IT will be yet another full year in the theater, dance, and music scene. Here are some shows — some new, others restagings — that will fill up theater lovers’ calendars in 2025.
JANUARY–FEBRUARY
Clara and The Nutcracker Prince
Jan. 11
The Ballet Academy of Cebu presents a ballet by Meghan Samonte at Centerstage, SM Seaside City. It follows Clara, who embarks on a magical Christmas journey with her Nutcracker doll, and features Tchaikovsky’s music.
CAST PH’S Staged Reading FestivalJan. 12, 19, 26, Feb. 2
To kick off 2025, CAST PH is bringing back its annual staged reading festival, this year with the theme of “Theoria Omnium”(Theory of Everything). The four unnamed plays — the name of the play is announced just before the performance — for this edition will be scientific dramas, each to be shown on a Sunday at 3 and 8 p.m., starting Jan. 12. Play No. 1 is directed by Jaime Del Mundo; Play No. 2 by Sarah Facuri; Play No. 3 by Nelsito Gomez; and Play No. 4 by Topper Fabregas. Among the performers this season are Cathy Azanza-Dy, Dean Daniel Rosen, Jenny Jamora, Ron Capinding, Roselyn Perez, and Dolly de Leon. All performances will be at the WHYNoT Culture Hub at Karrivin Studios, 2316 Chino Roces Ave., Makati.
Europa
Jan. 17
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) begins the year with an evening of majestic melodies. For Europa, the 4th concert in its 40th season which started last year, the PPO will perform Zoltán Kodály’s Dance of Galanta, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, op. 88, G Major. Cleveland concertmaster David Radzynski will be a guest for this symphonic journey. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit, Makati.
Jepoy And The Magic Circle
Jan. 25 and 26
Repertory Philippines presents a fantasy musical which introduces children to legendary Filipino characters and rare Filipino animals through costumes, songs, dances, simple dialogue, and puppetry. The performance includes audience participation. The production is held at the Eastwood Theater, Quezon City.
MSO’s 99th Anniversary Concert: A Tribute to Burt Bacharach
Jan. 25
As the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) celebrates its 99th anniversary, the MSO under the baton of National Artist for Music, Ryan Cayabyab pays tribute to American composer and songwriter Burt Bacharach with a grand concert. They will perform orchestral renditions of Bacharach’s hits such as “What The World Needs Now Is Love,” “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” and more, together with The Ryan Cayabyab Singers, Lara Maigue, Gian Magdangal, and Alice Reyes Dance Philippines. This is the last concert of the 2024-2025 MSO Concert Series: In Pursuit of Excellence. It will be held at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater, Circuit, Makati City.
FEBRUARY-MARCH
Next To Normal
Feb. 1
The Sandbox Collective’s 11th season begins with Next to Normal, an award-winning Broadway musical about love and loss, credited with launching the discussion of mental health in mainstream theater. The musical will be under the direction of Sandbox’s managing artistic director Toff de Venecia, with Ejay Yatco as musical director and Stephen Viñas as choreographer. It will run throughout February at the PowerMac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, Circuit Makati.
Gabi ng Piyano Konsyertong Pilipino
Feb. 6
Renowned Filipino pianist Dr. Raul Sunico and the Manila Symphony Orchestra, under the batons of maestros Jeffrey Solares and Herminigildo Ranera, will perform three seminal Filipino piano concertos for this concert. The repertoire will highlight Filipino composers of the 20th century. The concert will be held at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.
Control + Shift: Changing NarrativesFeb. 6-23
Back for its second year is the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) Control + Shift: Changing Narratives Festival, which will restage three plays at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City. These are the revival of Melvin Lee’s Kumprontasyon, composed of three one-act plays; Dominique La Victoria’s Kislap at Fuego; and Mixkaela Villalon’s Children of the Algo. There will also be eight experimental Studio Theater performances divided into sets: Set A (Unboxing), Set B (Time and Tide), Set C (Codes of Corruption), and Set D (Breaking Free).
Hope
Feb. 14
Soloist Malgorzata Trojanowska will lend her golden voice while pianist Konrad Binienda will grace the piano for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s 5th concert for its 40th season, Hope, on Feb. 14. They will perform Richard Addinsell’s Warsaw Concerto, Andrzej Panufnik’s Heroic Overture and Tragic Overture, a commissioned work by Roxanna Panufnik titled Wings of Hope, Chopin’s Allegro de concert, and Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. There will also be music from the Manila Peace Tribute and visuals by Adam Ustynowicz. The concert will take place at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.
