Bongga Ka, 'Day! (Resorts World Manila)

♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Annie Batungbakal (Atasha Muhlach) has lofty ambitions, that of making a living out of being a fashion designer, further fueled by her current job as part of the staff of House Pasion, a fashion house headed by their strict boss Aurora (Jackie Lou Blanco). The threat of losing their jobs hangs over their heads every day as RTW becomes the new norm, making it hard for couture ateliers to survive. There might be some hope yet as Aurora tries to convince her son Romer (Anthony Rosaldo) to quit his flight attendant job and put his university degree to good use by taking over the family business. Meanwhile, Annie’s childhood sweetheart Burn (KD Estrada), comes home from Japan, willing to reignite their romance. But Annie is busy with her dream as well as her nightly attempts of getting into Coco Banana, the nightclub of the rich and famous, owned by snobbish Tarurit (John Lapus) who always shoos her away at the door.

I’m really just stalking Jackie Lou Blanco at this point: Barefoot’s Anthropology last March; The Virgin Labfest’s Lualhati in June; Cinemalaya’s Mag-Iina in August. In Bongga Ka, ‘Day! I heard her sing for the first time. Not quite Pilita Corrales, but obviously her daughter. Luckily, the rest of the support cast are just as good in terms of singing. It was Estrada, however, who really stood out in terms of vocal chops. His was a good mix of pop and soul and, somehow, Burn’s songs are more memorable than those of Romer’s.

Muhlach wasn’t as bad as I expected her to be. I’m just not sure whether it’s thanks to the lower expectations or because I’m comparing her to her twin brother, whose monotone rendition of Take On Me in Bagets the Musical still gives me second hand embarrassment when the memory crosses my mind. Muhlach can carry a tune, even though it’s obvious that some high notes were adjusted for her. She can dance, but the movement is more of the fidgety kind. Her acting is decent enough. The conyo inflection surfaces from time to time, which was distracting. After all, you are Annie from Frisco, not San Francisco.

In short, there is potential there alright but the nepo baby accusations are hard to dismiss because there’s just no way a newbie theater actor can bag a lead role like that at her CURRENT level of skills. Unless daddy made some calls. It doesn’t help that this is the second consecutive Resorts World musical headlined by one of Aga Muhlach’s children. I guess the good thing is that unlike Andres who really stuck out like a sore thumb in a field of legit triple threats, Atasha at least managed to hold her own with her scene partners, elevating her performance instead of overshadowing it.

As for the sets, this is an aspect in which Resorts World’s productions do not hold back. They really make sure that there is no inch of onstage real estate that is unaccounted for. The projected images and actual sets blend well together and they really manage to make you buy into the illusion that you are onsite. The orchestra hidden behind the stage does more than the bare minimum to give new life to Hotdog’s discography, while the actors also end up along the aisles in some of the song and dance numbers, giving the audience a legit adrenaline rush.

The story kind of goes nowhere, though. I’ve seen neither Nora Aunor's nor Jolina Magdangal's film. What I know from Annie Batungbakal I do so because of the lyrics of the song which serve as a summary of the storyline. I was expecting Bongga Ka, ‘Day! to delve deeper into the social relevance aspect, that of the struggle of the proletariat. We get some of that but the focus of this show is really on the glitz, the romance, the entertainment, all framed through the typical formula of a young girl reaching for her dreams. I don’t really know what Resorts World’s artistic vision is nowadays but Bongga Ka, ‘Day! just seems to be an extension of their OPM jukebox musical phase recently augmented by Viva’s 80’s/90’s filmography.