The 12th Gawad Buhay Awards, which honors excellence in theater, has announced its nominees with Tanghalang Pilipino’s Lam-ang and Sandbox Collective’s Dani Girl leading the group with 12 nominations under each of their belts.

Tanghalang Pilipino’s Lam-ang is an ethno-epic musical that re-imagines and reinterprets “Biag ni Lam-ang,” the oldest folk epic of Luzon, while the  Sandbox Collective’s Dani Girl is a musical about a nine-year-old girl battling cancer who sets off on a whimsical quest to find her hair and find the reason for her illness.

Dani Girl got the lion’s share of the performance award nods with both of its lead actresses — Rebecca Coates and Felicity Kyle Napuli — nominated for Female Lead Performance in a Musical, while three of its actors — Daniel Drilon, Lorenz Martinez, and Juliene Mendoza — were nominated for Male Featured Performance in a Musical. Both Lam-ang and Dani Girl were nominated for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a musical alongside Philippine Opera Company’s “Passion”.

The annual theater honors are given by the Philippine Legitimate Stage Artists Group (Philstage) and only members of the group are eligible for nominations. Because of the ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the awarding ceremonies will be held virtually on Oct. 8, 8 p.m. at the Philstage Facebook page.

The members of Philstage are 9 Works Theatrical, The Sandbox Collective, Actor’s Actors, Inc., The Necessary Theatre, Ballet Manila, Black Box Productions, Culturtain Musicat Productions, Inc., Full House Theater Company (Resorts World Manila), Gantimpala Theater Foundation, Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), the Philippine Opera Company, Red Turnip Theater, Repertory Philippines, Stages Productions Specialists, Egg Theater Company, Twin Bill Theater, Tanghalang Pilipino, Trumpets, and Upstart Productions.

This year’s special awards, Natatanging Gawad for Theater and Natatanging Gawad for Dance will be given to theater director and actor Freddie Santos and dancer/choreographer Julie Borromeo, respectively.

BELOW IS THE FULL LIST OF NOMINEES:

• Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Play – Dancing Lessons (Twin Bill Theater); Every Brilliant Thing (The Sandbox Collective)

• Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Musical – Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Passion (Philippine Opera Company)

• Outstanding Stage Direction for a Play – Jenny Jamora, Every Brilliant Thing (The Sandbox Collective); Francis Matheu, Dancing Lessons (Twin Bill Theater); Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Outstanding Stage Direction for a Musical – Toff de Venecia, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Robbie Guevara, Passion (Philippine Opera Company)

• Outstanding Original Book of a Musical – Luna Griño-Inocian, The Quest for the Adarna (Repertory Philippines)

• Outstanding Translation or Adaptation – Guelan Luarca, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Male Lead Performance in a Play – Audie Gemora, The Dresser (Repertory Philippines); Teroy Guzman, The Dresser (Repertory Philippines); Jonathan Tadioan, Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino); Marco Viaña, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino); Marco Viaña, Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Female Lead Performance in a Play – Teresa Herrera, Every Brilliant Thing (The Sandbox Collective); Jill Peña, Dancing Lessons (Twin Bill Theater); Kakki Teodoro, Every Brilliant Thing (The Sandbox Collective)

• Male Featured Performance in a Play – Jaime del Mundo, The Dresser (Repertory Philippines); Fernando “Nanding” Josef, Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino); Brian Sy, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino); Jonathan Tadioan, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Female Featured Performance in a Play – Antonette Go, Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino); Sherry Lara, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino); Tami Monsod, The Dresser (Repertory Philippines); Lhorvie Nuevo, Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Male Lead Performance in a Musical – Vien King, Passion (Philippine Opera Company); JC Santos, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Female Lead Performance in a Musical – Rebecca Coates, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Felicity Kyle Napuli, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Shiela Valderrama-Martinez, Passion (Philippine Opera Company)

• Male Featured Performance in a Musical – Paw Castillo, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Daniel Drilon, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Lorenz Martinez, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Juliene Mendoza, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Raul Montesa, Passion (Philippine Opera Company)

• Female Featured Performance in a Musical – Jasmine Fitzgerald, Passion (Philippine Opera Company); Anna Luna, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Justine Narciso, The Quest for the Adarna (Repertory Philippines); Tex Ordoñez-de Leon, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Shiela Valderrama-Martinez, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective)

• Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Play – Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Musical – Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Passion (Philippine Opera Company)

• Outstanding Production for Children – The Quest for the Adarna (Repertory Philippines)

• Outstanding Choreography – JM Cabling, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); PJ Rebullida, The Quest for the Adarna (Repertory Philippines)

• Outstanding Original Score – Fitz Bitana, Jen Darlene Torres and Eljay Castro Deldoc, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Vince Lim, Jeff Hernandez and Michelle Ngu, Charot! (Philippine Educational Theater Association)

• Outstanding Musical Direction – Daniel Bartolome, Passion (Philippine Opera Company); TJ Ramos, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Ejay Yatco, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective)

• Outstanding Costume Design – Bonsai Cielo, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino); Bonsai Cielo, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Daniel Gregorio, Katsuri (Tanghalang Pilipino); Tata Tuviera, The Dresser (Repertory Philippines)

• Outstanding Lighting Design – John Batalla, Every Brilliant Thing (The Sandbox Collective); Dennis Marasigan, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino); Meliton Roxas Jr., Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino); Barbie Tan-Tiongco, The Dresser (Repertory Philippines); Shakira Villa-Symes, Passion (Philippine Opera Company)

• Outstanding Sound Design – Arvy Dimaculangan, Every Brilliant Thing (The Sandbox Collective); Jethro Joaquin, The Dresser (Repertory Philippines); Glendfford Malimban, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); TJ Ramos, Coriolano (Tanghalang Pilipino); TJ Ramos, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino)

• Outstanding Set Design – Ed Lacson Jr., The Dresser (Repertory Philippines); Joey Mendoza, The Quest for the Adarna (Repertory Philippines); Faust Peneyra, Dani Girl (The Sandbox Collective); Kayla Teodoro, Dancing Lessons (Twin Bill Theater); Marco Viaña, Lam-ang (Tanghalang Pilipino)  — Z.B. Chua

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