Rivalry: Ateneo - La Salle The Musical

Last Wednesday, I got a call from a friend saying that she was able to get me and my kids tickets to see Rivalry: Ateneo - La Salle The Musical.  I was ecstatic because I've been wanting to see that since I heard about it over the holidays.  I've been doing some research ever since, but I couldn't quite get what the story was about...but since I graduated from Ateneo (notice that I didn't put "the" before the name), it still sparked my interest.

I thought it was going to be about 2 basketball players coming from the rival schools battling, not only for the trophy, but for the heart of the girl as well (Oh, by the way, the girls' school in the story is Maryknoll College, now known as Miriam College, where I finished high school).  So One Tree Hill right? Boy was I wrong! All I'm going to say is that the story is about two basketball stars from Ateneo and La Salle vying for the NCAA championship, two young men vying for the affection of a young lady from a neighboring school, and different generations of men fighting over who went to the better school.

The play,  written and directed  by Jaime del Mundo, is produced by Ed Gatchalian with The 4th Wall Theater Company.  Gatchalian composed and arranged the music, while Joel Trinidad, son of Noel Trinidad, wrote the lyrics for the musical.  Together they formed the first OPM enjoyed by my kids! :)

I've read in an article by Walter Ang for the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the original idea suggested by Noel Trinidad (which came about some 30 years ago), was to write a musical about Crispa and Toyota (the leading teams in the Philippine Basketball Association back in the days).  It was only last year though that the idea was pursued, and they decided to make it about the two rival schools, Ateneo and La Salle (good call!)

The quality of the music and the lyrics is undeniably good :)  The story wasn't hard to follow, it was entertaining even for a young boy of 4 (my son and godson were relatively well-behaved during the show, and trust me, that rarely happens when they're together), in fact now, my son thinks that all stage plays have basketball plots (we watched The Sound of Music earlier and my son asked me where the basketball court was..)  I do think we need to hear more Ateneo - La Salle jokes in the play (I need to hear more La Salle jokes actually...LOL).  It definitely took the Ateneo - La Salle rivalry to a whole new level :) And yes, if you're from a different school, of course you'll still enjoy the show!

Support OPM! :) BLUE EAGLE, THE KING! (Wala na kayong magagawa, Atenista ako)

Venue: Meralco Theater
Date: Play runs until March 11, 2012
Time: Wednesday-Saturday ; 8 p.m.
          Saturday and Sunday ; 3 p.m.
Tickets: Ticketworld  (63 2) 8919999

Guess which school breaks the Knoller's heart :)