A new musical about love, loss, and what-ifs will be staged in September by the creative team behind the acclaimed musical Sa Wakas, which made a mark on the Philippine theater scene a decade ago and helped solidify the jukebox musical format — built around the catalog of a single OPM artist — as a reliable draw for Manila audiences.

Titled Muli: An OPM Musical, the production will run at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in BGC, Taguig City beginning Sept. 11. It stars Kakki Teodoro and Janine Teñoso as mother and daughter.

“It's about what you need to be able to do to move forward,” said writer and executive producer Charissa Pammit at the press launch in Makati City on Aug. 10. “When you're in your 20s, you can do whatever, but as you get older, it's actually harder for you to start over because you have much more to lose.”

Ms. Pammit said the book and lyrics came to life with the help of her close friend Jose Paolo dela Cruz, the editor-in-chief of PeopleAsia.

For stage director Andrei Pamintuan, Muli offered another chance to work with Ms. Pammit following the success of Sa Wakas, which was based on the songs of the band Sugarfree. Where Sa Wakas leaned on an existing songbook, Muli arrives at a time when Filipino theater companies are increasingly investing in fully original scores rather than adapting licensed Broadway or West End titles.

This time, with an original story and music, the team aimed to present messages of hope.

“Living in these times, knowing our socio-political landscape, and, of course, personally going through a millennial midlife crisis, I think sometimes this whole world that we're living in with its fast-paced flux of information and trends, we seldom get to pause and dream again,” Mr. Pamintuan explained.

He and Ms. Pammit said they hope the musical becomes “a communal experience where the audiences can sit and hope.”

Original music

With a cast led by Gawad Urian Award-winning actress, singer, and host Kakki Teodoro and rising OPM star Janine Teñoso, the music is expected to be one of the show's main highlights.

Singer-songwriter Nica del Rosario, the artist behind Sarah Geronimo's “Tala,” and musical director and composer Matthew Chang — both Gawad Buhay awardees for their musical Gregoria Lakambini — wrote and produced a suite of original songs for Muli. They also worked with Flip Music Productions, which produced P-pop hits such as BINI's “Pantropiko” and “Salamin, Salamin.” The involvement of producers behind mainstream P-pop chart-toppers signals how the boundary between theater composition and commercial pop production in the Philippines continues to narrow.

“We jump from one OPM era to another, so we tried our best to make it all sound like one organic thing, like one organism that has its own life, but with different flavors of sound,” Ms. Del Rosario said. “We made sure that there are similar melodic patterns in different songs and soundscapes.”

Mr. Chang said the songs were written to move the story forward.

“Compared to writing for pop music where you only have one objective, for a musical, you have to build the world. There's a very specific purpose of helping the story along,” he said.

Strong cast

As Anita, Ms. Teodoro said audiences can expect a “very millennial” character.

“It's very millennial to have many things you want to achieve, to hustle, to work hard and play hard. I relate to that,” she said. “She's someone who wants to try. In her heart of hearts, she is a hopeful Filipina. She gives her 200% in everything.”

Playing her daughter Kath, Ms. Teñoso said Muli is also about family.

“We never really get to choose who we're blood related to, and we end up loving them in ways that are more complex and deeper than any kind of romance or friendship,” she said.

Supporting the two leads is an ensemble of theater actors: Vien King, Marvin Ong, Justine Peña, Marynor Madamesila, and social media creator Baus Rufo, who is making his first major theater appearance.

Described as “a musical and visual journey through the '90s and early 2000s, anchored on the timeless themes of unfulfilled dreams and second chances,” Muli is being positioned by its cast and creative team as a distinctly Filipino production.

Mr. Rufo said it was the right choice to enter theater through the musical, given its message.

“I think the different vignettes and what-ifs are very much informed by political, environmental factors that we Filipinos experience, so I think it can really also mirror choices we have taken, or choices we probably wish we took,” he said. “Hopefully, you leave the theater more assured of the choice that you have made, or maybe more empowered to make a bold choice in the future.”

Muli: An OPM Musical will stage select performances from Sept. 11 to 27 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in BGC, Taguig City. Tickets are available via Ticketworld and mulimusical.com. — Brontë H. Lacsamana