'Bagets The Musical' will be a tale for all generations
When Bagets The Musical bursts onstage in Jan. 2026, it will be retelling a story that was first told in 1984, when cult classic film Bagets entered the Filipino psyche and became a household term.
This is what the Philippine Educational Theater Association plans to do when it stages Bagets The Musical with a new script, a fresh cast, and re-arranged music on the huge stage of Newport Performing Arts Theatre.
There is a boldness required to take the story of one generation and tell it to a whole new audience.
How will today's youth connect with a narrative that was released just three years after Martial Law was lifted, with shoulder pads and neon dominating the fashion scene, and WiFi still a generation away?
The answer is simple: they focus on the timeless and universal essence of the story, which is friendship, family, and love.
Championing mothers
Bagets tells the story of five friends—Adie, Tonton, Gilbert, Topee, and Arnel—navigating their tumultuous last year of high school while dealing with difficult family relationships.
While PETA stays true to this plot, Bagets The Musical playwright Jmee Katanyag revealed that one major adjustment she's put in is a bigger storyline for the mothers—the "ermats"—of the five boys.
"Noong pinapanood ko ng ilang times 'yung movie, [nakita ko na] ang laki ng impluwensiya ng [mga] nanay," Katanyag told PhilSTAR L!fe. "Kahit nasa background lang sila, ang linaw ng mga issues nila on motherhood, being a career woman, being part of a broken family, and setting expectations."
"Gusto namin patampukin 'yun kasi 'yun din 'yung magiging contribution sa coming-of-age n'ung mga lalaki," she added.
Funny enough, the influential role of mothers in their children's lives, particularly their sons, is an enduring fact, even in biblical times.
To ensure the continued relevance of the story for the Gen Z members of the audience, Katanyag is adding focus to this matriarchal influence: "Makikita mo 'yung hindi pagkakaintindihan, kung paano sila nakakaapekto sa kanilang anak sa paghahanap ng jowa, o ng interest sa buhay; makikita mo 'yung struggle nila para magka-time sa mga anak nila," Katanyag told L!fe.
Given that it is a PETA creative team behind the staging of the musical, the retold story will also touch on socially relevant themes. According to its website, PETA strives "to use theater for the cause of social change and justice."
"'Yung coming of age, hindi lang para sa boys, but also for us bilang Filipinos," said Katanyag. "Dahil taga-PETA din kami, we made sure...na magresonate din ['yung story] socially."
The quintessential '80s soundtrack
The opening credits of the Bagets film shows Aga Muhlach, JC Bonnin, Raymond Lauchengco, William Martinez, and Herbert Bautista—the five leads—bouncing around in their Chuck Taylors while Gary Valenciano's Growing Up plays in the background.
The original song, composed by Odette Quesada, was written specifically for Bagets. Aside from this Quesada-Valenciano anthem, other original tracks were Quesada's Farewell and Cecile Azarcon's So It's You, both of which were performed by Lauchengco.
Original music is a privilege that Bagets The Musical music director Vince Lim is still contemplating.
"It will be hard to create an original [soundtrack], if there is an original, because it wouldn't have some sort of earworm or LSS or recall or nostalgic feeling to give the audience members," Lim told L!fe.
He admitted that the film's soundtrack is so firmly rooted in '80s culture—which the musical is also replicating—that introducing original songs written in the 21st century "would be a challenge."
But, "the biggest change you're gonna hear with the songs that we use, which are pop songs, is adapting it to musical theater. Instantly, the style, and how it's sung, changes kaagad," said the musical director.
In addition to adapting the '80s pop songs to the stage, the soundtrack will feature songs with tweaked lyrics to suit more modern times, thanks to Katanyag.
As for the musical arrangement, Lim will be adjusting it to serve the story.
"For example, there's this popular ballad in the movie sung by one of the cast members. We fit it in a scene where it's sung by eight different people at the same time. And each time it's sung, while [the lyrics] are saying the same thing, [the song] means something different to the person singing it," Lim told L!fe.
He will be using another popular song in the movie to fit into a scene where one character is being initiated into manhood.
"I think I didn't really deviate as much [from the original soundtrack]. Whether it sounds retro to some or current to some, sana 'yung essence n'ung kanta makuha," Lim said.
A full-circle moment
In terms of the overall direction, Maribel Legarda, director of Bagets The Musical, has set the bottom line: "'Yung job namin is actually to balance what is in the past that is good and what should be tweaked for the current."
Perhaps the biggest source of balance for the musical is having Andres Muhlach play Adie, the same character his father Aga Muhlach played in the film. Andres, 24, who is a decade older than his father when Aga shot the film, recalled watching the film when he was younger.
"It's a full-circle moment for me. I'm proud to get the chance to say I'm playing my father's role," Andres said.
The younger Muhlach also reflected on the film's musicality.
"Throughout the film, there's a lot of dialogue, but...if you see the sequences, parang [the film is] blocked like it's a musical. Ang galing talaga na we get to do this here live onstage," he said.
For Legarda, it's the young cast that bridges the old and new.
"Excited kami na may bagong generation na mga young artist na pumapasok sa teatro...Theater has become so expensive. It's on a roll. It needs a lot of artists," Legarda said.
There is no question for Katanyag about the timing of staging an '80s film today as a musical.
"What's special about the film is that it's timeless. So kahit classically nandoon siya sa 1984, very relatable yung kwento kasi it talks about coming of age, family, friends. And 'yung idea of growing up," she said.
"Sa adaptation na 'to, 'yung growing up doesn't have to be literal na from bagets to growing up. It could be mothers trying to grow up beyond their careers, being a mother, being a woman...Growing up ng mga kabataan na kung paano maging Pilipino sa panahon ngayon. So coming-of-age siya nating lahat."
Bagets The Musical starts on January 26, 2026. Tickets are now on sale via TicketWorld and Ticket2Me.
