AN INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE TALE IN ‘GUADALUPE: THE MUSICAL’
In 1531, in the newly conquered land then known as New Spain, a series of unexplained—some might say miraculous—events occurred that would change the world forever. That incredible true tale was the basis of “Guadalupe: The Musical,” a brandnew theatrical production in English, presented by the Julie Borromeo Performing Arts Foundation.
A ghostly apparition, a skeptical bishop, a brutal overlord, a dying man brought back from the brink of death—“The story of Juan Diego of Guadalupe is practically a musical already,” says Borromeo, who is both producer and (along with Rose Borromeo) choreographer of the show. “But what makes this story different is all the supernatural elements in it that simply can’t be explained.”
Of these, there are many, and all a matter of public record: the painted images on Juan Diego’s now famous tilma (or apron), which shows no evidence of any brushstrokes, and whose pig- ments come from a source unknown to nature; the seeming impenetrability of the cloth from which it was made; the mysterious recovery of Juan Diego’s dying uncle.
But although it deals in the miraculous, “Guadalupe: The Musical,” which stars stage icon Cocoy Laurel as Juan Diego, is not a conventional faith-based show.
“It’s not a ‘religious’ musical as such,” says theater legend Baby Barredo, who directs the piece. “It’s a powerful piece of theater that just happens to contain religious elements.” I
Scriptwriter and lyricist Joel Trinidad and composer Ejay Yatco, the creative task was to use factual, historical events as a backdrop for a true story that contains some fictional elements. “Guadalupe: The Musical” runs Sept. 28-Oct. 14 at the Meralco Theater. E-mail Ria Pangilinan at riapangprojects@gmail.com.