Award-winning musical ‘Daddy Long Legs’ is coming to Cebu this February

CEBU, Philippines —  Penelop Ong, a prominent member of the Cebu arts community, was ready to put the pieces together for the Cebuano production of “Annie: The Musical” in 2020 through her Vaudeville Theater Company with a full cast and crew lined up. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to hit the pause button.

As the pandemic continued, Ong longed to do a theater production again. “I was getting bored and restless,” Ong said during a press conference at Guang Ming College’s Siddhartha Theater.

While Vaudeville still intends to mount “Annie”, Ong was not quite prepared to stage a big musical yet at the time when pandemic restrictions were still in effect. Luckily, she found an alternative.

“I was listening to Spotify when I came across this [cast recording of the] musical called ‘Daddy Long Legs’ and I thought, ‘Oh, it’s an interesting title for a theater musical”, remarked Ong, who immediately fell in love with the soundtrack and upon reading the synopsis, immediately told herself, “This is it. This is how we are going back to the theater scene.”

Coming-of-age romance

Based on the novel by Jean Webster, the award-winning “Daddy Long Legs” musical that originated from California in 2009 before being brought to the West End and Off-Broadway in 2012 and 2015 respectively, is finally coming to Cebu thanks to Vaudeville, Studio Evision, and Guang Ming College from the Fo Guang Shan Temple.

Directed by Ong, the Cebu production will run from February 3 to 5 at the Guang Ming College’s Siddhartha Theater where the musical’s press preview also recently took place.

It’s a romantic coming-of-age story set in early 20th century New England, USA that focuses on Jerusha Abbott, an orphaned young woman who starts writing messages to a mysterious benefactor who sends her to college on the condition that Jerusha writes letters to him frequently about her life with no expectations that he will respond.

Because of how anonymous this figure is to Jerusha, she gives him the titular alias. On the other side is the wealthy yet socially awkward Jervis Pendleton who is the mysterious benefactor and is around the same age as Jerusha.

Over the course of the two-hour musical, the story builds the relationship between Jerusha and Jervis through his so-called alias “Daddy Long Legs” as they fall in love even if they have yet to see one another.

Two-person play

What’s unique about this musical is that there are only two actors for the entire duration, with two pairs taking turns. Cebuana theater actors Fatima Soria and Yna Cajipe will alternate as Jerusha, while Chris Eli Razo and Emman Casquejo will play Jervis.

“Some of them may be newbies, but they are raw and talented,” said Ong.

There is a reason for this musical being carried by two characters only. “Although it’s a bit smaller, it emphasizes the intimate setting of the overall production and the story,” Alayacyac explained.

Razo is grateful for Guang Ming College’s support as they were able to rehearse at the Siddhartha Theater for as long as they liked. He shared that other theater venues, specifically commercial ones, will only allow on-stage rehearsals for a week at most.

Challenges were expected, especially for the cast who have to memorize the entire script. They also have to perform cardio exercises as the nature of their roles requires them to be energetic throughout the play.

“This is an actors-heavy musical and they have a lot of work to do,” said Ong. “They have to jog and they have to be very fit because the energy is [a lot] and it can be really overwhelming.”

The production’s vocal coach, Barret Oliver Richards, was moved by the cast’s commitment to their roles. “In November when they did their blocking, I was emotional when I heard them sing. While they were focusing on the blocking, they were still doing the training that I told them to do,” he recalled.

Universal message

One of the things the production couldn’t do with their take on “Daddy Long Legs” was to make changes to make it more familiar to the Cebuano audience.

“We have to stick to the script because we are under a contract with Music Theater International which gave us the license, so we couldn’t touch any of the words as much as we wanted to,” said Ong.

The cast had to learn about how early 20th century New England folks communicated. “I researched on the things that Filipinos might not understand since their culture and humor were different,” Cajipe said.

Razo assured that the audience will be given a booklet explaining some of the slang, jargon, and literature works referenced in the play. The Facebook page “Daddy Long Legs Cebu” is also publishing factoids on some of the words used in the musical.

Alayacyac believes that the message of “Daddy Long Legs” will resonate with the Cebuano audience. “Values of compassion and love are something everyone from different cultures experiences in their lifetime and that’s what connects us as people,” he said.

Government support

The production is grateful for the support they received from Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia, as the LGU is co-presenting the play as part of its plans to unveil activities in February dedicated to the arts.

“Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia grew up listening to musicals,” the production’s marketing officer Tiffany Neri explained. “We showed him what we had and he really liked it.”

Neri added that “Daddy Long Legs” will kick off the proposed Cebuano arts month next month and will represent the performing theater arts sector.

Ong told the vice mayor that she hoped to see an avenue for Cebuano artists where they are compensated for their work.

“The vice-mayor asked me what I needed and I just told him that I want a home for the artists in Cebu,” she revealed. “That’s my dream in my lifetime: artists will be fully-paid and be given a home that they can call their own.”

Alayacyac also hoped for Cebuanos to appreciate the theater arts as it provides a different experience to cinemas. “It’s only theaters that can provide a multi-sensory experience that separates itself from the movies,” he said. “You can listen, you can feel, you can witness. It’s that type of experience that we want to pass on to the next generation.”

For tickets, contact the Facebook page of “Daddy Long Legs Cebu”, message (0945) 667 2434, or [email protected].