Jon Santos returns to theater with ‘Bawat Bonggang Bagay’ rerun, ‘Side Show’

Jon Santos. Images: Courtesy of The Sandbox Collective

Jon Santos is making a splash in theater as he will reprise his character in Guelan Luarca’s “Bawat Bonggang Bagay” and will star as The Boss in “Side Show: The Musical,” set to be staged in June and July, respectively.

Santos’ casting was announced by the theater production company The Sandbox Collective in a press statement, while celebrating the actor-comedian’s upcoming stints as a “bonggang pagbabalik (explosive comeback) for Pride Month.

“Bawat Bonggang Bagay,” a translation of Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s “Every Brilliant Thing,” is a one-act play that tells the story of an unnamed protagonist coming to terms with his mother’s chronic depression and her attempts to take her own life.

One of the play’s highlights is Santos randomly choosing an audience member to read an important monologue, while the actor has the freedom to work around with them, as long as it suits his character.

According to Sandbox, the upcoming staging of “Bawat Bonggang Bagay” marks Santos’ fourth time to take on the character.

Meanwhile, the Bill Russell and Henry Krieger-helmed “Side Show: The Musical” features Santos as The Boss, the ringmaster who takes the audience into his “magical sideshow,” his own iteration of a circus.

The circus features five central attractions dubbed as the “freaks”: a bearded lady, a so-called “Cannibal King,” a seraglio of a Hashemite sheik, a geek, and the Siamese twins.

“Bawat Bonggang Bagay” will be staged at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater from June 14 to 22. On the other hand, “Side Show: The Musical” will run from July 26 to August 17 in the same venue.