Sintang Dalisay
Feb. 14-16
Areté and Tanghalang Ateneo will be restaging Sintang Dalisay, a Filipino adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by the late Dr. Ricardo Abad. Staged in July last year, it returns to continue telling the story of Rashiddin and Jamila, star-crossed lovers in a Muslim community in Southern Philippines. Directed by Guelan Varela-Luarca, performances will be held at the Hyundai Hall in Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City.
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Feb. 14-March 9
Repertory Philippines will be bringing back the Off-Broadway musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, which they initially staged in June last year. This time, it will be performed at the new REP Eastwood Theater in Quezon City. The play is made up of a series of vignettes on love and relationships involving a wide cast of characters, just in time for Valentine’s season, with returning cast members Gian Magdangal, Krystal Kane, Gabby Padilla, and Marvin Ong reprising their roles. Director Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and her creative team will also be back to finesse the rerun.
Ang Panaginip
Feb. 28-March 2
An original Filipino full-length ballet, Ang Panaginip will be presented by Ballet Philippines this year at The Theatre at Solaire in Parañaque City. Serving as a finale to the company’s 55th season, it aims to be “a salute to the woman who values her worth and boldly redefines her own happy ending,” according to a company statement.
MARCH
Othello
March 7-16
CAST PH will restage last year’s hit production of Shakespeare’s Othello. Artistic director Nelsito Gomez will return to direct, along with Tarek El Tayech as Othello, Gab Pangilinan as Desdemona, Maronne Cruz as Emilia, and Reb Atadero as Iago. The run will be divided into two, from March 7 to 9 and March 14 to 16, at The Mirror Studios in Makati City. It follows the company’s sold-out staging of the same play last October.
Kisapmata
March 7-30
Tanghalang Pilipino’s final production of its 38th season is Kisapmata, an adaptation of Mike de Leon’s film of the same name and Nick Joaquin’s The House on Zapote Street. The musical will star Jonathan Tadioan, Marco Viaña, Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan, and Toni Go-Yadao. It will be directed by Guelan Luarca and staged at CCP’s Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez.
Homecoming
March 14
Homecoming, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s penultimate concert of the season, will welcome laureate pianist Rowena Arrieta to the stage. It will be a tribute to Lithuanian composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, in time for his 150th anniversary. The orchestra will play Franz Liszt’s Totentanz and Johannes Brahm’s Symphony No. 4 op. 98, E minor, under the baton of Grzegorz Nowak. The performance will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.
Liwanag Sa Dilim
Theater company 9 Works Theatrical will be debuting a new original Filipino musical titled Liwanag sa Dilim, featuring the music of Rico Blanco. It is written and directed by the company’s artistic director Robbie Guevara. Details about the cast, exact dates and location have yet to be announced.
Anino Sa Likod Ng Buwan
Filmmaker Jun Robles Lana’s award-winning play Anino sa Likod ng Buwan will be staged live at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City this March (set dates still to be announced), for the first time in 30 years. Presented by IdeaFirst Live (the theater arm of the IdeaFirst Company) and directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio, it stars Martin del Rosario, Elora Españo, and Ross Pesigan.
Mga Anak Ng Unos
Dulaang UP will be staging Mga Anak ng Unos, which is described as a twin bill about the climate crisis. It will be presented at the IBG-KAL Theater at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City. More details will be released soon.
APRIL
Finale
April 11
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s 40th season shall culminate with its 7th concert for the season, Finale, on April 11. The orchestra will perform a commissioned work by Jeffrey Ching along with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Witold Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra. Violinist Diomedes Sazara, Jr. will be the guest performer and Grzegorz Nowak will conduct the orchestra. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.
Delia D: A Dragtastic Musical
Another original jukebox musical is coming to the Newport World Resorts stage this year. Delia D: A Dragtastic Musical will be performed at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay City, featuring the music of songwriter-producer Jonathan Manalo. Its cast will be led by Phi Palmos, with other details to be announced soon. The show will open in April.
JUNE
Virgin Labfest
The CCP’s annual theater festival, Virgin Labfest (VLF), which is usually held around June, has announced that it has selected 12 one-act plays for its 20th edition this year. The 12 untried, untested, and unstaged plays were chosen from over 200 submissions received early last year. The selection committee was composed of festival directors Tess Jamias and Marco Viaña, together with VLF founder The Writer’s Bloc, Inc.’s Rody Vera. Details will be released later this year.
— Brontë H. Lacsamana
