Last August 15, 2015, ACPACIans, together with their families and friends, came to watch Repertory Philippines’ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Onstage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City.
Snow White is a classic tale of a beautiful young woman whose "skin is as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as raven” and her jealous stepmother, the Queen, who wants to be forevermore “the fairest of them all.” Snow White is a princess born to a king and queen but was forced by her wicked stepmother, the Queen, to work as a scullery maid. Her unconquerable sprit soars high and free above The Queen’s cruelty and jealousy.
Seven Dwarfs with Different Names
This sprightly version of Snow White, under the direction of Ms. Joy Virata, adapted the script and lyrics of Elsa Rael and the remarkable musical score of Michael Valenti. The musical numbers include I’m Alive, a song that bursts with optimism and gratitude; I Never Had a Friend Before, is Snow White’s song about not having a friend and then finally finding friends when she met the dwarfs; I’m Real Glad, is a duet of Snow White and the lovable meek dwarf, Fred; and the addictive Yodel Song by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which is a huge hit to the audience, especially to the children. Some select kids are asked to yodel with the cast on stage, and they gamely chant: “Yodel-leii, Yodel-leii, Yodel-leii, ee-ooh” to the crowd, and they bow and curtsy afterwards.
The play does not slavishly follow the Disney’s version. Due to copyright issue with Disney, the names of the seven dwarfs were different, no Dopey, Grumpy, Sleepy, Bashful, Doc, Happy and Sneezy, but instead, they are given original names like Scrubber, Blubber, Scotty, Flubber, Pepito, Mosquito and Fred. The dwarfs are reminiscent of the Hobbits of the Lord of the Rings, with big ears, minus the huge hairy feet, plus the colorful outfits.
The musical is captivating and it plays to the delights of the kids and adults alike. They are transported from the Queen’s chamber with her talking magic mirror to the Black Forest where Snow White ran away and met the seven dwarfs to the Broadway worthy and thoroughly diverting music. Snow White cast the theatregoers under its magical spell until the very end.
Moral Lessons Learned
Snow White is a “good versus evil” story about vanity and jealousy out of control and how it can destroy lives. It has a fun moral and teaches us that everyone has different personality and idiosyncrasies (like Snow White and the dwarfs), but they can find commonality amidst diversity, and learn to accept and tolerate each other’s differences and care for each other through the bond of friendship.
The Queen’s obsession of maintaining her beauty and her status as the most beautiful in the land has parallel realities in today’s scenario where a lot of women go to great lengths to defy aging, to remove telltale signs of age and to look younger and lovelier than ever. They use anti-aging creams to “get back the smooth, vibrant skin”; they apply serums, BB Creams, CC Creams “to reduce lines and wrinkles and correct spots and skin tone unevenness”; they buy moisturizers “to hydrate, firm up and smoothen skin and to erase pores in seconds.” Botox, Glutathione, and plastic surgery, liposuction are the fad and heck, there are women who have enough cosmetics and beauty products (foundation, illuminators, lipsticks, lip stains, lip balms, lip cream, lip gloss, eye liners, mascara, eye shadows, eye primers, nail enamels, concealers, blush ons, cheek color balms, etc.) in their vanity cabinet to make up every single extra in The Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead combined.
But the truth is: beauty is only skin deep. Being a pure-hearted and a kind person makes you “the fairest of them all,” develop your good character and let it shine through the fine eyes of the beholder.
The proceeds from the ticket sales of Snow White will be for the benefit of the ACPACI PUP Scholars. To know the life and achievements of one the Association’s former scholars, please read the story of Ms. Ahvie Bautista in the ACPACI’s Scholar On Spotlight (SOS) corner.