On Cornerstone Entertainment’s Instagram account, the local multimedia entertainment agency gave a first look at Piolo Pascual’s costume for his upcoming musical Ibarra where he plays the title role. They also showed the look of his soap opera singer co-star who will be playing the role of Maria Clara. In their post last March 1, they wrote, “Isang pasilip kay Piolo Pascual bilang Ibarra sa paparating na musical. 📸 Makakatambalan niya ang opera singer na si Myramae Meneses na gaganap bilang Maria Clara.”

On the opera singer’s Instagram account, Myramae revealed that this was not her first time to work with Piolo. She wrote, “Welcome @piolo_pascual to our Tanghalang Una Obra Family!

‘Kanser: The Musical’, now ‘Ibarra’.

“Thank you for always believing in me and trusting me with this role, Direk Frannie Zamora! 🌺 Thank you Sir Joed Balsamo for sharing with us once again your music! And thank you so much to Sir Jomar for always guiding us to always be truthful to the story.

Other members of the cast of Ibarra include theater veteran Carla Guevarra, classical singer Roby Malubay, and actor-director Jeffrey Hidalgo, who also shared some behind-the-scenes photos from a recent cast pictorial. “Ibarra and Elias #ibarra2023 coming this June. #musicaltheatre Back on stage after a decade.

Piolo plays the role of titular character Crisostomo Ibarra in Ibarra, a musical based on national hero Jose Rizal’s classic novel Noli Me Tangere. In an interview with ABS-CBN News during the Ibarra presscon, Piolo shared, “I'm just really excited to do this role. It's a dream come true for me. Back in high school, I saw this play in FEU. I also taught 'Noli Me Tangere' in high school during the Filipino week. (This is) coming in full circle for me because this is one of my favorite books. To be given a chance to play the most coveted role of Ibarra is really something significant for me. We all know this ignited the revolution during the 1896 Philippine revolution.”

Ibarra opens this coming June at the GSIS Theater in Pasay City, Manila and is staged by Tanghalang Una Obra.