Mula sa Buwan Surprises Us With an Album Drop on New Moon Eve
What sets musicals apart from straight plays is that, well, it has music. Its song numbers double as dialogue, its scoring as captivating silence between the lines. And if you end up singing or humming the musical's tracks, you almost always wish that a cast recording is streaming online so you can listen to it again and again and, maybe, appreciate the lyrics and music some more. It's, therefore, a good thing that the all-original Filipino musical Mula sa Buwan finally dropped its cast recording on Spotify at midnight on July 5. That it falls on the same night of a waning crescent moon, just a day before the new moon is likely intentional. After all, the sliver of white on the black sky is what Mula sa Buwan is all about—our hopes and dreams, liwanag sa dilim, if you will.
Mula sa Buwan is based on Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac and Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo's Filipino translation of the French classic. It follows the story of long-nosed Cyrano, who falls in love with Roxane in the middle of the war in Manila. Knowing his physical shortcomings, Cyrano helps his best friend, Christian, who has also fallen in love with the beautiful damsel. Its original lyrics are by Pat Valera and William Elvin Manzano. Manzano is also behind Mula sa Buwan's original music.
Mula sa Buwan started as an experimental play in December 2010 before it became a bigger musical in December 2016. It had reruns in 2017 and 2018 and a one-night-only musical concert in 2019. During the pandemic, the show sustained theater-goers by releasing an online streaming of a few scenes in April 2021 and a playback of the musical concert's highlights in May 2021. They staged two post-pandemic reruns in August and December 2022, both of which were produced by Barefoot Theatre Collaborative as the young theater company's debut.
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In a 2022 SPOT.ph interview, Valera said of the musical's restaging back then: "The pain of the past months, the past years, the desire for us to just leave—whether it's to migrate, to give up, to be apathetic, to just exhale everything out—is the feeling that people will get from the most painful parts of [the play]. We are not just there to peddle escapism, or giving up. We hope that with the changes that we have made, it's enough to say, 'Okay, I carry and sit with my pain; then, take that step forward.'"
Gab Pangilinan as Roxane and Markki Stroem as Christian in the 2022 run of Mula sa Buwan
The 18-track Mula sa Buwan album is a live performance recording of that 2022 run, which starred Myke Salomon as Cyrano, Gab Pangilinan as Roxane, and Markki Stroem as Christian, with Phi Palmos as Rosanna, MC Dela Cruz as Maximo, Jon Abella as Tato, and Jillian Ita-as as Gabriel.
Also part of the recording are Abe Autea, Jep Go, Rapah Manalo, Stephen Viñas, Ericka Peralejo, Miah Canton, Francis Gatmaytan, Mitzie Lao, Deborah Lemuel, Mark Anthony Grantos, Eizel Marcelo, Kinnara Mayari, Ace Polias, Liway Perez, Lance Reblando, Mikaela Regis, Chesko Rodriguez, Keith Sumbi, Shaira Opsimar, and Khalil Tambio.
Songs from the Mula sa Buwan Life Performance Recording
The album starts off with "Ang Tanghalang Ito," a celebration of the return of theater in the World War II setting of Mula sa Buwan. This being a recording in 2022, the same year when most Philippine theater companies reopened their doors after a pandemic-induced hiatus, it's a challenge not to go through the song without shedding a tear. Its lyrics goes:
Ang tanghalang ito’y ating ngayong gabi
Walang makapipigil, hindi tayo titigil
Hanggang puno na ang gabi ng ating galak
Limutin ang problema, ang tanghala'y pag-asa.
Not to be skipped, of course, is the swoon-worthy "Ikaw," where Cyrano (Salomon) compares Roxane (Pangilinan) to a beautiful rose.
Maiinggit ang bukang liwayway
Ang ganda niya'y nawalan ng saysay
Sa kulay mong tinataglay
At sa mundo'y ibinibigay
"Manifesto," recorded with Palmos' powerful vocals, is a song of defiance and freedom of self-expression. The ensemble later joins in, making it a chorus of artists exclaiming, "malayang maging ako."
Phi Palmos as Rosanna
"Malaya" is a strong punctuation to the end of Act 1 as the young characters are forced to join a war they never wanted. It's easy to reimagine that scene of a flag-change, and all the dread that comes with it.
Salomon, who's also Mula sa Buwan's musical director, added a few tracks for the album drop. This includes the scoring of "Paalam Roxane," a tear-jerking instrumental as Cyrano says goodbye to the love of his life, who's played by Salomon's real-life wife. They were engaged after Salomon's surprise proposal on the closing night's curtain call of the September 2022 run.
Mula sa Buwan Restaging in August 2024
The album drop is just in time for the upcoming restaging of Mula sa Buwan from August 16 to September 8 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati. Mikko Angeles takes over the director's chair, which was previously occupied by Valera. Salomon still serves as musical director while reprising his role as Cyrano.
Gab Pangilinan and MC Dela Cruz also reprise their roles as Roxane and Christian. Phi Palmos (as Rosanna), Jillian Ita-as (as Gabriel), Rapah Manalo (as Rosario), Khalil Tambio (as Limon), Jep Go (as Gimo), and Ericka Peralajo (as Carissa), Chesko Rodriguez (as Filemon), Mikaela Regis (as Dalisay), Liway Perez (as Maila), Ace Polias (as Miguel), Keith Sumbi (as Felizidad), and Lance Reblando (as Serafina) are also returning.
The new cast members for the 2024 run are Jerom Canlas as Tato, Omar Uddin as Maestro, and Brian Sy as Maximo.
Mula sa Buwan runs from August 16 to September 8, 2024, at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater, Circuit Makati. Tickets, with prices ranging from P999 to P3,599, are available through Ticketworld.
The Mula sa Buwan (2022 Live Performance Recording) is on Spotify.
