Commotion Blog

by Anna Bueno

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COMM MAJORS usually find their niche in any of these four tracks: advertising, journalism, media studies, or production. There is one more field, however, where they shine. It involves bright lights, background music, good acting, and sometimes, a standing ovation.

Indeed, for Marvin Ong—Blue Repertory’s lead actor for its upcoming play Batboy—the stage is just another medium where effective communicators can share stories and effect change. COMMotion finds out how this sophomore Comm major relates everything about theater to Comm, how music is also a language, and how he wants to inspire people through what he loves doing most.

COMMotion: How did you audition for Batboy?

Marvin Ong: At first I really didn’t want to audition, because during the first sem, I wanted to rest because I was burned out in theater. Pero my friend told me, “Uy bagay ka dun sa part. Why don’t you try?” Sabi ko, sige try ko, wala namang mawawala sa akin.

I didn’t know what to sing on the day itself, I just decided na I’d sing this song from this play called Whistle Down the Wind. I thought the song kinda sounded like a song from Batboy. I knew the director, Robby, since I was nine or ten…and I heard was he’s a perfectionist type talaga. So when I sang during auditions, di ‘ko na-notice na I was freezing. I was singing with no emotions na kasi sobrang sakit na ng katawan ko tapos parang nanginginig na ko. First time ko na-experience yun, dahil sa Batboy na yan (laughs).

C: As a course, was Comm something you’ve wanted before college?

M: My original course was Creative Writing, but then, I think I can express myself more when I talk directly to people, rather than writing. It transmits faster, of course, when you talk. Creative writing though is a private matter—ikaw lang ang makababasa. But when you talk, everybody can hear you.
I like theater. I like public speaking. So I thought, how about I’ll go to Comm? Since I have a background in theater, maybe Comm is the course for me. I like film, I like recording, tinkering with stuff…and I found out that Comm is very, very broad, in a sense na you can go to theater, you can go to newscasting, production, journalism. I love the media, so that’s why I ended up in Comm.

I chose the production track. I like to make things, and direct things. I find that production has a creative side also. For example, sa photography class ko. You learn not only how to shoot a photograph, but how to see intricate patterns, images, details, things that don’t seem beautiful in your environment. [Production] brings out and hones my creativity.

C: You sing very well. Was it something you trained for when you were a kid?

M: I wasn’t trained by my parents. I found out that I could sing when I was, like, four. We had a karaoke laser disc at home. I always put it on, and I found out na I could actually imitate yung boses ng mga kumakanta ng “I Swear.” Grade four nagstart na ako mag-Trumpets [a theater organization].

C: So you were a Trumpets member from then on?

M: Tuloy-tuloy siya hanggang grade seven or first year high school. Eventually, when I was in grade seven or grade six, Trumpets made this thing called The Playshop Kids. It’s a children’s group, like a boyband. We were composed of three boys and three girls. We had a lot of shows and we had an album out for Dunkin Donuts’ Handog Pamasko. That’s when you buy a box of 12 donuts, you get a free CD. We were the first artists to be featured in that CD.

When I got here, I really wanted to join BlueRep, but it struck me as a non-professional org at first sight. Kasi galing nga ako sa professional theater, so pagtingin ko sa Blue Rep, it was not the same.

Then they called for auditions for High School Musical. And I said, sige na, wala namang mawawala sa akin eh, I’ll give it a try, so I tried out. I was considered for Troy, but unfortunately they found me too short. They shuffled the roles around, and they found me fit to be Jack Scott—a new character in the High School Musical theater premiere.

From there I had several rackets for Blue Rep, and then I found out that, wow, this org is really professional. Slowly, you’ll love the org. There are some instances that the org that the org pushes you to the brink of you getting pissed at the org. Haha! But you’ll come back and love it. You’re tiring yourself for the love of theater. For the love of art. That is something I can’t take away from myself, because the first few good experiences in my life were found in theater.

C: As a Comm major and a member of Blue Rep, how do you relate the two?

M: Well, for one, Blue Rep has many Comm majors. I can relate to Comm kasi I’m a storyteller by nature. I grew up in theater. Theater is a form of communication. It is a way to tell a story and to deliver a message to an audience, only through different means. Through musicals, through songs, I can deliver a message. For example, in Batboy, we have the message of embracing the freak in yourself, embracing what is unique in you, even though people think you are weird.

C: What do you love most about theater?

M: I love that you can play around with it. You can be whoever you want to be sa mga roles mo. You can be a contrabida na hindi mo magagawa in real life. I can be a monster in theater. You have different choices. The limitation is only in you.

I like the musicals because I like songs, I like to sing. In my opinion, you can’t be a good singer if you don’t know how to act. Because the song itself has emotions diba? (Sings) “You’re the meaning in my life, you’re the inspiration…” kapag kinanta mo yun with a blank face, hindi maganda. So you have to act it out din. I find the singers who do this very good, especially the African-American singers. They have this thing eh, they have soul. Alicia Keys has it, Brian McKnight has it. I love the soul of theater.

Another thing I like about theater is the relationships. For example, what if I sang here in the middle of the field? Lahat ng tao diba titingin sa akin, parang, what the hell is this guy doing? In Blue Rep, you sing out loud, you do whatever you want, you’re accepted, because…it’s them. It’s our environment, the way we are. We’re very spontaneous people.

C: Can you see yourself without theater?

M: No. I cannot be Marvin Ong without theater. It’s where I grew up, since I was four. And singing has been a language to me, it’s really universal. You can touch people’s hearts with it. I like affecting people in a good way. I see music and theater as a means of inspiring other people.
This track, this course, allows you so much avenues [of expression], ang dami talagang pwedeng puntahan sa Comm. It nurtures your creativity and hones you to become a better person. And I love it because of that. COMMotion