Muli: An OPM Musical Explores Life’s Choices, Regrets, and What-Ifs

The creators of Sa Wakas return with a new production featuring 11 original compositions that draw from OPM styles of the ’90s and 2000s.

They say experiences make up who we are today. If given the chance to go back and live your life all over again, would you make the same choices? That is the question Muli would like you to reflect on: whether you have lived enough to be happy with where you are right now.

Created by the team behind the talked-about musical Sa Wakas a decade ago, Muli is an OPM musical that follows the story of a mother and daughter, Anita and Kath, as they navigate choices, regrets, and family ties. The character of Anita will be played by Gawad Urian Award-winning actress, singer, and host Kakki Teodoro, while her daughter Kath will be played by Janine Teñoso, who will be making her theater debut. Unlike other jukebox musicals, Muli will feature 11 original compositions crafted specifically for the stage by Nica del Rosario, Matthew Chang, and FlipMusic, blending OPM styles spanning the ’90s to the 2000s.

When she first wrote the script, Charissa Pammit says that the characters in the original version of Muli were in their 20s, something she couldn’t relate to. “So when I was writing it, we wanted to write something that would base the truth of what millennials and Gen X are going through right now. We wanted to explore what people in their late 30s, 40s, or 50s are going through, [asking the questions] ‘What if this is the life I chose?’ ‘What if I had a different career or path?’ ‘What if this is my true self?’”

Her cowriter Jose Paolo Dela Cruz couldn’t agree more. It was different when they started the script when they were younger, but then life happened, and suddenly, they outgrew the versions of themselves who began the story in the first place. “You’ll always have this sliver of wonder of how life could be if you chose something else. And it’s not even grounded in being unhappy or happy,” he says. “While you’re alive, you just keep that sense of wonder, and I guess that’s what makes life worth living.”

To bring both the script and music to life, director Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan sees this as an opportunity to work again with the colleagues who made the success of Sa Wakas possible. He admits, however, that working on new material with the same people is both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially as the musical aims to encapsulate the voice of a generation.

“One thing that I can reveal: When Chia and Paolo were writing this show, Chia had shared that they were kind of writing it around Kakki Teodoro,” he says. Pamintuan and Teodoro have known each other since their early days in theater, with Muli marking another chapter in their shared creative journey. “To be able to work with her in developing Anita is such an exciting experience. And working with everyone here, I think I can’t ask for a better collaborator.”

The OPM musical brings together familiar names in Philippine theater, including Vien King, Marvin Ong, Justine Peña, and Marynor Madamesila. It also marks the professional theater debut of social media creator and Dog Show Diva host Baus Rufo. Muli will run from September 11 to 27 at the Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, Bonifacio Global City.