Care Divas returns with more laughs and love
CARE DIVAS is funny because it banks on the colorful and comic personalities of its five gay protagonists who utilize to their advantage queer lingo and jokes to capture the attention of their audience. The lead actors — Melvin Lee, Jerald Napoles, Vincent de Jesus, Phil Noble, and Dudz Teraña — know when to drop the punch lines, making them sound as natural as possible. The conversations, moreover, are seamless, which erases the line between the ad libs and the original script.
But Care Divas is also not funny. If you strip away the laughs and the lingo, what remains at its core is a story of love, sacrifice, and true grit.
The show’s director Maribel Legarda and writer Liza Magtoto are women, but having experiences and friends from the LGBT community have helped them capture some of the essence of queer gender politics. More often than not, as the play also depicts, our society has imposed expectations on LGBT community members: that they are not capable of finding true and lasting love, that they are as good as what they can provide for their nieces and nephews, and that they cannot make it big out there. The musical works to prove these expectations. A tribute to overseas workers, Care
Divas, an original Filipino musical, tells the tale of five gay friends who find themselves working as care givers in Israel. In the evening, they turn in their uniforms and don colorful costumes as glamorous drag queen performers.
PETA’s Care Divas was first shown in 2011 and went on to dominate that year’s PhilStage Gawad Buhay awards, bagging seven recognitions including Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Musical Production, and Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Musical.
Throughout its many reruns, it has remained as fun and as moving because its story is universal and timeless. Regardless of the leads’ gender orientation, Care Divas is every OFW’s story. Through the five protagonist, the play has shown how migrant workers endure the pangs of leaving home and the separation anxiety it brings, while overcoming problems including heartless employers and working 24/7 to earn enough money to send back home. There are scenes you can anticipate because they are common experiences of an OFW, but still, they will catch you off guard. You may try to fight back the tears, but you will fail miserably.
While there are tear- jerking scenes, the whole play aims to depict both the highs and lows of living as a migrant worker. ( Spoiler alert) It ends on a high note, both literally and figuratively.
The whole experience is amplified by the outstanding lyrics and musical direction on Vincent de Jesus, who is also one of the lead actors, playing the role of Shai. A veteran of the original production, Phil Noble reprises the role of Jonee, alternating with Thou Reyes. Jerald Napoles plays Kayla, alternating with Gio Gahol and Ricci Chan, and Dudz Teraña plays Thalia, alternating with Jason Barcial. Melvin Lee meanwhile plays Chelsea without alternate.
Care Divas has performances at the PETA Theater Center on Quezon City until July 30. There are shows on Fridays at 8 p. m., and Saturdays and Sundays at 3 and 8 p.m. For inquiries and ticket reservations, contact the PETA Marketing and Public Relations Office at 7256244 or TicketWorld at 891- 9999, www.ticketworld.com. ph. —