When One More Chance the Musical was announced in October last year, one thing immediately popped in my mind: this is the perfect showcase of Pinoy sawi culture.
We Filipinos are a very romantic people. This is well researched, and well proven. We love anything related to love, be it folk songs, Wattpad stories, radio dramas, or drawn-out TV melodramas. As long as the media includes love, Filipinos will devour it.
More than that, or maybe more specifically, we are also a people who bask in being “sawi”.
One More Chance and Ben&Ben is undoubtedly a perfect fit. It is the marriage of the two best examples of Pinoy sawi culture.
What’s sawi? Formally, “sawi” means unfortunate or unlucky. Romantically however, “sawi” is a term used to describe a romantic sense of sadness from a lost relationship, a lost potential relationship, or the longing of a romantic relationship. Pinoys are hopeless romantics, but we are also a very “sawi” people. We feel like we are always sawi, so this became embedded in our culture.
This is why when “One More Chance” was released in 2007, a film which involved unrequited love, it was an instant box office hit. It unsurprisingly became a cult classic. It is such a classic that even nearly two decades later, its quotes and catchphrases are still often used. This is also why when Ben&Ben broke into the music scene, with songs such as “Kathang Isip” which is also about unrequited love, they instantly resonated with Filipinos.
Thus, One More Chance and Ben&Ben is undoubtedly a perfect fit. It is the marriage of the two best examples of Pinoy sawi culture. A film with sawi people, and a band that often writes about being sawi.
The story and the music were so well blended that the songs of Ben&Ben, masterfully integrated into the script by award-winning music director Myke Salomon, felt like they were originally written with the story of One More Chance in mind. It’s amazing to know that (almost) all songs here are based on already written songs. Although it’s far from novel, as in fact Myke also worked on Rak of Aegis and Ang Huling El Bimbo, Myke’s encapsulation of our sawi culture through his musical direction here is nothing short of excellent.
Although One More Chance the Musical is a retelling of the 2007 classic, the show is more than a mere remake with Ben&Ben songs. By adapting the film into a play, Michelle Ngu-Nario breathed new life into the story.
I must give Sam Concepcion’s portrayal of Popoy an 11/10. He was phenomenal as Popoy.
A reason why One More Chance is very relatable to Filipinos is because it is very human. Yes, there’s a lot of toxicity and miscommunication involved, but that’s what makes it human. The 2007 film is the quintessential romcom–it is filled with emotions. It’s funny, it’s romantic, it’s painful; and remaking it into a play emphasizes all those emotions. Now, the film becomes a live intimate experience. The complexities of human nature and relationships which are told through the lens of Popoy and Basha and all other friends and lovers that came into their lives become much more felt.
On that line, I must give Sam Concepcion’s portrayal of Popoy an 11/10. He was phenomenal as Popoy. You can feel all of Popoy’s toxicity, masculinity, and humanity through Sam’s performance. He was actually so good that there were times during the show which made me say, “that sounded too much like John Lloyd!”, because he really did. And thanks to theater, Popoy feels much more annoying, much more frustrating, but above all, much more human.
Another great performance was Via Antonio’s characterization of Anj. Her comedic timing was impeccable. Her portrayal felt very genuine–that even if her character provided a lot of comic relief, she never felt like a caricature. She sounds, looks, and feels like a funny friend who will actually do these things.
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Speaking of genuineness, much praise must be given to the playwright, Michelle Ngu-Nario.
Michelle retold the 2007 film as a 2024 story, while staying true to the essence of the original film. It took Michelle’s genius touch to make it feel like Popoy and Basha’s story was told just yesterday. Each character’s journey is beautifully depicted, allowing the audience to rediscover the intricacies of love, heartbreak, and second chances in a whole new light.
However, as with most productions, of course there are pitfalls.
One of which is Anna Luna’s struggle with singing lower notes. This doesn’t take anything away from her acting though, as she was both lovable and disarming as Basha. But whenever her voice starts to sound thin and strained when singing low, it does detract from the overall experience.
There were also several noticeable technical mishaps throughout the play, such as the makeshift car literally breaking down in the middle of a couple of scenes, leading to snickers in an otherwise supposedly serious scene, or several actors suddenly losing the audio from their lapels. To be fair to the actors though, none of them faltered, and these mishaps actually highlighted their professionalism. However, mishaps are still mishaps, and they do undermine the production.
In fact, I can foresee that some might be disappointed with the play. If one looks at it solely through the lens of theater, it’s not exactly a hall of fame production. The technical aspects of the play also leaves a lot to be desired. It definitely needs polishing, but at least they have a little over 70 shows to do so. I might be a bit nitpicky, but when you’re dealing with cultural icons, you will inescapably be under a microscope.
On the other hand, if you’re a big fan of either One More Chance or Ben&Ben, I will go out on a limb and say that you will, at the very least, be entertained. It’s like the live adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender–its mere existence is enough to be excited and be happy about; regardless of how you feel about the show. One More Chance the Musical is an enjoyable production, and it definitely deserves the sold out run.
Finally, it is said that theater is a mirror to society; and One More Chance the Musical definitely is. It’s an amusing showcase of our sawi culture, in both its positive and negative aspects, and that’s what makes it beautiful. It is human. But more than that, the production is as Filipino as Filipino can get.
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