‘Muli’ musical explores millennial what-ifs
When the jukebox musical “Sa Wakas” debuted in 2013—around the time the word “adulting” entered the mainstream—its creators sought to create a grounded depiction of millennial life. Thirteen years later, where are they now?
Chances are they’re still adulting, leading different lives—settled, restless, fulfilled, uncertain, or anything in between—with their own families or without. But either way, now in their mid-30s and early 40s, they’re at a point where it seems only natural to reflect on the lives they have built so far and, inevitably, the niggling what-ifs and regrets.
“Muli: An OPM Musical,” a successor of sorts to “Sa Wakas,” doesn’t claim to have the answers. But at the very least, it gives you a chance to wonder what it would be like to live your life all over again and revisit “the choices you wish you made, the roads you never took, and the words you never said.”
From a place of truth
Reuniting writer-executive producer Charissa Pammit and director Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan, the show stars Kakki Teodoro as Anita, a 42-year-old housewife who set aside her pop star dreams as a teenager, and Janine Teñoso as Kath, the daughter who can’t help but wonder if she was the reason.
“Asan na ang mga millennials? Parang ang nangyayari, we have been writing stories about our own lives in different eras. When we were in our 20s, there was ‘Sa Wakas.’ And now that we’re in our 30s, 40s, we have ‘Muli,’ which is about where we are now,” Pammit tells Lifestyle Inquirer.
That’s not to say, though, that the generation is wallowing in regret or possibly going through a “millennial midlife crisis.”
“I think there are many of us who are very much happy with their lives. But still, I feel like most of us have that twinge of, ‘Oh, what could have happened had I chosen differently?’” says Pammit, who has her own what-ifs—some of which inspired the story.
“I like drawing from my experiences because it comes from a place of truth,” adds Pammit, who co-wrote the script with Jose Paolo dela Cruz. “It’s something people, especially my age, grapple with today.”
Sacrifices and forgotten dreams
True enough, Teodoro, upon reading the script, immediately saw herself in it. While she knows that she wouldn’t have the life she has now if she hadn’t pursued a career in theater, she must admit that every so often, she finds herself wondering: What if there was another version of her life out there?
“I once dreamed of, or at least had the opportunity of, migrating to another country. Samahan ko ‘yong ex ko—ganyan!” Teodoro says. “Sabi ko, ‘Buti ‘di mo ‘yon ginawa, girl! Kung sakali, wala ako sa theater at ‘di ako magiging fulfilled. Pero what if nga ano?”
While that particular what-if isn’t so much a regret as it is a curious thought, the opposite is true for the character Teodoro plays. Rummaging through her things, Anita unwittingly unlocks 20 years’ worth of memories—of who she was back then, her forgotten dreams and sacrifices.
The strong-willed Kath, meanwhile, pushes her mother to start over—to stop worrying and to finally become her own woman. And from there, magic happens, taking them not just on a journey back to the 1990s but also into alternate universes.
And as they hop from one OPM era to another, the musical revels in an 11-song original score that melds pop, hip-hop, and ballads—courtesy of the award-winning hitmaking team of Flip Music’s Matthew Chang and Nica del Rosario, whose work includes Bini’s “Pantropiko” and Sarah Geronimo’s “Tala.”
Mother and daughter dynamic
For the play’s first iteration in 2018, Pammit says they considered using existing OPM songs, much like how “Sa Wakas” used Ebe Dancel’s discography. But as the story evolved through years of revisions, the choice of music followed. “We realized that it would be easier to just create new songs—and it would actually be more fun,” she says.
These soaring, often vocally-challenging songs—as heard in “Silver Spoon” and “Iba’t Ibang Mundo” during the preview—give Teodoro and Teñoso plenty of room to flex their vocal chops. But what makes their pairing especially interesting is the contrast in their experience. Since Teodoro is an award-winning veteran and Teñoso is making her musical theater debut, they’re practically mother and daughter, at least during rehearsal.
Teodoro naturally takes on a mentor role, but she also makes a point of showing her own vulnerability, whether by admitting that certain high notes make her anxious or that she has forgotten a bit of choreography. This way, Teñoso never feels like they’re on unequal footing.
“Kakki makes it all look so effortless. Just watching her work, I can already learn a lot about performing and work ethic,” Teñoso says. “But what I will always remember is her telling me not to be afraid of messing up and making mistakes.”
As if a ‘90s setting being called a “nostalgia trip” weren’t enough, playing a mother triggers a very slight panic: “Middle age na ba tayo?” And with it comes the strange limbo of feeling like you still have enough time—but not really.
But there are a few things “Muli” hopes to convey (and not only to millennials): It’s never too late to start over or try something new, and the choices we made—even the ones we may regret—are part of who we are today.
“The decisions we make and their consequences, we have to embrace,” Teodoro says. “We can’t stay attached to the past too long, and we have to trust that, in whatever life we choose, we’re in the right place at the right time.”
“Muli” runs Sept. 11 to 27 at Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, BGC Arts Center
