Theatre Group Asia (TGA) has unveiled its 2026-2027 season, with three global productions expected to premiere on the Philippine stage starting later this year.
Opening TGA’s “season of power” in September is the international premiere of ‘The Notebook: The Musical’.
This stage adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel of the same name expands the story of Noah and Allie by showing them at different stages of their lives, setting it apart from the 2004 film starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
The musical opened on Broadway on March 14, 2024, with music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter.
Filipino adaptation of ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’
In February 2027, TGA will stage ‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’, a Filipino reimagination of Spanish playwright Federico Garcia Lorca’s last play, ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’.
‘Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba’ explores the life of five sisters who are forced to follow their mother’s strict rules as they mourn their father’s death, telling a thrilling story of grief and oppression.
The play has been staged in the Philippines before. However, next year’s production is set to be the local premiere of an all-new adaptation by Chay Yew, with the Filipino translation done by Guelan Varela-Luarca.
Lorca wrote the play shortly before his death, and it was staged posthumously in Buenos Aires in 1945.
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Another Sondheim-Lapine classic
The TGA season closes with Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ in June 2027.
This 1984 musical, with music and lyrics by Sondheim and a book by James Lapine, was inspired by French artist Georges Seurat’s painting ‘A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’.
This Broadway classic follows George – Seurat’s fictional counterpart – and his struggles with making art and maintaining a relationship with his lover, Dot.
It also tells the story of Seurat’s great-grandson, also named George, who is a burnout artist seeking to rekindle his artistic passion.
The Philippine premiere of ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ comes nearly a year after TGA’s production of ‘Into the Woods’, a musical also by Sondheim and Lapine.
TGA is currently preparing to open ‘A Chorus Line’ on March 12 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati City.
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