The past and the present come together in ‘Bagets the Musical’

January 5 ------ What everyone can also look forward to this 2026 is watching “Bagets the Musical,” the play adaptation of the hit and iconic ‘80s movie, “Bagets.” It’s a coming-of-age and rite of passage story revolving around five boy characters: Adie, Arnel, Gilbert, Tonton and Topee.

Noel Comia Jr. and Tomas Rodriguez play the geeky Gilbert. KD Estrada and Ethan David take on the conyo, rich boy Arnel. Milo Cruz and Migo Valid, on the other hand, portray the barkada leader and risk-taker Tonton. Jeff Moses and Sam Shoaf essay the athletic heartthrob Topee, while Mico Hendrix Chua and Andres Muhlach play the baby-faced charmer Adie.

Since the “Bagets” narrative is hopping from one artistic medium to another and told in contemporary times, it’s exciting to know or get a glimpse of how it will be presented starting Jan. 23 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Newport World Resorts.

The play’s creatives, playwright J-mee Katanyag, director Maribel Legarda and actress Carla Guevara-Laforteza, shared their thoughts on what to expect from “Bagets the Musical” in a presscon. “In the movie, it’s more focused on the boys. But now, in this particular staging, adaptation, it focuses on the boys’ relationships with their mothers,” said Carla, who plays Virgie, the “quintessential ‘80s working mother” of Adie. “Our mothers and our children in the audience will be able to understand why the mothers are acting that way and why the kids are acting that way.”

In a way, the audience will make sense of the context and causes such as “miscommunication and misunderstanding,” as shared by Carla, “pero duon nila makikita na (but they will see), ‘Ah, kaya pala nagalit yung nanay, eto naman kasing bata hindi naman ginawa yung sinabi (the reason why the mom was angry was because the son didn’t follow what he was being told to). Tapos, malalaman kaya naman pala di niya ginawa kasi di niya naintindihan yung sinabi ng nanay niya (then, they will also learn that the child didn’t understand the instruction of the mom). So, may ganung dynamic, may ganoong klaseng story about relationships (there’s that dynamic or kind of story). They will understand why (and) the side of the mom and the side of the son.”

The other actresses in the cast who also essay the matriarch-ermats role are Kakai Bautista and Natasha Cabrera as Delia, the “loud, loving and nagging” mom of Tonton; Neomi Gonzales, Anna, the “ambitious actress” and “single mom” of Topee; Ring Antonio, Luz as the hardworking mom of Gilbert; and Mayen Bustamante-Cadd, Ditas, the rich, high-society mom of Arnel.

Aside from the mother-son relationships, one can also perhaps anticipate the female lens in the musical play, with J-mee and Maribel as key creatives.

Given the social and cultural landscape where the movie was set against, J-mee said that the story needed some review to resonate with the present audiences, who face different issues and are situated in specific plights. They might include a female gaze besides the male gaze and highlight the discourse on how to become a man and a human being regardless of era or time.

There are film narrative aspects that they might refine and make them composite. Then, they highlight the main and shared essence of each character. There are also additional scenes for the mothers, shared Maribel. “We want it to resonate with the now. There were things there (in the movie), I mean (that needed to be reflected on), ‘OK pa ba yan?,’” said she, adding that “you’re not just talking to people stuck in the ‘80s. They were in the ‘80s, but they are now now, in the present, with a current discourse on, you know, what is politically correct.”

As the “Bagets the Musical” director, Maribel said she wants “to put in humor and a lot of fun. Naniniwala kasi ako (I believe that) a play should always be entertaining, you know, a spoonful of sugar kahit meron kaming gustong sabihin or whatever diskurso na gusto naming ipasok (even if we have something for the public to ponder upon or a discourse we want to incorporate). Ayaw ko siyang maging burden sa audience (I don’t want to burden the audience).” “I want them to enjoy (it). I want them to open their hearts to all we have to say,” added she. “So, I want this play to be charming. I want this story to be emotional. I want it to be funny and then we’ll have a big space to hopefully visualize all of this.”

Again, Maribel and J-mee’s job is to balance “what is in the past that is good and what should be tweaked for the current,” concluded she. (“Bagets the Musical” is a production of Newport World Resorts with The Philippine STAR and VIVA Communications. Tickets are now available at the Newport World Resorts box office, Ticketworld and Ticket2Me: P4,000 (SVIP), P3,500 (VIP), P3,000 (gold), P2,000 (silver) and P1,000 (bronze). For details, call 7908-8888.)

Source: philstar.com