Oh Baby!

Last Sunday, my family and I watched the musical "Baby" at the Meralco Theater. I was particularly excited. After all, I have been a fan of Lea Salonga ever since I was in nappies. One of the first lines I could sing was "Be brave little one." In grade school, I could memorize the entire Miss Saigon soundtrack...although my mom had to monitor that I refrained from saying the cuss words. I high school, her tapes filled my music rack and I kept a framed photo of her in my bedroom. When the year 2000 was ushered in, I was a couple of meters away from her. In college, I made use of a laminated bookmark with her picture when I studied. For my 17th birthday, I asked my mother to bring me to one of her musicals as a gift. I sang an a capella version of "On My Own" when I auditioned for the university choir. When I read that she fixed toilet paper with the loose side up, I did the same with my own roll in the bathroom. I listen to her Christmas album whenever I fix the Christmas tree. And most recently, I bawled like a baby during her wedding.

I was particularly excited about seeing "Baby." The last time I saw Lea on stage was during the Manila stint of Miss Saigon. "Baby" was going to be a lot different from "Miss Saigon." For one thing, it didn't involve a lot of guns and flying helicopters. I was actually surprised with the set. Aside from big cutouts of buildings and houses painted in pastel colors, there was only a king-sized bed in the middle of the stage. And of course, I was excited with the prospect of seeing Lea pregnant!

MY TICKET!!! And yes, I want it all!!!

The play actually covers the travails of three women with the stork. Lea plays Lizzie, a college junior who gets herself pregnant. Her boyfriend offers to marry her but she adamantly refuses saying "I don't wanna get married because I don't wanna get divorced." Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo plays Irene, a woman in her 40s with four children in their twenties. Irene thinks motherhood has finally bidden her farewell when she discovers she is actually pregnant. Agot Isidro is Pam, a basketball aficionado who has been married for two years and is desperate for a child.
All in all, I LOVED "BABY." Probably blame it on Lea but everything about the musical was wonderful. Of course, I always had goosebumps whenever Lea came on stage. Her commanding stage presence was overpowering and her crystal-clear voice was breathtakingly beautiful. I particularly loved her last song in the first part which was something about her baby's birth being part of the entire cycle of life with her playing the same role her mother and grandmother used to play. I swear I did not move an inch during the entire song...as if a tiny nudge of my finger or the slighest twist of my head would break the spell she had cast.
I liked the songs, I particularly enjoyed the dialogue and humor but I definitely loved the story the most. Lizzie, Irene and Pam all had different thoughts about a baby. Lizzie was having second thoughts since she thought motherhood would mean giving up on her personal ambitions. Irene did not want the baby because I felt she wanted a bit of her life back. Pam was ecstatic to have one but a baby seemed to evade her. At some point, they all felt scared, lost and desperate. The baby was a huge burden. Just the thought of it was stifling. The baby weighed Lizzie, Irene and Pam down. However in the end, the mood changed. Lizzie realized that there were some things worth gambling for and some things worth losing. Irene realized that another chance meant a new start and a fresh change...though it pretty much seemed like an old Bee Gees revival. And as for Pam, giving up was never going to be an option. All of these events unfolded at the precise moment that Lizzie was about to give birth and when she did, everything made perfect sense. With the wails of a flailing baby, a new hope and a new promise was born. For someone who seems to have lost reason to believe in the beauty which the world claims to have, "Baby" offered a good reason to start looking again.