MANILA -- Hatched in New York in 2012, honed in Quezon City in 2013, and reborn in Makati in 2017, now the landmark production “Sa Wakas, A Pinoy Rock Musical” is back for what the producers call its “farewell run” this year.

“Starting April 7, we’re targeting 45 shows in seven weeks. Same cast as the last one,” the musical’s creator and producer Charissa Pammit told ABS-CBN News.

Pammit is referring to lead cast members Victor Robinson III, Pepe Herrera, Caissa Borromeo, Cara Barredo, Justine Pena and Maronne Cruz, with Abi Sulit, Hans Dimayuga, Laui Guico and Moira Lozada complete the ensemble.

“Gave them all right of first refusal and they all want in,” said Pammit with a giggle.

The director of the musical since year one has been Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan, who co-wrote the original script with poet-playwright Mariane Abuan. Ejay Yatco did the musical arrangements and in 2017 run, assembled a six-piece band composed of violin, cello, guitar, bass, drums and piano.

“Sa Wakas” is a love story involving three people. Topper (played alternately by Robinson and Herrera) is a struggling photographer in a long-time relationship with his college sweetheart, now medical doctor Lexi (played by Borromeo and Barredo). When the stable relationship reaches the mundane and predictable, Topper meets a younger woman, the sexy and exciting magazine editor Gabbi (played by Pena and Cruz). All in their 20s, these millennials are caught in the age-old quagmire of love and betrayal.

Teasers

Prior to this week's announcement of the final re-staging, there have been teasers of sorts.

Last January 16 at 12 Monkeys Music Hall in Ortigas Center, rocker-composer Ebe Dancel did a show to celebrate the 15th anniversary of “Sa Wakas,” with a repeat this Saturday at 70s Bistro. It is the debut album of Dancel’s band Sugarfree during what many considered the second golden age of Pinoy Rock music. It paved the way to five more albums before Sugarfree called it quits in 2011.

As the story goes, the musical was conceptualized in 2012 by Pammit and Pamintuan in New York as tribute to the songs of Dancel and Sugarfree. Dancel said in several interviews that when the two approached him and proposed the idea, he thought the two were, in his words, “crazy.” When they presented the storyline, they even asked for a new song to give the musical a fresher color, which gave birth to “Bawat Daan.”

“Sa Wakas” had 12 sold-out performances for three weekends in April 2013 at the PETA Theater and for the next four years, it created a fanbase separate from Dancel and Sugarfree. Petitions for a re-staging were a fixture on social media.

The 2017 re-staging originally announced 24 shows at the Power Mac Center Spotlight theater in Circuit Makati, mostly on weekends but due to the clamor, Future Shock Productions had to add 10 more playdates. They opened shows starting Tuesdays of every week. There were still requests for an extension but Power Mac Theater has other scheduled shows that were impossible to be moved to later dates.

For the cast members, they told us in an earlier interview they had to clear their schedules just to accommodate “Sa Wakas.”

Theatergoers would know that Borromeo and Barredo were among the most-sought after actresses in musicals and plays in English, especially those mounted by Repertory Philippines.

From the 2013 run to the 2017 re-staging, Borromeo came back as Lexi. Prior to 2017, she told us she had been waiting for years for the rerun. She was informed five months prior to the announcement. “So I had time to make sure I was free for the rehearsals and shows.”

“There's always something special about originating a role. It's so challenging and exciting at the same time because you can create it from scratch. To be able to play Lexi again is such a blessing. I've changed and I've experienced a lot so I have a lot of new things to bring to the character. The challenging part is detaching yourself from the character and making sure that even if you use real-life experiences as inspiration, the audience sees the character, and not you,” Borromeo added.

As a whole, she said for her “Sa Wakas” is not a "kabit story" or a "love triangle" story but more about the journey of each character.

Borromeo alternated with Barredo as Lexi. For a bit of trivia, in 2013 Barredo actually auditioned and was chosen as Gabbi but had to beg off due to schedule conflicts. She had prior commitment to play the character of Elaine Robinson in Repertory Philippines’ “The Graduate.”

“When I read the script (of 2013 ‘Sa Wakas’), I fell in love with it instantly! The musical is a gem!” she told us. She watched it twice and thought of it as “well-written, well-directed and well-acted.”

“When I watched the show I was more inggit (envious) than hinayang (regret). I wanted to do the show so badly, it was so beautiful,” she told us then.

