og Himala from www.tanghalangpilipino.com . Visit their site to check for shows, get additional info, or buy tickets. Nood na!)
I still remember that night as though it were yesterday. The production was held in CCP’s Tanghalang Huseng Batute, (the experimental studio theater). Upon entering the theater, I was hooked by the set immediately. Taking up almost three-fourths of the entire theater was the stage: a tilted platform. Scrawled on the angled stage in chalk were prayers that seemed to be in different dialects. These led one’s eyes to the farthest corner of the stage in which was set an enormous dead tree atop a small hill. Extending from these corners were the two other walls of the set, reminiscent of wooden walls with platforms jutting out every so often. We would later realize that these wooden panels opened automatically to serve as windows or doors to the different houses of barrio Cupang. Barrenness was an instant theme, with the dead tree and the desert-tan hill and walls. At the very top of the walls was an intriguing and unsettling site. It seemed as though the walls ended with soil, grass, and crosses jutting out of the “ground.” Looking at it from top to bottom, it seemed as if the entire town were set in a deep grave- miserable and inescapable. I knew then that this show was to be something special.
I knew of Vince de Jesus’ music through a song in the Hangad Acapella album— “Sabay sa ihip ng hangin”, a lovesong-prayer to God. It came as a surprise later that the song was included in the score in one of the most intense moments of the musical. I admit, there were some times when I couldn’t get the musical sense of some of the songs. The only thing I could remember was that appreciating it was like a first listen to an unfamiliar Sondheim score— with moments of “What happened there? What note was that again? Wow, that’s difficult to sing.” followed by sudden breaks of truly melodic lines that hit the point and hit one’s heart. By the end, I was in praise of the production.
For me, the musical style complemented the show’s major themes and flow. There would be moments of uncertainty— of tones seemingly in discord and dissonance, suddenly followed by lines hauntingly clear and melodic. Cupang would be in distress and sickness followed by comfort and healing through Elsa. With Elsa’s healing bringing fame to the town, it would afterwards experience a different kind of confusion: that brought about by a tourist frenzy and a blind belief in Elsa, only to be silenced and wiped away in time. Even Elsa would have her moments of doubt and confusion, followed by a terrible loss, and finally a clarity of mind leading to her final confession.
The actors and actresses then were stellar both vocally and acting-wise, especially May Bayot as Elsa, Dulce as her mother, Cyntha Culig-Guico as Chayong, her close religious friend, and Isay Alvarez as Nimia, the returning town whore and Elsa’s estranged friend.
The icing on the cake was a special guest present in the audience that evening. Yes, the original Elsa was only a few seats away from us that night. Nora Aunor was there and seemed to truly enjoy the production. (I wonder if she still thought she could have done as good a job as May Bayot?)
I left the theater that night reaffirmed that Philippine Theater is indeed beautiful, alive, and ever-improving. Gino Gonzales immediately became my favorite production designer, Tanghalang Pilipino topped my list of Philippine companies, and, Vince de Jesus (of current Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah ze Muzikal and ABS-CBN fame) became someone to look forward to in future productions.
That night was so memorable that when Himala was restaged in a larger venue a second time during the National Theater Festival in 2004, I was back with the same friends to see it a second time.
Last November 8- almost exactly four years after I first saw the production, I was back at the CCP to see a special preview of the new run— one that was to be presented in the Contemporary Theater Festival in Shanghai this year. Talk about super-fans seeing a production a third time!
As with all things, the production turned out to be the same and not the same. The same because it contained the original songs and retained most of the original cast. Not the same because of the new simplistic set, the reordering of some songs, and the streamlined storyline. It still was heavy and moving material and I still loved it, but it was though an important cast member was lost with the absence of that enormous set. The streamlined plot led to a faster-paced musical, which I’m sure would be appreciated by more people. All in all, some changes here and there couldn’t take anything away from this superb piece.
The experience was different too with some insights that were probably more distilled after seeing it for a third time. For instance, the very incident of the vision or himala led to more questions and speculations. Throughout the play, we would hear of stereotype descriptions of the three friends: Elsa as smart (matalino), Chayong as prayerful (madasalin), and Nimia as brave (matapang). We would see the latter two’s sterotypes clearly present in their decisions and actions. Elsa, however lacked that concrete “matalino” mindset. Could it be then that the vision was indeed all a ruse by this smart Elsa to bring her people together and inject a little hope in the religious community? Did she find ways to heal her townsfolk through means fully explainable by her smarts? As said by Tomas del Rio in an earlier article, was the blinding white light that enveloped Elsa at the start a true vision, or the quintessential lightbulb that signaled a sly new idea forming in her mind?
