Philippine culture takes the spotlight in a musical staged at the JFK Center in Washington, D.C. Monica Galozo tells us about "The Mortification of Fovea Munson." #TFCNews Like and follow TFC News Facebook: https://facebook.com/TFCNewsNow Twitter: https://twitter.com/TFCNewsNow Website: https://mytfc.com/news News website: https://news.abs-cbn.com/tfcnews Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! - http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews Watch full episodes on iWantTFC for FREE here: http://iwanttfc.com Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS Twitter: https://twitter.com/abscbnnews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abscbnnews #TFC #TheFilipinoChannel #TFCNewsWahington #ABSCBNNews #TVPatrol #KennedyCenter #TheMortificationOfFoveaMunson

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Discovering one's roots, acceptance, finding one's path, and death.

These are just some of the themes highlighted in the musical The Mortification of Phobia Munson.

Based on the novel by Mary Wynne Heider, it's the first Filipino-centered musical,

staged at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., which ran from March 5 to 19.

The musical is about a girl named Phobia who's trying to find her way in the world

as after she was stuck working at her parents' cadaver lab.

M. Graham Smith breathes life into the novel, music and lyrics by Justin Huertas,

music direction and arrangement orchestrations by Stephen Tran, and choreography by Ashley King.

Kennedy Center is producing, they have produced it, and that's a really big deal

because the Kennedy Center doesn't produce many plays.

The musical is headlined mainly by Filipino talents like Justine Moral, who plays Phobia,

and Regina Aquino, who plays Phobia's mom and Lola Van.

Twelve years old and doesn't know what she wants to do yet with her life, right?

But there's this pressure from her parents to become a doctor.

Aquino is the first Filipino to win the prestigious Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a play in 2019.

She shares the Filipino identity of the musical's main character, Phobia, is more subtle in the book instead of being upfront.

However, what brings out her identity were the songs and inputs from Filipinos involved in the musical.

Meanwhile, Lola Van is an immigrant whose character is being enlivened through the different Filipino customs like mano.

It's really interesting how the Filipino identity becomes enlivened throughout this book,

more and more throughout the process, as they brought in Filipino actors and a Filipino dramaturg.

The cast and crew of The Mortification of Phobia Munson are also mainly Filipinos and Filipino-Americans.

Moral hopes to see more theatrical work led by Filipino artists and more stories about Filipino culture portrayed on stage.

In the musical, Phobia explores her roots through Lola Van, whose journey in the story somewhat parallels that of her grandchild.

Phobia is discovering what she wants to do in her life and what she wants to become while trying to connect her with grandmother's ancestry.

She starts to explore her connection with her Lola Van and asks her to teach me more about the Philippines and teach me more about our culture

because I think she doesn't get that from her mom.

Both Filipino-American stage actors hope that the story of Phobia will inspire different generations of Filipinos in the U.S.

to embrace and love who they are and where they come from.

It's that realization that all the things that might be weird about me might also be what is cool about me too.

The Mortification of Phobia Munson musical opened full house on March 4th and concluded on the 19th.

Monica Galazo, ABS-CBN News, Washington, D.C.

For the love of God.