In ‘Bagets The Musical,’ the ermats grow up, too

Carla Guevara-Laforteza as Virgie, the mother of Andres Muhlach’s Adie

For a teenage boy on the path to manhood, the first impulse is to look to his father as a role model. But in the neon-soaked, synth-laden world of “Bagets The Musical,” the reality isn’t that simple.

With fathers often physically unavailable due to work and emotionally distant because of traditional notions of masculinity, the unlikely burden of defining what it means to be a man rests on the mothers’ shoulders. Mothers carry out the emotional and character-building conversations with their sons.

A big role—and burden

More than just a nostalgic romp back to the youth culture of 1984, the upcoming musical adaptation of the iconic movie by Mario J. de los Reyes expands into a multigenerational coming-of-age tale, where the parents need as much growing up as their children do.

“Mothers play a big role in how their sons grow up, and I think it can also be a burden. We want to talk about how we shape our young people, and we hope the younger generation can relate to that,” director Maribel Legarda tells Lifestyle Inquirer.

“It focuses on the way mothers take care of their sons—that relationship growing up. It also explores the formation of men… where this macho psyche comes from,” she adds. “These are deep-rooted things in our culture that we maybe take for granted. This is a fun way of looking into that.”

The core “Bagets” barkada remains intact onstage: Adie (Andres Muhlach/Mico Hendrix Chua), Arnel (KD Estrada/Ethan David), Gilbert (Noel Comia Jr./Tomas Rodriguez), Topee (Jeff Moses/Sam Shoaf), and Tonton (Milo Cruz/Migo Valid). Together, they navigate dealing with expectations, peer pressure, and heartbreak as graduation draws near.

Distinct struggles

But this time, the mothers—each with a distinct struggle, and who see versions of their younger selves in their sons—take on more prominent roles.

Neomi Gonzales is Anna, the dreamer and single mother of Topee. An aspiring actress, she chooses her son over a potentially career-making Lino Brocka film, embodying the sacrifice of dreams and identity that many women face amid societal pressures.

Neomi Gonzales as Anna, the mother of Jeff Moses’s Topee

Kakai Bautista and Natasha Cabrera alternate as Delia, Tonton’s talakera mother, who makes use of whatever resources she has to keep her daredevil son in a good school. Beneath her humor, however, lies the exhaustion and insecurity of a woman wary of failing her family.

Kakai Bautista as Delia, the mother of Milo Cruz’s Tonton

Mayen Bustamante-Cadd is Ditas, Arnel’s elitist, socialite mother, obsessed with maintaining her image and reputation. Raised in a traditional household, she creates a similar bubble for her son—privileged but suffocating.

Mayen Bustamante-Cadd as Ditas, the mother of KD Estrada’s Arnel

Carla Guevara-Laforteza portrays Virgie, Adie’s well-educated and career-driven mother. Terrified of stillness, this quintessential 1980s working mom often acts like a distracted peer more than a doting parent.

Meanwhile, Ring Antonio plays Luz, Gilbert’s hardworking mother, whose relentless hustle keeps her family afloat. Married to a gambling husband, there’s never a side job she would pass up.

Ring Antonio as Luz, the mother of Tomas Rodriguez’s Gilbert

Learning the ropes

In turn, the actresses see reflections of their own experiences in their characters. Gonzales, raising a 15-year-old, acknowledges that there’s no manual for parenting. “It’s not just the bagets trying to find their way and learning the ropes—the parents do, too. There’s no guide or perfect recipe,” she points out. “It’s about mothers finding their own ways to connect with their children.”

Part of the challenge, she surmises, lies in the fact that the world she grew up in is very different from the one her child is growing up in. While life back then seemed “simpler”—“kids were free to make mistakes without the world watching”—life today is drastically more fast-paced, forcing them to grow up quickly.

Every generation may have its own cross to bear, but “Bagets The Musical” shows that the essence of growing up—and of parenting—remains largely unchanged. This is something Valid, who plays Tonton, came to realize little by little as he immersed himself in the story and his character.

“Gano’n din pala dati—parang walang nagbago. We used to think our parents scolded us for things they never did, but then I realized it’s the other way around—they don’t want you making the same mistakes they did,” he says.

Natasha Cabrera as Delia, the mother of Milo Cruz’s Tonton

A collective coming of age

And it’s this universality, writer J-mee Katanyag says, that makes “Bagets” a story worth retelling more than 40 years after it first came out. After all, coming of age isn’t tied to a particular age—or a specific time.

“The idea of growing up doesn’t have to be literal or limited to young people—it can also apply to mothers balancing career and identity, or to anyone figuring out how to be Filipino,” she explains.

Simply put, it’s a collective coming of age.

“Our struggles are the same at heart—iba-iba lang ng panahon,” she adds. “The show is an invitation to reflect on what it took to come of age in the kind of nation we had then, and what it takes now; on who we were, who we are, and who we could become—as boys, as mothers, as Filipinos—all packed into a dance party, of course!”

“Bagets The Musical” is a PETA Plus production, in association with Newport World Resorts and Viva Entertainment. It runs from Jan. 23 to March 2026 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater.