Nobody hears The Boyfriends and thinks of ghosts. The band’s songs belong to Filipino courtship: late-’70s harmonies, a slow dance at a wedding reception, a tito singing “Dahil Mahal Kita” into a karaoke mic at 1 AM. Studio A Productions wants to use those same songs for something much stranger. Its new original show, Inday: The Musical, sets the catalog against traditional chants, ritual movement, and a story about a past that won’t stay buried.

At the center is Elha Nympha, stepping onto a musical-theater stage for the first time.

From the Morgue to Something Stranger

Studio A’s last hit was Tulog Na The Musical, a dark comedy set in a mortuary and headlined by film and TV comedienne Marietta “Pokwang” Subong, who went on to share Best Actress at Cinemalaya 2026 for 2 Valid IDs. The show filled seats at the Power Mac Center Spotlight and later at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium.

Inday keeps one foot in the dark and drops the jokes. The company bills it as an immersive production about love, family, and secrets, set in a world where forgotten memories come back and old truths surface. Everything hangs on one question: which memories do people choose to keep, and which ones keep them?

Most jukebox musicals use familiar hits to make an audience feel warm. Inday seems to be using them as the thing that haunts its characters, which gives the songs a job beyond nostalgia.

Why The Boyfriends

For readers who didn’t grow up with them: The Boyfriends were one of the defining acts of the Manila Sound, the breezy, disco-leaning Filipino pop that ruled local radio in the late 1970s, with harmonies often compared to the Bee Gees. Songs like “Dahil Mahal Kita” and “Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal” have been covered by generation after generation of Filipino singers. The catalog is published through PolyEast Music Entertainment, the label behind the band’s recordings.

Nearly everyone in the audience will walk in with a memory already attached to these songs. A show about memories that won’t let go, built out of songs their listeners can’t shake either, is a smart bit of design on paper. October will show whether it works on stage.

Elha Nympha’s First Musical

Nympha has been on Filipino TV for over a decade. She won the second season of The Voice Kids Philippines in 2015, then became a regular on ASAP, ABS-CBN’s long-running Sunday musical variety show, including as part of the vocal group New Gen Divas.

She has never carried a role before. Plenty of big-voiced pop singers struggle on stage, where the money note matters less than holding a character together for a full show while hitting every mark in the choreography. Playing Inday in her first musical, she won’t be able to lean on a guest-performer slot. She has to act the whole thing.

The Team Behind It

Danna Bernardino wrote the book and lyrics. Jeremy Manite composed original music, and Jason Tung handled arrangements, so the score mixes new material with the Boyfriends catalog. Anthony Ramirez designs the costumes, and All About Home is in charge of production and set design.

Choreography is by Teacher Georcelle, founder of G-Force, the dance company behind a long list of Filipino TV and concert routines. On a show built this heavily on movement and ritual, her work will carry a lot of the weight.

If You’re Going

Inday runs for three nights only, so anyone curious about Nympha’s stage debut shouldn’t count on a rerun later in the season.

Inday: The Musical
Dates: October 16, 17, and 18, 2026
Venue: Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Avenue, Makati City
Tickets: Reservations open through Studio A Productions’ official website.
Ticket prices: ₱1,000 to ₱3,800