‘Ang Huling El Bimbo’ musical

Do you miss the days when you could just hang out in campus with your friends after classes? You would talk about anything under the sun, and the conversation would intensify when it was about love, family, the future, among many other things.

You would cry and sing your heart out over the songs of the Eraserheads. You felt the heartbreak whenever Ely Buendia, Raymund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala and Marcus Adoro sang “Pare Ko,” the sadness whenever you heard “Spoliarium,” a high with the strains of “Alapaap” or bittersweet nostalgia whenever the band’s all-time number one song “Ang Huling El Bimbo” played on radio.

Take a trip down the memory lane at the Newport Performing Arts Theater starting on July 20 as Resorts World Manila presents its 9th theater production, Ang Huling El Bimbo (The Musical). The original production will highlight the songs from the country’s most iconic ‘90s band.

Ang Huling El Bimbo tells the story of three friends who had drift apart in adulthood until fate decides to reunite them. Headlining the musical are Gian Magdangal, Jon Santos, OJ Mariano, Reb Atadero, Topper Fabregas, Boo Gabunada, Sheila Francisco and Tanya Manalang.

Featured in the musical are the songs “Ligaya,” “Pare Ko,” “With a Smile,” “Alapaap,” “Overdrive” and the title track “Ang Huling El Bimbo” – all considered as anthems among Filipino fans of Eraserheads music.

“I feel like a lot of you have experienced reconnecting with school friends na matagal niyo nang hindi Nakita (that you have not seen in a long time). There’s this basket of mixed feelings — matatakot ba ako na pumunta kasi baka ako lang ang hindi mayaman (should I be afraid to go because I might be the only one who didn’t get rich)? But your Vitamin C and oxygen is friendship. They say that friendships are made in school they are families you created yourself,” Jon Santos said.

The musical will appeal to those who have experienced profound friendships and for longtime fans of Eraserheads.

“One of the takeaways from the musical is you have to catch up with and look for your friends, remind yourself on what is truly important. You will also realize that ang galing pala talagang sumulat ng Pinoy, magaling talaga ang Pinoy na (how good the Filipino writer truly is, how good a) storyteller,” adds Santos.

The music will be reoriented at some points in the story to tackle serious themes, as reflected in the band’s songs “Spoliarium,” “Poorman’s Grave,” “Back 2 Me” and “Hula.”

“The songs blend themselves; they each tackle socially relevant issues like gender equality, economic pressure and so on. And I think the backbone that we used is reconnecting with people, asking them actually how you are instead of just looking at what’s going on in Facebook,” said director Dexter Santos during the press conference.

The musical will make use of flashbacks to convey the flow of two timelines, the ‘90s and contemporary times. Dexter Santos made sure that each narrative happens very clearly, the characters’ decisions, choices and the conflicts.

“But, most of all, it’s also important that when they come together, we’re able to deliver what we want to tell our audiences,” he said.

FHTC artistic director Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo promises that Ang Huling El Bimbo will surely entertain the audience, even non-fans of the band.

“You will be able to relate to each character. We take the songs, break them and flesh out narratives that involve very real people and very real issues. As such, any age from the ‘90s up can relate to at least one character that carries similar angst or aspirations,” she noted.

Tickets to Ang Huling El Bimbo are now available at the RWM Box Office and TicketWorld outlets. Visit www.rwmanila.com or download the RWM Mobile App for more updates.