Sam Concepcion’s buff body steals the show

The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) should give Sam Concepcion a chance to show off his buffed body in some scenes of the musical One More Chance, which is currently in its second round of staging until 27 October at the PETA Center Theater on Eymard Street, Quezon City.

Concepcion portrays the male lead, alternating with ABS-CBN actor CJ Novato. The musical is based on the 2017 movie of the same title, produced by Star Cinema and featuring Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz.

In case you haven’t heard, Concepcion’s photos from another musical he starred in September -- showing his muscles bulging from a white, body-hugging tank top -- have gone viral. That musical was Once on This Island, performed entirely in English, unlike One More Chance, which is primarily in Filipino/Tagalog.

PETA has likely earned a lot from One More Chance since its first staging earlier this year. It wouldn’t hurt PETA to earn even more by making Concepcion’s character Popoy (played by John Lloyd Cruz in the movie) a bit sexier.

Concepcion is always fully covered in a plaid polo shirt or loose jackets in One More Chance. He has a somewhat infamous drunken video of him singing. As in all the stagings, he wears a loose jacket. The play’s stage director, the seasoned Maribel Legarda, should motivate him to wear a tank top under his jacket and give him a reason to take off the jacket during his drunken singing. That scene might make the audience roar in their own kind of drunkenness.

Did you know that even male actors react positively to Concepcion’s muscles? For instance, Rocco Nacino exclaimed, “Wow, the arms!”

The critic Edmund Dennis Ladaw wrote in The Diarist about Concepcion after watching the musical: “He is a terrific actor. His performance is heartbreaking, especially during Popoy’s breakdown. He also has the audience cheering for his dance moves in a rousing number.”

Some netizens reacted to Concepcion’s pic in a white tank top by calling him, “Oh Dad Dad Dad my Dad!” In today’s vernacular, “dad” is an expression of desire, not just a term of respect. It alludes to a desirable physique, rather than stature or eminence.

Concepcion seemed to take the admiration in stride as he joked about being a “meme” on his X account.

“Every now and again, nagiging meme pa rin ang dating (I still become a meme),” he wrote.

Live theater seems to be making more money today than movies in cinemas, despite movie tickets being very low-priced compared to the cost of general admission tickets for live musicals. Productions like Once on This Island and One More Chance sell general admission tickets for more than P1,000, with some even going for P2,000 each. We haven’t heard of a theater company losing money or failing to earn enough to stay afloat.

Concepcion could have been a bigger film actor had he allowed himself to show off his bulging muscles. Did you know he was one of Nadine Lustre’s leading men in the dance movie Indak? Concepcion has always been a very good dancer with a well-shaped physique.

It’s great that Concepcion’s physique is going viral these days, giving us a break from the shocking reports about who has posted their certificates of candidacy.

We also need a break from the surfeit of Pinoys and Pinoy half-breeds who have won pageants with hard-to-remember kilometric names.