A better, improved ‘Lion’ from Trumpets

It’s still three hours long, but Trumpets’ musical production of C. S. Lewis’ classic children’s novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe still packs a wallop.

When Lion was first mounted in 1997, many complained that at three-and-a-half hours, the show was too long for children who should be in bed way before midnight. But such was the magic of this production that, even if it were a more-than-three hour show, people still bought tickets and made it one of Trumpets’ biggest selling musicals.

To prove this point, the show was restaged the following year and enjoyed sold-out shows. Later Trumpets productions, particularly of Little Mermaid, proved to be such big hits, too that Lion was left in the back burner. Until now.

This might come late, but I think this year’s staging of Lion is a marked improvement from the first two runs.

First of all, consider the set. In 1997, Narnia was just a huge incline across the stage of the Meralco Theater. When spring finally came to Narnia, the cast niftily untucked the "snow" from this elevated stage and rolled it down like a carpet. Invisible stagehands pulled the white carpet from the stage sides and, voila! everything was bright and green and sunny.

This time around, the production used an elevated revolving stage that gave much more depth to Narnia’s stage space. With a turn of the center revolving stage, the audience was brought into the confines of Tumnus, the Fawn’s cottage. With another spin, Jadis, the White Witch seemed to be standing at the edge of a cliff directing his men to war. And when Aslan arrives at Narnia and spring finally thaws the long winter cold, the "melts" from the revolving stage gradually, slowly disappear into a sink hole in the middle of the stage and at the side of the revolving stage.

Maybe, I’m a bit too concerned with the stage, but if you’ve read the book, you would know that this simple act of snow melting advances the story greatly. It signals that Jadis’ power is on a wane and that Aslan and his deeper magic is finally at work to bring peace, love and harmony to this cold, barren land.

Sometimes I think I’m too old for a children’s musical, but Lion is a different thing altogether. I was at the edge of my seat waiting for Lucy to finally open that wardrobe door and go into Narnia and get the ball rolling. I was waiting for spring to come and the snow to thaw. I was waiting for Jadis’ first entrance in her sparkling white sleigh with a tray of Turkish delight in tow to trick the young boy Edmund into believing she is really a magnanimous woman. And, of course, I was interested in seeing Jadis get defeated by Aslan. Deeper magic, really.

All that and more I discovered all over again when I went to the Meralco Theater to see Lion again.

The cast was different and had their own strengths. Sam Concepcion seemed a more impish Edmund, but blessed with a voice that could really hit all those high notes. Moreen Guese was really shrill as Lucy but she was all the more a precocious girl for that. Chevy Mercado and Tanya Manalang as elder siblings Peter and Susan knew their parts so seriously that it was no surprise Peter would trade them for Turkish delight with the White Witch. I’m sure these kids saw Lion on its first run and were doing their roles from memory. Well, maybe some of them.

Audie Gemora as Aslan was regal with a voice that could very well do battle with Jadis, that night played by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo. Lauchengco-Yulo was a svelte Jadis over Sheila Francisco many many years ago, and her masterful take on the role was really scary. Carlo Orosa as Tumnus, the Fawn was a delight, too.

Kudos goes to the creative group of Trumpets for another successful run of Lion: director Jaime del Mundo and associate director Audie Gemora, production designer Mio Infante, costumes by Mark Lewis Higgins and Liz Batoctoy, makeup design by R.S. Francisco and Icko Gonzales, lighting by Shoko Matsumoto, choreography by James Laforteza

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"The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" is presented by Columbia Candies and PLDT. Major sponsors are Pioneer Allianz, JVC Philippines, TGI Fridays and Italianni’s , and the Philippine STAR, with Hot Café, Kingfisher, Goodview Restaurant, Linden Suites, Richmonde Hotel, Post FX Media and Parent’s Magazine as minor sponsors. Radio partners are RX 93.1, Campus Radio 97.1, DWLS-FM, Joey@92.3 , DZAS, DZFE,105.1 Crossover and RJFM.

Tickets are available at major National Book Store’s Ticketworld outlets at 891-5610 or www.ticketworld.com.ph and at the Trumpets office at 633-5010, 636-2842 and 633-4387.