Tabing Ilog is now a musical
Twenty years after it was aired on ABS-CBN and became a huge teen drama show, Tabing Ilog is making a comeback. But this time as a musical theater piece that is set to run starting tomorrow, March 7, until April 26 at the Dolphy Theater inside the ABS-CBN compound.
It makes perfect sense to have a stage adaptation given its sustained popularity as a TV series in the ‘90s. The series tackled the realities of teenagers growing up at the time like teenage pregnancy, pre-marital sex, family problems and alcohol abuse. And there are challenging points of TV when transferred from screen to stage: Do you adapt the whole season, concentrate on a specific episode or give a dash of new flavor to the content based on the characters?
According to reports, Raymund Dizon, the executive producer of the original series, had recognized that the teenagers have already evolved and so, he promised a revival that remains relevant to both the youth and people who grew up with the original show.
What holds true until this day is the friendship and romance within group of friends. Thus, millennials even now can feel giddy about the love story of Rovic (played by John Lloyd Cruz) and Eds (Kaye Abad). In fact, the popularity of their characters, plus that of Paolo Contis’ Badong, Baron Geisler’s Fonzy, Jodi Sta. Maria’s George, Paula Peralejo’s Anne, Desiree del Valle’s Corrine and Patrick Garcia’s James, catapulted their careers to greater heights.
Tabing Ilog The Musical will be bringing on stage new cast members, who are all ready to take on their roles as effective and as convincing as possible. Former Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Otso housemates Sky Quizon and Kiara Takahashi are breathing life to Rovic and Eds, respectively.
Sky and Kiara are good friends on- and off-cam. It must have been difficult for them to create the kilig and let the audience feel it while they exchange dialogues.
“We make use of that (friendship) as an advantage,” Sky said. “Our being comfortable with each other, how much we know each other make our roles easier for us. Nagagamit namin ‘yung patawa namin.”
As part of Kiara’s preparation, she reportedly reached out to Kaye, who is now based in Cebu City with her husband Paul Jake Castillo and their two-year-old son Pio Joaquin.
“It’s true that I messaged her on Instagram tapos as in random lang gusto ko lang na maparamdam sa kanya na sobrang saya ko na I’ll be portraying Eds which she played before so sa akin, kahit makita n’ya at reply-an n’ya o hindi, it’s fine with me.”
Kiara was overjoyed when Kaye responded and told her that she’s looking forward to watching the play and meeting her.
Feeling the pressure of playing Rovic is Sky knowing that the role helped launch the career of his idol John Lloyd. He said, “I know there’s a big shoe to fill in but I really look up to John Lloyd since I was young. He’s my idol and I draw inspirations from him during those high school and college acting performances. So, I’m excited kung paano ko naman mabibigyan ng justice ‘yung role.”
Alternating with Kiara as Eds are Abi Kassem and Gab Pangilinan, while Sky will share the role of Rovic to Hanie Jarar and Ian Pangilinan.
Tabing Ilog The Musical will be directed by Toper Fabregas, with book by Jade Castro and music by Vincent de Jesus.
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