The Jose Mari Chan Musical: The Songs, The Feels, The Story
"We hit the perfect script and we're ready to go," says Rep's Mindy Perez-Rubio.
(SPOT.ph) For a deeply musical country and one that has the longest holiday season on the planet, it’s a puzzle why it’s taken this long for the first Christmas-themed Filipino musical to arrive. It's called Going Home to Christmas and it features the music of Mr. Christmas himself, Jose Mari Chan. The singer-songwriter whose “Christmas in our Hearts” has been a holiday anthem since its release 18 years ago is lending his portfolio of compositions—22 of them—for this Repertory Philippines production.
It turns out the play could’ve come as early as 2020. The idea was pitched to Chan in 2019 over dinner by close friend Carlos Perez-Rubio whose wife, Mindy, is President and CEO of Rep. Had Covid-19 not interfered, Chan would have been the third OPM artist to have a jukebox musical, following pop-rock bands Aegis, which pioneered the genre in 2014 with the PETA comedy Rak of Aegis, and Eraserheads, which took the theater world by storm in 2018 with the friendship drama Ang Huling El Bimbo. But regardless, Chan has the distinction of being the first Filipino solo act to be given the musical play honor.
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And the timing couldn’t be more perfect. This year has been one of the most trying for the country post-pandemic, with a series of devastating natural calamities and other developments that has cast a rather downbeat atmosphere on the nation, dampening the spirits of many Filipinos. After the jubilation for Carlos Yulo’s historic double gold victories in the Olympics in July, the country needs a good dose of feel-good cheer to close the year.
What to expect from Going Home to Christmas
Going Home To Christmas promises to deliver that dose of happy. “I’m excited to see all the stories and elements that Rep has weaved together to add new meaning and life to these songs,” Chan says in his notes for the musical. The play is soundtracked by a 22-song setlist from the catalog of Chan himself, which should be a good reminder to all that there’s more to the guy than “Christmas in Our Hearts.” The repertoire includes Chan’s equally iconic non-Christmas classics “Beautiful Girl,” “Please Be Careful With My Heart,” and “Tell Me Your Name.” As though that’s not rich enough, there’s also the OPM classic “Hahanapin Ko,” a searching, yearning LDR ballad from 1980 that not many know is a Chan composition (he wrote the music and Rolando Tinio wrote the lyrics of this Anthony Castelo hit).
Rep is confident they have a good musical in their hands. Perez-Rubio, speaking at the press conference for the show, notes that after several rewrites, “we have hit the perfect script and we’re ready to go.”
The narrative that the show’s trio of award-winning writers Luna Griño-Inocian, Robbie Guevara, and actor Joel Trinidad, came up with, “promises to treat audiences to heartwarming moments filled with laughter, love, and a touch of nostalgia.” It involves, among a gallery of over 20 characters, a couple on their second honeymoon, a group of lovelorn best friends, and a few homesick OFWs looking forward to, well, going home for Christmas.
Also read: Why Jose Mari Chan Memes Bring Christmas Joy
A reintroduction to Jose Mari Chan
Speaking of nostalgia and traditions, SPOT got to talk with Mr. Chan during the play’s press conference and he shared with us two most unforgettable Christmas memories. One was as a little boy, waiting for his parents and lola to arrive home from Christmas eve mass, and the time he was already a parent living in the US. He took some powder, rubbed the soles of a pair of boots on them, and made shoe prints on the floor from the fireplace to the Christmas tree. The following morning, Christmas Day, he woke the kids up and egged them to check the living room right away. “Look who came last night?!” The prank was a success. The kids were so happy.
Audiences should expect a flood of good-natured happiness, nostalgia, and maybe even tears in each Going Home To Christmas performance. The listening sessions including the press event were already filled with a lot of wistful moments and fuzzy feels—what more the shows? “Some people told me that the musical arrangements of Ejay Yatco [musical director] are tremendous. In fact someone told me they brought tears to her eyes.” Even Mr. Chan was said to have shed some tears listening to Carla Guevara Laforteza sing "Hahanapin Ko."
With this musical, it will be the first time audiences will be hearing Chan’s timeless tunes as a soundtrack to the stories on Pinoy life. If Perez-Rubio is not just making bola about the script being perfect, this show can spark a renewed appreciation for the Mr. Songwriter in Mr. Christmas. “I’m honored that REP, which is known for its decades of bringing quality theater to Filipino audiences, selected my body of work as their inspiration for this holiday production,” Chan says.
It's been long overdue.
Going Home To Christmas runs from November 29 to Dec 15 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza, Makati. Tickets to the Dec 7, 3:30PM show are available at https://ticket2me.net/event/21926 or thru 09175112110.