It was in 2007, while having
their regular coffee fix, when theater veteran Robbie Guevara first asked and
challenged his friend Santi Santamaria on how he could make the fellow seated
beside them watch the musical that was currently playing at the theater. That conversation
led to both of them wanting to stage The
Wedding Singer: The Musical. Santi was holding a corporate executive then
with years of marketing and sales experience behind him while his wife Anna was
an avid theater practitioner. The duo had pitched the show to other companies,
to no avail, prior to establishing what eventually became 9 Works Theatrical –
one of today’s premier theater companies in Manila, committed to delivering
only the best plays and musicals – either originally written or from both
Broadway and the West End.
Admittedly, between the
members of the then-fledgling theater company, it was a climb to muster the resources
to mount Robbie and Santi’s dream show. But with the license for The Wedding Singer granted soon after
applying for it, a unique opportunity to stage Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For a New World was in the horizon.
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Teresa Herrera in Duncan
Macmillan’s Every Brilliant Thing, a show about mental health
|
The show became 9 Works
Theatrical’s maiden voyage into the professional theater scene, followed by the
phenomenal RENT, one of the company’s
biggest and most successful shows to date. This led to two re-stagings of the
hit musical at the RCBC Theater and Rockwell Cinema. Soon after, Robbie and
Santi as well as one of the country’s top scenographers Mio Infante, Jonjon
Martin and other partners, mounted The
Wedding Singer at the Meralco Theater.
The
duo’s dream continued on through many critically-acclaimed shows that followed
since: Sweet Charity, You’re a Good Man
Charlie Brown, They’re Playing Our Song, Grease, The Last Five Years, La Cage
aux Folles, 50 Shades! The Musical Parody, and tick, tick…BOOM! And in
2016, 9 Works Theatrical inked an exciting, new partnership with Globe Live,
which enabled the company to mount sold-out, high caliber productions like American Idiot, A Christmas Carol, Disney’s Newsies,
and Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!, featuring
the songs of Apo Hiking Society – the company’s first foray into original work.
9 Works Theatrical has grown leaps and bounds since then, amassing loyal
audiences, a diverse repertoire of shows, and accolades from critics and
award-giving bodies.
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Aicelle Santos stars as Elsa in Vincent de Jesus and Ricky Lee’s Himala: Isang Musikal by The Sandbox Collective and 9 Works Theatrical |
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Michael de Mesa stars in 9 Works Theatrical’s La Cage Aux Folles |
In
2014, Toff de Venecia, who served as Marketing and PR Director for 9 Works
Theatrical, approached the group about wanting to produce unique performative experiences
that were cutting-edge and reminiscent of arts festivals here and abroad, and
Off-Off-Broadway. It would cater primarily to millennial audiences, as inspired
by his work in other fields, his fancies, and travels abroad. With 9 Works
Theatrical’s company manager Anna Santamaria onboard, and eventually, designer Maine
Manalansan and theater actress Sab Jose, The Sandbox Collective was born – a
proud sister company and affiliate of 9 Works Theatrical.
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The cast of 9 Works Theatrical and Globe Live’s Eto Na! Musikal nAPO |
The Sandbox Collective’s
pursuit for new, groundbreaking theatrical work gave rise to Dani Girl, a musical about a 9 year-old
girl and her battle with cancer. This was soon followed by the four-day
multi-arts festival The Imaginarium,
in partnership with PETA Theater where works from across all genres were
presented, including the Sandbox-produced The
Boy in the Bathroom, The Pillowman, The Glass Menagerie, and Red Exorcism featuring the Korea-based
SEOP Dance Company.
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The cast of Disney’s Newsies
by 9 Works Theatrical and Globe Live
|
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Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Sam
Concepcion headline the millennial monologue series No Filter 2.0 by The
Sandbox Collective
|
It wasn’t until 2015 however when
The Sandbox Collective came into its own with the box office hit, No Filter – a
monologue series penned by Manila’s top lifestyle writers that revealed the
triumphs and heartbreaks of what it means to be a millennial. It was a
production that yielded a rerun, No Filter 2.0 and a literary version under
Summit Books, which is available in bookstores nationwide.
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The cast of 9 Works Theatrical’s RENT |
After a temporary hiatus, the
company returned in 2018 with the critically acclaimed Himala: Isang Musikal by Ricky Lee and Vincent de Jesus, proving to
be its biggest and most critically acclaimed version yet. It was also through Himala that The Sandbox Collective and 9
Works Theatrical inked a partnership in co-producing experiences that would
start conversations with audiences as the companies envisioned. This was soon
followed by Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs,
which performed to critical acclaim.
Through highs and lows for
both companies, passion has served as both their currency and fuel to produce
work that would contribute to a sustainable environment for the local theater
scene – where artists can thrive and audiences can leave inspired. It is then
apt that 2019 kicks off with two explosive shows during Arts Month – the return
of Eto Na! Musikal nAPO! and another
Duncan Macmillan masterpiece, Every
Brilliant Thing, which sheds light on the topic of mental health. Both
shows are performing at the Maybank Theater in Bonifacio Global City.
In celebration of 9 Works
Theatrical’s milestone tenth year and The Sandbox Collective’s fifth year in
the industry, the two sister companies collaborate on a one-of-a-kind special
promo as a thank you to their loyal patrons.
Looking back and moving forward, the “10/5 = 25” ultimately means 10 years and
5 years for 9 Works Theatrical and The Sandbox Collective, respectively, and 25
memorable shows collectively performed in front of their live audiences - 25
shows where audiences laughed, cried, fell in love, questioned, started
conversations, and hopefully developed a curiosity, commitment, and passion for
supporting Philippine theater.
For this, the first 25 ticket-buyers
who will purchase back-to-back tickets to Eto
Na! Musikal nAPO! and Every Brilliant
Thing for the February 2, February 9 and February 10 performances will receive
a special commemorative t-shirt or tote bag, souvenir programs to both shows, and
dinner at Maybank Theater. One purchased ticket can be for an afternoon matinee
performance, and the other for an evening performance on the same day – marking
a full and exciting day at the theater in celebration of 9 Works Theatrical and
The Sandbox Collective’s tenth and fifth year.
Tickets would have to be
purchased at least one day in advance for necessary arrangements to be made.
For inquiries on the 10/5 = 25 promo, please call 9
Works Theatrical at 586-7105, 0917-5545560 or The Sandbox Collective at
0956-2004909. Promo is valid for the first 25 customers and while supplies last.
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