The 2013 run was described “groundbreaking.”

• REVIEW: 'Sa Wakas' a groundbreaking PH musical

Clearing schedules

So when Barredo learned of the 2017 rerun, like Borromeo she made a decision to go for “Sa Wakas.” She cleared her schedule, did the open audition and this time, was chosen to play Lexi.

“I enjoy doing the part of Lexi so much. There's always a thrill giving life to a character especially a role that's very real. Lexi isn't so far from who I am. We have a couple of similarities which help a lot and make things a little easier,” Barredo told us.

From the start of the rehearsals up to the dress tech, she confessed, “I love every minute of it. I enjoy the creative process of Andrei.”

Robinson said the role of Topper is what he considered the one that defined him as a theater artist.

“’Having been entrusted to play the lead and perform Ebe Dancel's beautiful masterpieces comes with a lot of pressure but what stands out is the honor to have been chosen to give life to those songs in my own way -- a privilege not a lot of people are fortunate to have,” Robinson told us.

Surprise accolades

Last December, Pammit and Pamintuan were surprised to have read that “Sa Wakas” was among the “32 landmark theater productions in the last 32 years,” sharing the honor with Musical Theater Philippines “Katy” from 1988 and “Ang Larawan in 1997; Philippine Educational Theater Association’s “Kung Paano Ko Pinatay si Diana Ross” (1991) and “Rak of Aegis (2014), Repertory Philippines 1993 staging of “Les Mesirables” and the original Manila run of “Miss Saigon that had Lea Salonga reprising her role as Kim.

In an article, Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Theater section editor Gibbs Cadiz wrote: “A work by first-time theater producers, ‘Sa Wakas’. was an enormous surprise hit in 2013, fuelled mainly by a distinct new congregation of theatergoers: millennials. Young people who grew up on the featured songbook of the pop-rock band Sugarfree, on John Lloyd Cruz-Bea Alonzo rom-coms and all the other trappings of the zeitgeist found their lives mirrored in the musical’s urban, buoyantly modern take on relationships and manners in the social-media era. So strong was the clamor for a rerun that “Sa Wakas” returned for an encore in January this year (2017).”

Positive feedback

After announcing the final re-staging via “Sa Wakas” official Facebook page simultaneous with the press conference of Fringe Manila 2018 on Wednesday, there were some notable reactions.

In jest, versatile actor for the stage, film and theater Nicco Manalo posted: “Abangan si Victor Robinson III sa musical na sinulat para sa boses nyang bagay sa mga kanta ni Ebe na parang ayaw ipakanta sa normal na nilalang. I love you both!”

Topper was played in the very limited April 2013 run by Fred Lo and Robinson. For last year, Herrera came in. Close observers say among the three, it’s Robinson’s vocal range that is nearly or almost in the same level as Dancel’s signature falsetto-like voice.

“I'm excited to do the show again but I'm not excited that it'll end na,” Robinson told ABS-CBN News.

During the last show or the closing night on February 12, 2017, Dancel took a final bow with the cast members on stage and sang “Burnout” and “Prom.” But he gave a hint that there will be another staging.

Now that it’s finally happening in April and May this year, “Sa Wakas” the farewell run will have Ed Lacson Jr. doing a new stage design.

As for the story, Pammit said it’s the same with few updates on cultural references “since that’s part of our show’s charm.”

For those who’ve seen it, rest assured Popoy and Basha of Star Cinema’s “One More Chance” and its successful sequels are still part of “Sa Wakas.”

Ushering two more rock musicals

The restaging of “Sa Wakas” certainly sets the tone for another tribute musical, this time for the most popular rock group in recent decades, The Eraserheads, with the working title “Huling El Bimbo” at Resorts World Manila.

Also, in an exclusive message to ABS-CBN News, Nanding Josef of Tanghalang Pilipino said he had just proposed to the TP board the idea of re-staging “EJ,” the rock musical about slain Martial Law-era dissenters Edgar Jopson and Evelio Javier.

Staged 10 years ago at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, it featured the songs of The Dawn, with the band doing the live accompaniment and its vocalist Jett Pangan playing Jopson.

For the restaging, Pangan gave an affirmative answer to ABS-CBN News, “Why not brother? Basta huwag lang August and September.”

If everything falls into place, “EJ” will be staged in the last quarter of the year. With this, then 2018 could be the golden year of original Pinoy rock musicals.