Lean, The Recording Soundtrack

Baby A. Gil, Sounds Familiar
The Philippine Star

4Sep98 Entertainment p.26

Gary Granada has already accomplished many remarkable things in his life. That song Nang Maging Champion ang Ginebra already assures him a place in both sports and music history. Doubtless, there will always be some information campaign or commemoration of an important event that can make use of his inspiring Tagumpay Nating Lahat. And there are his song festival winners like Mabuti Pa Sila, Salamat Musika and Kahit Konti.
      Now, while songs like those are already assured of immortality I hope that generations to come will also set aside an exulted place for what I believe is Granada's greatest work to date. This is Lean, the musical based on the life of martyred youth leader Leandro Alejandro and for which Gary wrote both the book and the music. This was first staged by the Leandro Alejandro Foundation at the University Theater of the University of the Philippines in September 1997.
      The Filipino's flair for music is legendary. Name a music form and you can bet that the Pinoy will take it and shape it into something all his very own. But for a race steeped in zarzuelas and moro-moros and Hollywood movies, the musical stage is something that we still have to conquer. Sure, there have been a lot of noteworthy attempts in the past but they only seem to dazzle for a few weekends and are then consigned to oblivion until somebody remembers them and initiates a revival.
      Hopefully, Granada's Lean will change that. It is about a period in our history that we are all familiar with and while fictionalized in some instances, so are the characters and the places in the story. The language used is definitely of our time. I detect the influence of early Andrew Lloyd Webber in some songs but that can only be because Webber wrote rock operas and Lean is a rock opera. All in all, the music is rock of a very wide range, not much different from what we hear on the radio and in the albums we buy. This is also a musical that small theater groups can easily mount and they should be encouraged to do so. At last, here is something else young theater buffs can do aside from Broadway.
      The narrative takes us through Lean's social awakening while a student at UP and continues on to his rise as campus activist, his growing prominence in national politics, his incarceration and his tragic death from the gun of an assassin. As his life unfolds we take our own trip back to the past. Marcos in Malacaņang, Ninoy Aquino's death, the Snap Elections, People Power at EDSA, Cory Aquino, the massacre at Mendiola. And we hear those near forgotten words and names again. Aktibista, rally, demo, kapit-bisig, makibaka, huwag matakot, arbitrary detention, Ka Tanny, Pepe Diokno, Cory, Lando Olalia, Eman Lacaba, political detainees, mandaraya, sinungaling, manlilinlang, tuloy ang laban para sa sambayanan.
      While every song is an integral part of the story, these were all written with an eye towards easily accessible melodies and simple everyday lyrics. It takes a hitmaker to make hits and that is just what Gary did with Lean. The love song Paano Mahalin ang Katulad Mo, based on a poem Lean wrote for his wife Liddy is particularly poignant. Burgis and Yellow Fever show his sense of humor. And because he is also an excellent story teller, recent history has never been as easy to digest as it is in this musical. We re-experience the turbulent 80's with spirited compositions like Sa Mendiola, Inang Bayan and Makibaka, Huwag Matakot. Very emotionally stirring even for non UP students, if albeit rather militant, is the adaptation of U.P Naming Mahal.
      Of tremendous help in realizing Granada's vision of Lean is the talented cast of players. Nothing beats listening to performances such as these if you want to get that proud to be Filipino feeling. The voices in this soundtrack album of Lean are Chickoy Pura of The Jerks in the title role; Bayang Barrios as his wife Liddy, plus Odel Hernandez, QT Paduano, Sylvia Garde, Noel Cabangon, Jet Melencio, Bodgie Pascua, Buddy Caramat, Jay Cruz, Connie Chua and Geraldine Malacanan in the main cast (Please read site editor's notes). The music is performed by Granada himself on acoustic guitar; Mike Villegas of the Rizal Underground on electric guitar; Angelo Villegas also of Rizal on bass; and Neil Baruelo of Spiral Music on drums.
      Take note that given the fact that most record companies are not that enthusiastic about soundtrack albums of Filipino musicals, Granada produced Lean on his own. He used the prize money he won for his song Mabuti Pa Sila in the 1998 Metropop competition. Just goes to show how far this guy will go for his music.
      Don't pass up on this one.

GG note: Cooky Chua played Lidy in the musical.  Bayang Barrios recorded Lidy's parts (i.e., aside from Bobby's) in the soundtrack on cassette tapes, as BMG would not grant courtesy to use Cooky Chua's voice. The CD version, however, features Cooky Chua as Lidy after her contract with BMG expired.  In other words, it's a hopeless world.