'Bagets the Musical': The joys and pains of motherhood

Virgie is Adie’s mother. She has long been separated from his father. A newspaper columnist, she has a more detailed relationship with the stories she writes than the stories she tells her son. She loves Adie, nevertheless, even if this love means leaving her son to his own devices, resulting in an act of independence on Adie that is both a reward and a punishment. She is busy beating her story deadline when her son falls in love but she stops pounding the typewriter when she cushions his fall. Where words cannot defend Virgie for the motherhood she gives Adie, her embrace suffices for the times Adie miss her.

Virgie proves that motherhood becomes more of a human experience when mistakes are recognized and rectified.

Carla Guevara-Laforteza gives a powerful presentation of Virgie’s hurts and pains, of her hopes and joys. Even with her more than 30 years in the world of stage—including Miss Saigon, Rak of Aegis and Ang Huling El Bimbo—Carla can still give that raw performance that seeps through the heart and stirs it for a bittersweet and joyous awakening. Her voice is golden.

Delia, on the other hand, is the funny mother of Tonton. She is a domineering wife and a spoiler of a mother—and she’s unapologetic about it until a tragedy befalls her family. She works hard and, as an Ilocana, knows how to save. Tonton knows fully well that his mother will always be there for him—even if at 18 he has yet to graduate from high school.

Delia gives her son the kind of love that is unyielding to the test of time, even if she knows that too much love and too much freedom can be debilitating for a young man.

In the end, Delia proves that motherhood is in itself a device that autocorrects itself—all for love.

Kakai Bautista and Natasha Cabrera alternate in essaying the colorful and funny character of Delia. Both register commanding voices and an authoritative stance. Natasha masks her pain eloquently; it’s shown in the sudden drop of her face or her shoulders. Kakai throttles her anguish with power and distinction and her song numbers are marked with tenderness from her heart and a resounding applause from the audience.

Ditas, meanwhile, is the aristocratic mother of Arnel. She is larger than life. Her decisions are a gin-clear ocean where Arnel needs to swim to fit in. Her alabaster skin, matched with her Spanish-spitting tongue, can be condescending. But beneath the veneer of sophistication is a heart that knows how to love and relent, to understand and yield.

Ditas is the illustration that a mother’s heart can be misunderstood in its purity. And for a mother’s heart to be understood in all its essence, one needs to see things through unspoken details of her humanity.

Mayen Cadd, whose theater career began in 1993, renders a breathtaking life to Ditas. She, too, possesses that voice that lilts in perfection. It is the same singing voice that knows how to put rhythm and pain in one straight line.

Ana is Topee’s mother. Her job as a movie actress takes her away from her son. And her sporadic breaks from shooting she devotes to Steve, her lover. Hers is a brand of motherhood with assistance coming from a nanny. Topee resents it but in his mom he finds solace, an ally. It is because despite all the shortcomings of Ana, she remains in touch with her son, the distance or non-appearance in many hallmark moments of his life notwithstanding.

Ana is proof that there’s no graceful exit to motherhood. Dysfunctional as her relationship with her son may be, she proves that the real function of being a mother is filling the gaping gap with a heart that is changed by motherly love.

Experienced thespian Neomi Gonzales essays the role of Ana with aplomb. There’s warmth and enthusiasm in her singing voice, so enticing that you feel her longing, her dreams, her desires. And her unfathomable love for her son no matter how bizarre.

Completing the five mothers of Bagets the Musical is Luz. Luz is light to her son Gilbert. She guides him to be become a man different from his policeman father. She’s flawed and pained but despite the challenges of life, she knows how to rise to the occasion. Madiskarte sa buhay. She makes both ends meet by selling everything—from kakanin to insurance.

Luz typifies the no-retreat-no-surrender stance of motherhood. When push comes to shove, she always finds a reason to keep her head above waters—for her family. She loves to keep her family whole even if many times she has the perfect reason to disband from them. But a mother’s heart is made of titanium it will never break.

The role of Luz fits Ring Antonio well. A dynamo on stage, Ring knows when to belt it out and when to keep her emotions tucked. Her angels and demons are displayed with the same weight but she always chooses to nurture the lamb instead of the beast in her rendition of her numbers. Her portrayal has so much heart.

(Bagets the Musical is still showing until March 22 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Newport World Resorts in Pasay City.)