After ‘Isang Himala,’ ‘Nasaan si Hesus?’ is next stage-to-screen musical adaptation
Following the successful release of Pepe Diokno’s musical play-turned-film “Isang Himala” in December, Filipino audiences are showing renewed interest in musical films, and “Nasaan si Hesus?” aims to continue this momentum, according to writer-director Dennis Marasigan.
“Nasaan is Hesus?” is a play written by the late Inquirer editor Nestor Torre, with music and lyrics by Lourdes “Bing” Pimentel. The film adaptation will be spearheaded by Balin Remjus Inc. and Great Media Productions.
“It’s a good thing for us that ‘Isang Himala’ was released first. People are already talking about it. At least, when we say this is a musical, the audience already has an idea and knows what to expect from it,” Marasigan told Lifestyle in a recent interview.
“Isang Himala” is one of 10 entries to the recently concluded 50th Metro Manila Film Festival, where it won the 4th best picture award.
Marasigan believes the best thing about “Isang Himala” is the fact that it helps educate the Filipino audience to appreciate musicals. “I’m a theater person. ‘Isang Himala’ is like ‘The Sound of Music’ for many people—their first introduction to the musical play is actually the film version. What normally happens is that when you see the film, you will also be curious to see the stage play,” said Marasigan, who is also vice president and artistic director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Unique opportunity
For musical director TJ Ramos, “Isang Himala” offered a unique opportunity to connect with his idols in musical theater. “In theater, we have the ‘Tres Marias’ of musical composition: Joed Balsamo, Ejay Yatco [who did “Pingkian: Isang Musikal”], and Vince de Jesus [“Isang Himala”]. I look up to these musical theater composers. Watching ‘Isang Himala’ gave me goosebumps—it felt like being inside the theater, even while watching the film,” he said.
Drawing from the production style of “Isang Himala,” which director Diokno said was inspired by the American musical fantasy “Wicked,” Marasigan said he is well aware that people will be expecting so much from this project.
“Our budget is not as big, so we will do the ‘alternative way,’ which was what we did in ‘Ang Larawan.’ We will prerecord the songs and then the actors will lip-synch during filming,” said Marasigan, who worked as associate director of the 2017 musical film by Loy Arcenas.
“This way, we will be able to control the sound,” he added. In fact, Marasigan recalled that while doing “Larawan,” British theater producer Cameron Mackintosh advised producer Celeste Legaspi not to copy what was done for “Les Miserables,” where they all sang live. “They had to deal with a lot of problems then. For one, since it was sang live, every take was obviously different. What if you need 15 takes to do a scene and they’re all different?”
He added: “When it comes to location, we cannot control the sound environment. We would most likely hear dogs barking or roosters crowing. We will prerecord the songs, but we will still record live in some scenes to make sure we have options. We will just balance it during postproduction.”
Originally staged 20 years ago, “Nasaan si Hesus?” explores the spiritual struggles of a community amid temptations, distractions, and lifestyle changes. It was restaged in 2017, with former Inquirer editor Rito Asilo as director.
Linear narrative
In terms of the changes made in transforming the stage play into a film, Marasigan said he made sure to discuss this with Asilo first. He said that, unlike the episodic nature of the stage production, where scenes played out as standalone vignettes, he thought of creating a linear narrative for the film. He did this by weaving the characters’ lives together and using them as symbolic representations of the seven deadly sins and virtues.
“I also asked Nanay Bing if we could limit the characters, choose only those that have key elements that can cross the other stories. In the stage play, these characters don’t meet. The way the script was structured was that each of the characters symbolizes a sin. Even the priest has a sin. The next part for me will be how the virtues are supposed to be addressed,” he explained.
Even the music is being carefully tailored to serve the film’s storytelling. Marasigan and Ramos, who have collaborated in theater for over a decade, are “chatting constantly” to ensure the music aligns with the film’s pacing and emotional beats. “The advantage is that TJ already knows what I want, and I already know what he would do,” said Marasigan, adding that the synergy they have ensures that the music doesn’t just accompany the visuals but also serves as a storytelling device.
When asked if he was conscious that the film would come out as something preachy, Marasigan was quick to clarify: “We’re trying to avoid that. We have to use all of the 17 songs by Nanay Bing, so we have no choice but to be heavy-handed in the music. The point of a musical is that the emotions are expressed through songs. That means the treatment of the scenes and dialogue cannot be preachy.”
Set to begin production in January, “Nasaan si Hesus?” will feature Rachel Alejandro, Geneva Cruz, Janno Gibbs, Jeffrey Hidalgo, Marissa Sanchez, and “The Voice Kids” alumnus Gianni Sarita.
