MANILA, Philippines – Many a woman, whether she admits it or not, has that one who got away. Only she knows why she made those choices that make him all but a memory; the source of her recurring “what if” on nights she stays awake.
It is love’s “what ifs” that drive the two central characters in Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group (ATEG)’s staging of The Bridges of Madison County, the 2014 Tony Award-winning musical based on the best-selling novel by Robert James Waller, which tells the story of love’s perseverance and victory against the odds.
After the successful runs of Saturday Night Fever’s first Asian tour, Shrek, Rock of Ages and Ghost The Musical all within the year, ATEG producers Bobby Garcia, Tony Tuviera and Bobby Barreiro have raised the bar with the first international production of The Bridges of Madison County. It boasts of a stellar cast that includes a rock star and two stage stalwarts who played the lead role of Kim in Miss Saigon.
Set in the mid-’60s, The Bridges of Madison County is about Francesca Johnson, an Iowa farmer’s wife and Robert Kincaid, a traveling photographer and their unexpected four-day whirlwind romance that changes their lives forever.
Joanna Ampil, who rose to stardom in London’s West End staging of Miss Saigon, plays Francesca. Carla Guevara-Laforteza, one of Philippine musical theater’s brightest stars who has also played Kim in West End’s Miss Saigon, essays the dual role of Marian and Chiara.
Playing Robert is MiG Ayesa, who performed the role of Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages on Broadway and in Manila.
The two-time Tony award winner Broadway musical showcases soulful music by Tony award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown (Parade, The Last Five Years). The New York Times lauded Brown’s score as “sumptuous” and The Daily News hailed it as “one of Broadway’s best scores in the last decade.”
The Bridges of Madison County runs until tomorrow, Dec. 6, at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati.
For details, call TicketWorld at 891-9999.