Rivalry in blue and green

Generally, this writer would abstain from personal opinions and commentaries when writing about a show. But when something like a Rivalry: The Musical comes knocking on your door — a theater piece which essentially sings and dances about the decades-long rivalry between Ateneo and La Salle, I couldn’t help but wonder: Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?

It was clear from the onset — at a press conference I recently attended of the two-act musical — in the 200-seater Insular Life theater, that Rivalry: The Musical would no doubt, attract Ateneans and Lasallians in the audience, probably throwing taunts and jeers at each other for the sake of school pride. True enough, people at the cocktail area were decked out in blue in what seemed like their Ateneo alumni shirts, engaging in a cacophony of hoots, catching up and discussing the exciting possibilities of Ed Gatchalian’s soon-to-be masterpiece. Though I noticed that there were hardly any Lasallians at the venue, which I absolutely didn’t mind since I am of the blue-blooded Ignatian pedigree.

“The rivalry between La Salle and Ateneo has been going on for the longest time, capturing the attention and imagination not just of those who studied in both schools but of the public at large,” relates executive producer and musical director Ed Gatchalian who is developing the material as we speak. “This feud has been most evident in the fiercely-fought basketball games between the two schools during the then NCAA and afterwards UAAP tournaments but it has also spread to practically all other areas of competition.”

From business to politics, to their professions, Gatchalian relates that this rivalry has extended even to the realm of courtship and the quandary of winning the girl. It was the obvious route to take then, that a musical of this nature would be developed and produced on our shores. And who better than Gatchalian who has had a long and successful career as one of the Philippine advertising industry’s top jingle makers and eventually entered into his own business and produced a musical on Insular Life’s history to spearhead this Animo-Fabilioh animatedly fabulous effort.   

Though the idea of Rivalry had essentially germinated in his mind, Gatchalian, an Atenean, has entered into a star-crossed but genius collaboration with theater legend Jaime del Mundo, a LaSallian, who also co-writes the book and the show’s libretto. Gatchalian has also tapped many of his friends from La Salle, including Juan Miguel Llamas who seemed to be the sole LaSallian at the press conference, to share their views and experiences on the said rivalry and complete the narrative in which the story is set.

The setting is 1968. The opposing houses? Ateneo and La Salle who were then part of the NCAA along with Letran, San Beda, Mapua and Jose Rizal. Whether or not they were and are alike in dignity is subject to endless, and oftentimes immature debate. The players? The Basilio family headed by green-blooded Demetrio and his wife Dolores whose son Tommy is the star player of the La Salle senior basketball team, and the Valencia family led by blue-blooded Papa Anton and his wife Andrea whose son Paco is the star player of the Ateneo senior basketball team and other son Quito is a passionate member of the Social Order Club. The twist? The wives of Demetrio and Anton are sisters, making Tommy and Paco, who face the possibility of squaring off in the NCAA, cousins. Awesome, right? And of course, there is the girl. There is always a girl who in this case is Reena San Jose, a Maryknoller who strikes a chord of complication between the cousins.

For Rivalry, Gatchalian and del Mundo have enlisted some of the most talented theater actors and actresses in the industry to make the story come to life. These are Shiela Valderrama-Martinez as Reena San Jose, Lorenz Martinez as Quito Valencia, and Jeremy Aguado as Tommy Basilio. Other featured artists are Caisa Borromeo, Bea Garcia, Mica Pineda, Chinie Nepomuceno, Raymund Concepcion, Jun Ofrasio, Juliene Mendoza, Stella Canete, Carla Guevara, Ems Bolanos, OJ Mariano, Chino Veguillas, Raul Montesa, Topper Fabregas, Ikey Canoy, Kevin Conception, Jay Pangilinan, Robbie Zialcita, Al Gatmaitan, Andre Calixto, Khalil Kaimo, Maynard Penalos, Gabs Santos, Johann dela Fuente, and Mark Tayag.

“Rivalry makes us do our very best”: The cast of Ed Gatchalian’s Rivalry The Musical

During the press conference, Gatchalian spoke of his plan to come up with more Filipino musicals that will transform the Philippines into a center for the performing arts in the region. He also cited husband and wife Lorenz and Shiela Martinez as being world-class performers from their stints with Miss Saigon and Hong Kong Disneyland and singled out Caisa Borromeo for her “astonishing” work in Little Women and Bea Garcia for her star turn in Next to Normal.

“Philippine music is more than just pop concerts. We have world-class talent. And this is what we’re trying to do — to expand the market and make theater-going a regular habit in the country.”

To end, something goosebump-worthy was mentioned at the press conference. During the Q&A, amidst jeers and silly questions being thrown by Gatchalian’s batchmates to their composer friend, one guy mentioned that he used to play for the Ateneo basketball team in his heyday and during one such basketball game, there was a ruckus that had erupted outside, born out of the intense rivalry of both schools. To exit the stadium, the Ateneo and La Salle basketball teams had to exit with their backs against each other, out of some miraculous and unspoken camaraderie between the supposed rivals.

The Atenean shares, “When it’s a matter of life or death, I’d rather have a Lasallite behind my back, any day.”

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Rivalry is set to open in January 2012. For more chasing, follow me on Twitter: imcalledtoffee. Or read up more about the local theater scene in chasingtoff.tumblr.com.