Coming soon: A musical based on Yeng’s hit songs

Yeng Constantino was among the first to watch the wildly successful comedy musical Rak of Aegis which featured the hits of OPM group Aegis. She actually watched it twice — once with her husband, musician and worship leader Yan Asuncion, and they enjoyed it immensely. “Tawa kami nang tawa,” she says.

If she had that much fun watching someone else’s songs come to life onstage, it’s no surprise that she’s enjoying her latest project.

The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), the same team that staged Rak of Aegis, is currently developing Ako Si Josephine, a new musical using songs Yeng made famous. It will also include lesser-known songs that, while they were included on Yeng’s previous albums, weren’t released as singles.

Yeng is truly grateful for the opportunity to give those songs the moment she feels they deserve. “This musical, Ako Si Josephine, will be using not only my songs that turned hits but also those I composed that didn’t become popular. That’s why it feels so exciting. I have composed songs that didn’t enjoy airplay, yet they were among my favorites.”

Yeng names her albums Lapit and Metamorphosis (which she put out in 2009 and 2013, respectively) as having the most number of her favorite deep cuts, although she declines to specify which ones will be used in the musical.

“There are songs in the albums that I requested the production team to include because they’re my favorites. I’ve written them at home and the songs have so much relevance in my life, tapos ’yung memories ko din — I was crying while writing those songs. So I told myself, if I would have a musical I would include these songs. When they (production) wrote the story, may napaglagyan naman ’yung mga kantang ’yun, so I’m very thankful to them. People will know what are those songs when they get to watch Ako Si Josephine.”

She reveals that it was actually her manager Erickson Raymundo’s idea to do a musical built around her catalog. Yeng agreed despite not knowing how it would unfold or what doing so would entail because deep down she knew it would be a wonderful way to mark her 10th showbiz anniversary.

But even as work on Ako Si Josephine began, Yeng still had a few misgivings. “At first, I was thinking if I have already enough songs to be used in a musical. Napaisip din ako kung ganun na ba ako ka-influential na songwriter to be given this honor.”

To banish those negative thoughts, Yeng leaned on her family and friends. “If there are doubts in my mind, I just think of my loved ones who have always believed in me and that makes it easier for me to believe in myself. So I said, ‘If you think that it’s the right thing to do, then I’ll let it happen because I know it’s a blessing and, of course, I don’t want to drive away anything that God is giving me.”

It was only when she did that that she was able to truly enjoy the process. According to Yeng, the PETA team was kind enough to let her be involved in every aspect of building the world of Ako Si Josephine. However, Yeng was careful to pull back and let the “experts” do their job when she saw fit, because she still considered herself a newbie in the theater world.

“The good thing about the musical is it is a collaboration,” she reveals. “I know my strength, I am a songwriter, so there’s another aspect in the musical that I’m entrusting to the people who are experts in the field. But I was among those behind the audition process, including the choice of songs. Then we had a continuous exchange of updates. Until now we still do revisions in the script. Honestly, gusto ko nga yakapin yung writer nitong musical kasi napakabait niya sa amin kapag may bini-bring up kaming suggestions.”

Yeng has never been one to shy away from breaking new ground in her artistic endeavors, so she’s excited about taking this step.

“I’m also an Aegis fan, so hopefully whatever Rak of Aegis had achieved, Ako Si Josephine will also reach that kind of success. Sobrang funny at cute talaga ng story nito kaya excited na ako na maipalabas siya,” she says. — With reports from Almed Garcia and Julian Mauricio