Review: The Bluebird of Happiness

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Manila, Philippines, October 4, 2013. A long-delayed follow-up to 2009’s N.O.A.H. (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat), Trumpets’ new production “The Bluebird of Happiness,” a musical adaptation of Maurice Maeterlinck’s play of the same name, featuring music by Rony Fortich and book and lyrics by Jaime del Mundo, tells a story set on Christmas Eve, at the height of the frustration of siblings Mytyl and Tyltyl over not having the material things they think would make their lives better. It is a scene that is familiar not only among children but even adults. Mytyl and Tyltyl’s frustration is a reminder of lives that are driven by making ends meet or by achieving material wants that makes us lose sight of the very things that should have made us happy in the first place.

In the season of giving, it is ironic that this is also the time when people’s discontent and despair seem to manifest the most. And as these kids go on a quest to find true happiness through past and future, through greed and luxury, and through darkness and light, we go along with them realizing our own penchant for always wanting more than what we have. Through wondrous music and a spectacular production, “The Bluebird of Happiness” reconnects us with simple joys that provide more meaning in our lives than any material possession can offer.

Armed with strange but fascinating milieu designed by Mio Infante, captivating songs by Fortich and an impeccable ensemble of actors, “The Bluebird of Happiness,” directed by del Mundo, paints a vivid picture of self-realization and selfless fulfillment. And while its book and lyrics often feel the need to explain what is going on–as the material is targeted mostly to children–it makes it no less of a triumph for Christian theater company Trumpets and no less grand as far as comebacks are concerned.