As the show progressed, the importance of the “reality” of the miracles dwindled as the choices of the people affected by the phenomenon are placed centerstage. How did Elsa’s friends react? How did her mother take her fame? How did Nimia deal with the religious frenzy? Was the town able to escape its desolation and barrenness with this himala? Ricky Lee himself believed that the show was more about the questions it generated than the answers it provided.
The songs hit deeper this time too and made me finally decide that I had two favorite scenes in the musical: both of which were prayers. Both scenes happened after Elsa and Chayong faced a devastating event in their lives. Forced to question their own beliefs and the meaning of their lives, these two scenes formed the core of the musical for me.
The first was Elsa’s prayer. Her words are unforgettable. In deep anguish followed by anger she cries out to a silent Virgin Mary or even a silent God:
Bakit ang tahimik Mo naman?
Madaya Ka! Ako’y kausapin Mo!
Hindi Mo ba nakita na doon sa burol winasak nila ako?
May isang tinig na hindi mo narinig
Sumisigaw dumadaing
Iyon ay tinig ko… iyon ay tinig ko.
Nasaan ka na? Nandito ako ngayon!
Ang Elsa Mo, si Elsa mo!
Kailangan ko ring maghilom… kailangan ko rin maghilom!
Magpakita kang muli! Ako’y linisin Mo.
Immediately following this scene is Elsa’s religious friend Chayong in a less anguished state as she was previously. She walks slowly bearing a candle and sings her prayer sweetly, almost as if offering a love song:
Ihip ng hangin, pakinggan mo’t iyong maririnig
Awit ng pag-ibig, alay ko sa’Yo lamang
Kahit na ilang ulit Mo nang narinig, sana’y pansinin
Ang tinig kong umaawit ng kundiman
Ang puso kong sabik sa ‘Yong kanlungan
Ako sana’y mahalin kahit nagkadungis
Kahit ako’y maligaw, sa ‘Yo ay babalik
Sabay sa ihip ng hangin
Kailan kaya ang susunod na hanging darating?
Kahit na ilang ulit mo nang marinig, sana’y pansinin
Ang tinig kong umaawit ng kundiman
Ang puso kong sabik sa ‘Yong kanlungan
Iyo sanang marinig aking panalangin
Na kahit ako ay maligaw, sa ‘Yo ay babalik
Sabay sa ihip ng hangin.
Tangi kong ligaya ay makapiling Ka!
(Song also in Hangad Acapella)
With the contrast of these two prayers, one is truly disturbed that in the next scene, it is Chayong who takes her own life.
Is it perhaps an active faith then that grapples with the blows and trials sent one’s way that succeeds and finds true meaning. Anger, then, must be acceptable especially if it leads to a deeper understanding of one’s self and one’s faith. In the end, it is the blind belief of barrio Cupang, of Chayong that becomes frail, inexplicable, and eventually damning. To succeed and find meaning, we take part in creating it ourselves. We choose to have faith and not let it be imposed on us simply, as a belief in a curse is imposed blindly on a Cupang. This is why Elsa’s final lines ring true to this day:
Walang Himala! Tayo ang gumagawa ng Himala. Tayo ang gumagawa ng mga sumpa. At tayo ang gumagawa ng mga diyos!
I do not believe that this is an atheistic statement, nor a trashing of the possibility of wonder or even so-called “simple miracles.” What it bashes is the simplistic view of a miracle, the death of choice and will, the blindness of some forms of faith.
We still do need miracles every now and then. But miracles come in many ways and forms and we need not look for grand occurrences or signs. The musical ends on a positive note:
Anong kailangan mong marinig?
Anong kailangan mong makita
Bago ka maniwala?
Hihintayin mo bang umulan ng rosas
Hihintayin mo bang bumaba ang kamay ng Diyos mula sa langit?
O sapat na sa ‘yo ang ngiti ng sanggol?
Sapat na ba ang patak ng ulan?
Sapat na ba ang wagas na pag-ibig
Bilang isang himala?
Ang himala ay nasa puso ng tao.
Ang bawat puso ay pugad ng himala.
It was only after seeing the theatrical version that I got to see the film via CinemaOne during the Lenten season. I understood then why so many Filipinos loved this film. I believe it now to be the greatest original Filipino film since the 80’s.
If Himala the musical comes back for a fourth run expect me there. And please, TP, record the cast album finally that time around and Star Cinema or Unitel, please release the film on DVD already! Treasures like these must be shared. The day that happens will already be a miracle for me.
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Pictures of the current production can be found in Jojit Lorenzo's Multiply Site:
http://jojitlorenzo.multiply.com/photos/album/68
Crossposted: davidplatz.blogspot.com
