This is one cute Baby – Business World Online Weekender
Review by Tomas del Rio
After more than two decades since it began a lackluster run on Broadway, theatergoers in Manila are lining up again to see the musical Baby, which is reportedly sold out with requests for an extension even before the curtains rose last week.
The reason is obvious: this staging of Atlantis Productions stars the Tony Award-winning Lea Salonga in her first theater performance in Manila since appearing in the straight drama Proof two years ago.
What is less evident is why Salonga opted to mark her comeback with this musical ode to pregnancy, aside from the fact that she just got married early this year and is probably looking forward to starting a family. Baby, to be blunt about it, is simply an unremarkable musical given Salonga’s stature in the industry.
SEASONS OF LOVE: The three actresses in Baby, The Musical play women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, all grappling with the possiility of having a baby — Lea Salonga, Agot Isidro and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo
Set in an unnamed university town, Baby presents the highs and lows of having a baby from the point of view of three couples. There are campus sweethearts Lizzie (Salonga) and Danny (David Shannon), who, after deciding to live together are confronted by Lizzie’s unplanned pregnancy, which unravels conflicts over their fundamental beliefs. While excited about the prospect of parenthood, she insists on staying single, while he wants to do the right thing and marry her.
Then there’s the thirtysomething Pam (Agot Isidro) and Nick (Jett Pangan), who have been trying for two years to conceive. She thought they had succeeded but it turns out to be a false alarm. As they desperately follow a rigid schedule of sex, this causes a rift in an otherwise breezy, funny and spontaneous relationship.
Finally there’s the empty nesters Arlene (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo) and Alan (Miguel Faustmann). Despite having four grown children, Arlene is shaken when she becomes pregnant at 43. Looking forward to finally enjoying life as a couple again, Arlene gets the jitters. In contrast, Alan revels at the thought of being a father again.
But there is also a good reason that many years after its debut, Baby continues to be a favorite in American community theater and actually managed to score several Tony nominations including one for Best Musical for 1983: Baby effortlessly connects with the audience. Like gazing at a hospital nursery, Baby elicits warm, fuzzy feelings. The situations and conflicts it presents are so normal, untainted by Hollywood-style melodrama. And since the three couples are from different age brackets, the musical pretty much offers something for everybody.
Moreover, despite a potentially maudlin topic, Baby isn’t overly sentimental, with a nice balance of feminist and more traditional values. In fact, the option of not proceeding with the pregnancy is clearly offered to two of the couples without dwelling at all on the Christian implications of having an abortion.
What deters the musical from achieving more is its slightly disjointed structure with the three story lines unfolding like that of a Love Boat romance without any surprise. With just one bed as its main set, angled differently to indicate change of scenes, director Bobby Garcia gives the story a more fluid flow. But the writing itself isn’t solidly coherent, a rather confused hybrid of Stephen Sondheim’s Company and Neil Simon’s They’re Playing Our Song.
This becomes more evident when compared with more recent musicals that have a more consistent score with recurring motifs and character-locked melodies. Instead, composer David Shire has come up with a mixed bag of tunes, pleasant to the ear, some enjoyable, but none that’s truly haunting. The interludes that mark the passing of seasons are flat and purely functional and the one repeated idea — that pregnancy is a journey — is just too unimaginative upon which to build a more intricate and profound story.
Yet simplicity can be a virtue and this uncomplicated musical, despite its shortcomings, comes across as refreshing break from the darker, more sinister undertones of recent productions. Like a Sandra Bullock romantic comedy or an average episode of Friends, it’s entertaining to watch but the joy is also fleeting.
CAST
From the looks of it, Baby is just as relaxing for the cast, who all gave uniformly relaxed performances as expected from an ensemble.
Veteran Faustmann wears his middle-age like an old sweatshirt in a sincere performance with none of his often-cloying tendencies when playing tender. He internalizes Alan’s loneliness — their house has become too big for two — rather well such that when Alan finally verbalizes his feelings, his wife can’t help but feel assured that this is the right thing to do. His soliloquy “Easy to Love” has a wistful, resigned tone that brings to mind the repressed romantic longings of My Fair Lady’s “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” while the duet “And What If We Have Loved Like That” is plain snug and cozy.
Lauchengco-Yulo, on the other hand, was deliberately more high-strung, notably in the solo, “Patterns.” As Arlene, she offers the most complicated performance in Baby, capturing the mixed emotions of a character who has been there, knows how terrific she is, but isn’t sure if this is what she really wants. It’s a tough act, and Lauchengco-Yulo saves Arlene from being merely wishy-washy and turns her dilemma into something that is more real.
Since his acclaimed debut as the lead in Tick, Tick, Boom, Pangan has been a staple in Atlantis productions and has become a favorite with audiences. He still sparkles in Baby but this time, his smart-aleck approach becomes rather hollow and he shows difficulty plumbing the emotional depth of a man, a track coach at that, who has a low sperm count. But since he’s also given the more fun numbers, like “Romance,” he gets to strut out what he does best.
His stage partner, pop singer Agot Isidro, is a pleasant surprise, showing off a pleasant soprano and a natural acting ability with instinctive comic timing. Isidro’s Pam is sprightly and easy-going on the outside but Isidro manages to give her inner depth and is so much more successful than Pangan is conveying her pain and disappointment over not being able to conceive.
Shannon, a Caucasian actor, seems to have the easiest time among the leads and is extremely natural as Danny, an aspiring musician with solid, traditional values. His is a thoroughly polished performance, shifting from the more rowdy “Fatherhood Blues” to the poignant ballad “I Chose Right” with ease. He also doesn’t underestimate Danny’s sense of maturity, and not once did Shannon try to go for a more nebbish characterization, giving Danny both energy and confidence of a young man excited about having a family.
Finally, there’s Salonga, who is assured enough to just blend in the ensemble numbers but take charge in her main solos (one closes Act One and another opens Act Two). “The Story Goes On,” which ends the first act, is just the right song for Salonga to show off her pristine tones and studied power, a song that is melodious but difficult at the same time. Salonga’s Lizzie is a cheery idealist intent on doing and having it all without coming across as selfish. Yet she slowly realizes and savors the simple joys of being in love (”Two People in Love”) and this sunny disposition eggs you to cheer her on.
Baby, for all the conflicts and hardships it presents, chose to remain positive and celebrate the joys of love and parenthood. That may sound corny or even naive in these more cynical times. And the musical merely tracks nine months in what could be a long, maybe even lonely, journey for the three couples. And this sense of optimism is what really makes Baby likeable. And come to think of it, all babies are cute. And this Baby is really just that.
