I'm more of a Passing Strange kind of person, but I'm not above enjoying the occasional treacle-fest. Two weeks of workplace drama (ay shet, I have my own Officer Krupke) can really wear one down, and where else could I turn to but my favorite form of escapism, the theater?

West Side Story is, to me, the kind of musical that you don't really watch for the story (that's where Passing Strange comes in), or even the music (Spring Awakening, right there), but for the people in it. Blasphemy, I know, but "Tonight" or "Maria" does nothing for me, and I fell asleep thrice on my VCD copy of the 1968 movie version with Natalie Wood, before finally giving up on Disc 3. I still haven't finished the movie.

It's like Mulan, Jr., in that sense -- the material was crap-tastic, but having Cris Villonco, Felix Rivera AND Chevy Mercado in it, reading like my own personal Dream Casting line-up, totally saved it for me. Had the cast list of Mulan been any different that day, I probably would've walked out halfway through, despite the impressive set and special effects. Same goes for WSS: without Joanna Ampil and Rowena Vilar in the same line-up, I'd have enjoyed it much less than I did.

Warning, shameless pluggage ahead: If Red Concepcion hadn't mentioned that he was going to be in this thing, it's likely I wouldn't have seen the show. I'd already written it off as another vehicle for two big-name stars, Christian Bautista and Karylle, and I felt I would rather devote my money to something less popular with the masses. But Red's such a kick-ass actor that I'll watch him in anything, even a ginormous cheese spectacle like West Side Story. Hell, he could play Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: the Musical and I'd still see it (carry mo naman yung blond hair eh, haha!). So, thank God for Songs for a New World serendipity. And after reading on Gibbs Cadiz' blog that the final show featured Joanna and Rowena, I rushed to TicketWorld and snagged the last front row seat available (yeah, I'm still soured on buying tickets for large groups, so I saw this one on my own).

Obviously, Red didn't disappoint as that crazy bitch A-Rab; he possessed the gleeful insanity of a mad dog when he talked, and the precision and grace of a true artist when he danced. And the great thing is that unlike Mulan, this show didn't rely on the strength of just a handful of performers amidst the large cast. In WSS, the entire cast was well-rounded and pitch-perfect.

Gian Magdangal as Riff is my personal Aaron Eckhart for this show. By Aaron Eckhart I mean, his Two-Face was my favorite thing about The Dark Knight, even though everybody else was paying attention to Heath Ledger (deservedly enough). He's got the strong presence to play a gang leader, and the pipes for the songs, and it always impresses me greatly when an actor can do a good accent, like he does.

For my money, there wasn't a single weak link in the ensemble cast, though as you can tell from the blog title, I grew a bit of a crush on the rail-thin, feisty Action from the Jets gang. "Who is this Anthony Tarrosa Ong, and where can I get one?" :)

You'd think everybody in the audience just won the lottery the way they reacted after the voice-over announcement: "This evening, the role of Maria will be performed by Joanna Ampil...the role of Anita will be performed by Rowena Vilar..." But let me tell you, the batshit insane cheering was not an overreaction. Joanna was lovely and flawless as one would expect; Rowena was FRIGGIN' SPECTACULAR and stole every scene she was in. No seriously. You can not take your eyes off her, executing those tricky dance moves with ease, in stiletto heels. She'll break your heart singing about "A Boy Like That." You'll be chilled to the bone, feeling every scratch and tear and push in her scene with the Jets. Ms. Vilar is a triple threat if I ever saw one. They need to manufacture more of these Rowena Vilar things and place them in every single nation across the globe. She'll be Elphaba, and Glinda, and Nessarose. She'll be Mimi, Maureen and Angel. She'll be Cassie and Natalie and every other person in A Chorus Line. She's the entire fucking chorus line. Holy crap this girl rocks.

Now, onto the star of the show: Hot pala si Christian Bautista? Who knew?

It's ironic that the most famous cast member ends up being the most underrated. Not that he was the best performer by any means, but I'd hate to be Christian Bautista after reading the reviews. I don't think anyone's really given him proper due for what he actually does for the show. This show was openly a vehicle for the star, but I think he ended up being the vehicle for the show. It was visible from the moment I walked into the lobby. The Swatch adverts, guest contributors (Lea Salonga, Dingdong Dantes, et al) on the program, posters left and right at any mall you go to, probably wouldn't be there if Christian Bautista was not the star of this show. I'm suppose I'm more pragmatic than the average theatergoer when it comes to things like this. Whatever puts asses in the seats, I always say. Christian Bautista is the MTV's Search for the Next Elle Woods of Philippine theater -- not everyone is going to like it, but commercially, it's heaven-sent.

In terms of actual talent, perhaps he's improved greatly over the run of the show, but I didn't see him as the low-light that every review claims he is. Then again, I walked in expecting a lot less from him than anybody else. Sure, I'd agree that he was too much "puppydog-eyed loverboy" and not nearly enough "American ganster" for the role of Tony, but he sings well, dances well and is a lot prettier than I expected him to be. If he had the comic timing to pull it off, I think he'd actually be a great Fiyero in Wicked.

There, that's about every cast member in the program, but I'd like to talk about one unseen star: "Felix Rivera, vocal coach." SQUEE! Look, his voice knocks it out of the ballpark every time, so he's a beyond perfect vocal coach, but seeing his goofy grin on the insert made me start playing my favorite intermission game, "How much better would this production have been had Felix Rivera starred in it?" Why was Felix not in the cast, damn it?!? He'd be an edgier, more nuanced Tony (who can sing better), Riff with more sex appeal, an Action who looks like he could actually beat somebody up (have you seen those biceps, ohmygolly).

Clearly, I was not impressed with the original WSS storyline, but the brilliant, well-crafted sets and superb acting kept me on the edge of my seat, and in fact, made me want to give the VCD another try. Disc 4 FTW! By the end of the show, I was telling myself, "Do NOT fucking cry, okay, you are so not pulling another Tuesdays with Morrie in the front row!"

So bravo, Stages Productions, Inc, you've won me over as the go-to company for big-budget musicals. West Side Story was more than worth the ticket price, and I went to work an hour later humming "Something's Coming" with a big grin on my face. Can you do Wicked next year? The Meralco theater would be perfect! I'm starting my "Kidnap Cris Villonco from Hong Kong Disneyland so she can play Elphaba" campaign right now!

(...And Rowena Vilar too, of course.)