The Guilty Ones are here!
Philippine theater company The Sandbox Collective has revealed the full cast of its upcoming production of Spring Awakening.
The line-up features both emerging performers and established names from the local theater scene.
The Tony Award-winning coming-of-age rock musical draws from Frank Wedekind’s 1891 German play of the same name.
The story follows teenagers as they discover love, desire and sexual awakening in a repressive society.
New generation of Philippine theater
The new staging will put a spotlight on emerging talents in Philippine theater.
Alex Diaz and Nacho Tambunting will share the role of Melchior Gabor. The intelligent and radical schoolboy falls in love with Wendla Bergmann.
Diaz is best known for playing Chris Abueva in Barefoot Theatre Collaborative’s Bar Boys: The Musical.
Meanwhile, Tambunting built his career both in the Philippines and overseas. He originated the title role in Felix Starro.
He also appeared in television and film projects such as NBC’s Rise and Asian Persuasion.
Sheena Belarmino will play Wendla. The shy but curious character develops a relationship with Melchior.
Belarmino recently appeared in The Sandbox Collective’s Next to Normal as Natalie Goodman.
She also played Tricia in PETA’s One More Chance.
Theater legends
Long-time Filipino theater fans will also once again witness some of the industry’s established names, including Menchu Lauchengo-Yulo (‘Evita’, ‘Les Miserables’) and Ana Abad Santos (‘A Streetcar Named Desire’, ‘Portrait of the Artist as Filipino’), who will alternate in the role of Adult Woman.
Award-winning actor Audie Gemora will take on the role of Male Adult.
Among his several accolades is Best Performance as Male Lead in a Musical at the 2010 Gawad Philstage for his performance in ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’.
The Sandbox Collective’s ‘Spring Awakening’ will be directed by Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan, with musical direction by Ejay Yatco.
When will the show open?
‘Spring Awakening’ will open on February 13, 2026, at The Black Box at the Proscenium Theater, Rockwell in Makati City.
Tickets start at PHP2,900, which are now available for sale on Ticket2Me.
With music by Duncan Sheik, and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, ‘Spring Awakening’ first debuted off-Broadway before the original Broadway production opened on December 10, 2006.
Its cast included Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele and John Gallagher Jr.
It went on to win eight Tony Awards, including for Best Musical, Direction, Book, Score and Featured Actor. The original cast album also garnered a Grammy Award.
Deaf West Theatre staged a revival in 2015, which featured many deaf actors using American Sign Language.
Directed by Michael Arden, the production bagged three Tony Award nominations.
In the Philippines, ‘Spring Awakening’ was staged twice – in 2009 by Atlantis Productions and in 2019 by the Ateneo Blue Repertory.
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