At the Bongga Ka ’Day Gala Night, ’70s Nostalgia Comes to Life

The musical’s main cast open up about their characters and the connections they’ve found with them.

By the way everything is set up, you’ll recognize who the production has dedicated this to. Scattered disco lights illuminate the eye-catching patterned and layered fits of the attendees, or in the words of director Chris Mallado, “those who wildly populated Coco Banana in the ‘70s.”

Then again, Bongga Ka ‘Day: The Annie Batungbakal Musical isn’t just for the generations that lived through the 1970s. With its young cast and whimsical production, the musical is bound to draw in a younger audience, including those who didn’t even know what Coco Banana was.

On a Friday, the production held its gala night, which encompassed what the musical is all about: fashion, dancing, nightlife, and the liveliness of a weekend night. There is a lot of talk about how theater is so alive these days, and the thousand or so attendees who arrived at reception minutes before curtain rose proved it. With everything that has happened before and during the show, the three main cast members of Bongga Ka ‘Day share what it has been like playing their characters.

Wigs off and now in their white shirts and corduroy jackets, Sam Concepcion and KD Estrada have stepped out of their characters but still wearing the same smiles they had on stage earlier that night. That is because both actors connected with the characters they played and embodied them at some point. KD, with the long hair he sported as Burn, eventually understood why the musician character had to act the way he did. Sam, on the other hand, was buoyed by Romer’s confidence and was just glad he had the chance to be “that guy” for a couple of hours in the show.

Their connection with their characters felt natural because, beyond their personalities, the characters are also at a similar stage in life, navigating the realities of discovering themselves as young adults.

“I think a lot of, especially Annie’s, in her early 20s. A lot of people in their early 20s are sort of in their self-discovery and [even] traveling era, just finding themselves in general. And it’s nice that we get to celebrate that here in Bongga Ka ‘Day. It transcends generations in that way,” KD says. 

“Whether you’re young or old, we all just try to find the next new thing and want to belong and want to connect in that way. [That] kind of want to be validated for our talents and the things that we want to do in life,” adds Sam. 

But in the case of Atasha Muhlach, who stars in the leading role, her personal relationship with her character is a bit deeper: She relates to Annie as a dreamer, and yet she is living her dreams now. “At the end of the day, she [Annie] just wants to pursue her dreams and just reach for the stars. So for me, I feel that similarity in a way because that was just like me since I was a kid,” she says. “I’m currently living my dream now, entering showbiz. This was a dream of mine as a kid, [and now I’m performing] on the same stage where I first performed.” 

Playing their characters also means living in their world, where their connection with the other characters and actors becomes part of the experience. With big smiles, all three share what seems to be their favorite part: the relationship they’ve built with the rest of the cast.

“I’ve developed a new family and a new bond, not just with the cast members, but also with PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) and Full House Theater. With [my] mentors, so much mentorship and so many lessons [have come from] this process. I’m nothing but grateful and happy with this journey,” Atasha says. 

KD, on the other hand, may have laughed a bit because it sounds very “cheesy,” but for him, it’s the teamwork. “All of us come from such different productions. I come from showbiz, but the others, the majority, are mostly from theater,” he says. “But the beautiful thing about this show is it brought all these people together, and it created this sort of group that jives well. There have been some bumps along the way, honestly speaking, but at the end of the day, we’re all here to give this story to the masses, [and] give this story to the people.”

With the success of the show, the cast, especially Atasha, just hopes that people get to discover how timeless Manila Sound is and the beauty of disco in the ‘70s. “Keep on dreaming, chase the stars, and it’s never gonna change. Because in life, that is really your purpose.”

Bongga Ka ‘Day: The Annie Batungbakal Musical runs until October 31, 2026.