Nonie Buencamino Returns to Musical Theater in REP’s Man of La Mancha This June
What to know: Repertory Philippines stages Man of La Mancha from June 5 to 28, 2026 at the REP Eastwood Theater in Quezon City.
Why it matters: The production marks Nonie Buencamino’s return to musical theater as Alonso Quijano / Don Quixote, with Nelsito Gomez directing the classic musical for a new generation of Manila theatergoers.
Some stories survive because they are beautiful. Man of La Mancha survives because it dares to make beauty difficult.
This June, Repertory Philippines brings the classic musical back to the Manila stage with Nonie Buencamino returning to musical theater as Alonso Quijano / Don Quixote, a man who insists on seeing honor, justice, and hope in a world that has learned to mistake cynicism for wisdom.
Running for only four weekends from June 5 to 28, 2026 at the REP Eastwood Theater in Eastwood City Walk 2, Quezon City, REP’s new staging of Man of La Mancha is directed by Nelsito Gomez, whose work has often brought a fresh, contemporary eye to literary and theatrical classics.
At the center of the musical is a simple but dangerous act: a man chooses imagination when the world offers him only confinement.
Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, Man of La Mancha follows a fictionalized Cervantes, imprisoned during the Spanish Inquisition, as he defends himself before his fellow prisoners by transforming into Don Quixote. In that act of storytelling, a dungeon becomes a stage, a trial becomes a performance, and despair is forced to make room for belief.
That is what makes the musical endure beyond its most famous song. Man of La Mancha is not simply about dreaming. It is about the cost of dreaming when the world has already decided that dreams are foolish.
Buencamino leads the REP production as Alonso Quijano and Don Quixote, marking what the company describes as his grand comeback into musicals. Known for his wide-ranging work across film, television, and theater, Buencamino steps into one of musical theater’s most enduring roles: the dreamer who insists that dignity can still exist in a brutal world.
He is joined by Katrine Sunga as Aldonza, Don Quixote’s muse, and Marvin Ong as Sancho Panza, the loyal and witty squire who follows the impossible knight through his strange, stubborn vision of the world. Together, they form the emotional triangle that gives Man of La Mancha its ache: the dreamer, the doubter, and the woman asked to see herself through kinder eyes.
The cast also includes Tarek El Tayech as Governor / Innkeeper, Alfredo Reyes as Duke / Carrasco, Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante as Antonia, Sarah Facuri as Housekeeper, Steven Hotchkiss as Padre, Julio Laforteza as Pedro / Male Dancer, Dippy Arceo as Jose, Jasper Jimenez as Juan / Barber, Ralph Oliva as Paco, Khalil Tambio as Anselmo, Liway Perez as Maria / Female Dancer, and Rafa Sumilong as Captain. JV Fulgencio joins the cast as Male Swing, with Aly Wijangco as Female Swing.
Behind the production are Farley Asuncion as musical director, Arman Ferrer as vocal coach, Jim Ferrer as choreographer, Julio Garcia as set and props designer, Hershee Tantiado as costume designer, Kabaitan Bautista as sound designer, and D Cortezano as lighting designer and technical director.
A classic returns to REP
For REP, this return also carries the weight of history. The company previously staged Man of La Mancha in 1987 at the Insular Life Theater and in 2005 at Onstage Greenbelt. Its 2026 staging brings the musical into a different Manila theater moment, one where audiences have become more alert to why certain classics return, and what they still have to say when they do.
With book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion, Man of La Mancha premiered on Broadway in 1965 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Its signature song, “The Impossible Dream,” has become one of musical theater’s most recognizable anthems of hope, joined in the score by songs such as “Dulcinea,” “I, Don Quixote,” and “I’m Only Thinking of Him.”
But the power of The Impossible Dream has never only been in the uplift. It works because the musical understands the darkness around it. The song does not float above suffering. It rises from inside it.
That may be why Man of La Mancha continues to feel urgent. It does not ask audiences to ignore cruelty, fear, humiliation, or defeat. It asks something more difficult: whether imagination can still matter after all of that has been seen clearly.
Whether beauty is still worth choosing when it can be mocked.
Whether dignity is still possible when the world keeps stripping people of it.
Whether hope is still hope if it has to limp its way forward.
In a time when cynicism can feel like intelligence and tenderness can feel like risk, Don Quixote’s impossible dream becomes less like escapism and more like resistance. He is not powerful because he sees the world accurately. He is powerful because he refuses to let the world’s cruelty have the final word.
REP President and CEO Mindy Perez-Rubio describes the production as one that remains close to her heart, calling Man of La Mancha one of her all-time favorite musicals.
She notes that in a moment when it is easy to grow weary or guarded, Don Quixote invites audiences to hold fast to courage, imagination, and the possibility of something better.
That possibility is what REP’s staging now brings back to the stage. Not as nostalgia alone, and not simply as a familiar title, but as a question waiting in the dark of the theater.
What do we still dare to believe?
REP’s Man of La Mancha: show details
Run: June 5 to 28, 2026
Venue: REP Eastwood Theater, Eastwood City Walk 2, Quezon City
Tickets: ₱3,000 for Orchestra Center and ₱2,500 for Orchestra Side
Booking: Tickets are available through TicketWorld and Ticket2Me.
Special rates: Megaworld Titanium VIPs may check VIP rates. Eastwood residents, tenants, and employees may claim their discount at the REP Box Office, located at 4F Eastwood Mall near SuperPark and Red Mango.
In the end, the impossible dream may not be about winning.
It may be about continuing to reach, even after the world has laughed, even after the dungeon door has closed, even after everyone else has forgotten how to imagine the sky.
For updates and show schedules, visit Repertory Philippines, or follow @repertoryphilippines on Facebook and Instagram.