That's what it's all about!

Trish and I watched the press run of Rivalry: Ateneo - La Salle The Musical last night at the Meralco Theater. Upon entering the Lopez building lobby, you could already pinpoint which ones were La Sallians and which ones were Ateneans. La Sallians just had to come in green. Not La Salle shirts or anything literal. They - which includes me - were just in green. Ateneans...well, they had this "air" to them and I think we all know what I'm talking about and no, I'm not trying to pick a fight. Let's put it this way: Atom Araullo's father (who happens to be an Atenean) said in the press con that they walk like they have apples stuck in their underarms.

Anyway, upon entering the theater, I already noticed how the set looked like and immediately thought "Sound of Music's was..." and then stopped. Tried my best to take my mind off the production of The Sound of Music - which was extravagantly done, by the way - to appreciate the minimalist approach to theater design by this musical. Got over it a few minutes before the show started. Thank you, PSI.

The show was great! I am not just saying that because I am a La Sallian. I am saying that because you'd get to see and experience how intense it is to be a part of these two communities come UAAP season, or in this play's case, the NCAA (FYI to those who don't know, La Salle and Ateneo were originally part of the NCAA).

Photo taken from Athena Tibi's Facebook page.

The cast is superb! I especially like the Tommy character (naturally) because he is the La Sallian and I love his personality in the play. Plus, I love the fact that his hands are always tucked to the pockets of his jacket like that. I have this prejudice that all La Salle varsity players do this. Hee.  I don't know who exactly is the one portraying Tommy but what I do know is he's an Atenean. To be honest, he made a convincing La Sallian.

The Knoller in the red cardigan, Reena, is the lead female role and she is my high school bud, Athena. We sat next to each other during the entrance exam and since then, even if she didn't pursue studying in St. Paul, we still don't forget to add one another in all social networking platforms. She did great considering this is her first lead theater role. One of the press people even commended her performance.

Obviously, I won't spill all the details here but I'll say this: I was kinda hoping that they'd end up together but they don't.

Anyway, the second half of the play was where they spilled the beans on how the rivalry started. Was about to tell Trish "Ah, ganun pala yun..." when I saw that she was asleep. Yes, she chose to sleep that very moment when one of the characters was explaining how the feud started. Galing ng timing mo, iha.

You'd feel the school pride after the play. You can feel it from the La Sallians, the Ateneans and the Iskolars.

If you want to know "what it's all about" and why UP is suddenly mentioned here, you'd have to watch Rivalry. Here are the ticket details (available at Ticket World) once again:

Orchestra Center P1,699.50 

Orchestra Side P1,339.00 

Loge-A P1,030.00 

Loge-B P978.50 

Balcony-A P824.00 

Balcony-B P618.00

Rivalry will run shows starting today until March 11, 2012 at the Meralco Theater with 8pm shows from Wednesday til Saturday and 3pm shows during the weekends.

This is one helluva show. Don't miss it.





Now, who wants to give me tickets to the PBA Ateneo-La Salle dream game on February 5?