All posts tagged: musical

Tanghalang Pilipino Kisapmata Gawad Buhay Awards 2026

Tanghalang Pilipino sweeps top prizes as Kisapmata leads 16th Gawad Buhay Awards

Tanghalang Pilipino was the company to beat once again at this year’s Gawad Buhay Awards. “Kisapmata” took the night’s top play honor while “Gregoria Lakambini: A Pinay Pop Musical” claimed the top musical prize — marking the second year running that the company has walked away with both. It’s a feat TP also pulled off at last year’s 15th Gawad Buhay Awards, where “Balete” won Outstanding Play and “Pingkian: Isang Musikal” took Outstanding Musical, part of a haul that saw the company collect 17 of the 26 competitive prizes that night. This year’s sweep was more concentrated, powered almost entirely by a single production — “Kisapmata,” which racked up 11 trophies spanning acting, direction, and design, making it the single most-awarded production of the night at ceremonies held Tuesday at the Aliw Theater, hosted by Reb Atadero. Its leads, Jonathan Tadioan and Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan, won Male and Female Lead Performance in a Play, respectively, while Toni Go-Yadao and Marco Viaña took the featured-performance prizes in the same category. The production also won Outstanding Stage Direction …

Jeproks the Musical

Jeproks: The Musical — Pinoy Rock, Privilege, and the Stories We Repeat

There are nights at the theater that feel like Manila is whispering an old story back to you — a story about youth, rebellion, privilege, growing pains, and the kind of music that refuses to die. Watching Jeproks: The Musical at GSIS Theater on November 23 felt exactly like that. It wasn’t just a show. It was a reclamation of memory. And backstage, as I met with the cast — seasoned OPM names returning to their musical roots — it became clear that Jeproks is more than a jukebox musical. It is a mirror held up to the Philippines, past and present, lit by the anthems of Pinoy rock legend Mike Hanopol. What “Jeproks” Really Means: A Word We Thought We Understood Most Filipinos know jeproks as a fun old slang word — retro, quirky, a callback to the hippie aesthetic of the 70s. But the word has teeth. Jeproks comes from “projects” — specifically the QC Projects, which in the 1970s were home to upper-middle-class and well-off Filipino youth. The aesthetic was long-haired, kalas, …