COLMA: THE MUSICAL / Richard Wong (2006)
August 24th, 2007 by Scott Marks
COLMA: THE MUSICAL (2006)
Directed by Richard Wong
Written by H. P. Mendoza
Starring: Jake Moreno, L. A. Renigen, H. P. Mendoza & Sigrid Sutter
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Rating: 
Colma: the Musical is to Colma the city what Midnight Express was to Turkey. After this hits multiplexes, the local Chamber of Commerce should not to expect to see a spike in Bay Area tourism.
If you live in Colma, CA, the “graveyard capital of the world” where the dead outnumber the living 1,500 to 1, there isn’t a whole hell of a lot to do but sing the blues. Might as well get it out on paper, write a catchy set of tunes and transform your hell into what could be the sharpest low-budget musical since Edgar G. Ulmer left PRC.
That’s exactly what screenwriter/lyricist (and lead actor) H. P. Mendoza did. The material was originally conceived as an indie pop album for a San Francisco stage show. Mendoza sent his friend Richard Wong a song asking whether it was worthy of a posting on his MySpace account.
Wong was so impressed, the tune instantly inspired him to use it as a catalyst for his feature film debut. In a week, Mendoza assembled a first draft and as “a sort of hopelessly romantic summer project,” Wong cobbled together $15,000 to film this bouncy, poison pen love letter to the city that spawned him.
The story is familiar; three friends manage to escape high school only to be held prisoner by their home town. Billy (Jake Moreno) is stuck in a mall job with a hilarious oddball boss played by Paul Kolsanoff. The aspiring young actor gets his first sense of what life outside of Colma must be like when he’s cast in a local play. He also falls for his leading lady (Sigrid Sutter).
Maribel (L. A. Renigen) is as extroverted as they get. She is Colma’s barometer of hip, always on the lookout for the “in” parties, particularly those she can crash. When the trios’ friendship gets put to the test, it is Maribel who holds them together.
Rodel (Mendoza) carries the most baggage. With his older brother in jail, Rodel’s steely father expects him to assume the position of #1 Son. Rodell isn’t there yet, and the fact that he is gay remains the best kept secret around the house. It also becomes a source of unnecessary melodrama, the film’s only disruption.
If you’re not hooked after the opening song, check your pulse. Wong keeps it lively without relying on machine gun edits or numbers bunched together, two of the most common blunders found in contemporary musicals. Almost all of the 13 original compositions are memorable and for the first time in I don’t know how long, I actually exited a theater humming the title tune!
While none of the leads could get arrested as singers, they make the material work in spite of their vocal limitations. At one point, when Ms. Renigen hits and sustains a 30-second High C ‘C’ word, I thought I was watching Colonna: the Musical.
Technically, Colma: the Musical has its local premiere almost a year ago at the San Diego Asian Film Festival and it’s great to see it break free from the festival circuit in hopes of gathering a larger following.
Who would have thought that the musical, a once revered cinematic staple that MTV reduced to box office anathema, would return triumphant in the midst of an otherwise lethal summer season? With Once, Hairspray and now Colma: the Musical, audiences finally have something to sing about.
Tags: COLMA THE MUSICAL, H. P. Mendoza, Jake Moreno, L. A. Renigen, Movie Review, Sigrid SutterShare: 
Filed Under Reviews, Theatrical
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