The Proscenium Theater at Rockwell (Rockwell social media)
The Bodyguard: The Musical is easily one of the most awaited performances this year—it marks the official opening of the Proscenium Theater at Rockwell Makati on Sept. 26, 2025.
It will be staged by 9 Works, featuring a stellar cast led by the Filipino-British actress Christine Allado. How did the 15-year-old theater company land the deal with Proscenium Theater?
“We were approached to be consultants. We’ve been their consultants since day one,” Robbie Guevara, founding artistic director of 9 Works Theatrical, told this writer in an interview.
9 Works Theatrical has made Rockwell Center its semi-homebase for quite some time. As early as 2009, the new kid on the block held auditions for its second musical production, Jonathan Larson’s Rent the musical, at Rockwell Dance Studio.
Its first production was Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World, a theatrical song cycle recounting a series of stories staged at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium at RCBC Plaza Building in Makati City, in May 2009. Rehearsals were held at the Rockwell Dance Studio. The production would be a foretaste of a full musical, Rent.
In February 2010, 9 Works Theatrical opened Rent at Carlos P. Romulo Theater. Since Rent had a major impact, a truly groundbreaking musical that left local audiences wanting for more, 9 Works had to restage it on a limited rerun from Dec. 8 to 12, 2010, this time at Cinema 2 of Power Plant Mall at Rockwell Center.
READ: Remembering Jonathan Larson’s struggles as ‘Rent’ is set for restaging in Manila
“That was the only production we mounted at Rockwell but later on, over the years, we conducted our summer workshops called Stage Camp at The Loft,” Santi Santamaria, 9 Works Theatrical’s managing director and executive producer, told TheDiarist.ph.
Santi Santamaria, 9Works Theatrical’s managing director and executive producer
Guevara added, “Yes. The Loft at Manansala. Our partnership (officially) started with the summer workshops with The Rockwell Club, of which I am a member. They also sponsored the use of The Loft back then. Because of that, nakilala na kami for theater and for live events in the mall and the club.”
9 Works opened the rehearsals to media. I remember interviewing Joaquin Valdes and Nikki Gil, among other theater artists, at Rockwell, for some of 9 Works Theatrical productions. Valdes and Gil top-billed 9 Works Theatrical’s The Last Five Years in 2014.
According to Guevara, 9 Works got the rights to stage The Bodyguard as early as 2019 for its 2020 season, but the pandemic happened.
Seeing the excitement over the inaugural run of The Bodyguard, we asked Guevara if 9 Works Theatrical will eventually stage at Proscenium Liwanag sa Dilim (LSD), an original musical featuring the songs of Rico Blanco.
READ: The cast lights up Liwanag sa Dilim
Yes, Guevara was happy to say. LSD was a blockbuster, mixed reviews notwithstanding. It had 36 shows from March 7 to May 4 this year at the 450-seat CPR Auditorium. The 780-plus-seat Proscenium Theater can accommodate more.
Will The Proscenium Theater be 9 Works’ official home? “Pwede, but Proscenium must be open to all companies, not just theater,” Guevara said.
To paraphrase lines from Rico Blanco’s Your Universe, with The Bodyguard opening in the newest performance venue, you can say others “can thank their stars all they want, but 9 Works Theatrical will always be the lucky one.”
9 Works Theatrical’s sister company, Sandbox Collective, posted on social media a photo of Sideshow cast with the caption: “Missing the Woods? Find the Swamp a bit far away? Can’t find Wonderland? You can always come look at the freaks!”
That’s referring to the sold-out shows of the ongoing Into The Woods at Samsung Performing Arts Theater, the Shrek the Musical at Newport Performing Arts Theater to be staged in October, and Alice in Wonderland at Repertory Eastwood Theater end of August.
John Joven Uy, a cast member of The Bodyguard, posted a comment, “You might need a Bodyguard soon!”
