THOMASIAN singers led a group of young talents in a debut musical production titled “Of Thrones and Tiaras” on Dec. 9 at the Ronac Lifestyle Center in Makati.
Thomasian singer Renz Nathaniel Cruz, director of the production, assembled talents from UST as well as from University of the Philippines (UP), New Era University and Mapua University to come up with OperaJuan, an emerging youth opera and musical theater group.
“Our main mission is to further promote classical music and musical theater.” said Cruz in an interview with the Varsitarian.
“There are still a lot of people who aren’t into it (classical music) or have not even tried watching shows like this so we’re trying to make it [more] accessible for them,” he added.
The cast captivated the crowd in the first act with a joyous rendition of Verdi’s “Libiamo,” followed by timeless pieces from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” and “Le Nozze di Figaro.”
Jane Wee, an alumna and mezzo soprano of the UST Conservatory of Music, capped the first act with Leo Délibes’s popular “Flower Duet” from the opera “Lakme,” sharing the stage with soprano Allison Rose Cervantes of UP.
The second half featured songs from popular theater and Broadway productions such as “Into the Woods” and “Hamilton.”
The production ended with duo songwriters Pasek and Paul’s “This is Me” from the film musical “The Greatest Showman,” sung by the whole cast.
The production had its show dates on Dec. 8 and 9.
