‘Sol The Musical’ opens at Vallejo’s Mira Theatre with a message of resilience and forgiveness

VALLEJO — “Sol the Musical,” which opens at the Mira Theatre on Friday, tells a story of immigration, family separation, and resilience through fully choreographed songs that blend 80s-inspired sounds and rich folk-Spanish musical influences. 

The play, set in the late 1980s, follows the journey of Marisol, an aspiring Filipina fashion designer with dreams of going to America. At age 18 she is told that the father she thought was dead had actually joined the U.S. Navy, and is alive and living in Southern California..

The play is the brainchild of Charlene “Cher” Alberto, who along with four other members of the Sol production team, worked together in the drama department at Hogan High School. When Hogan’s drama department budget was cut in 2002, Alberto and her friends took on the task of putting on a Broadway review by themselves. They were able to use the Hogan stage, but held auditions in the hallways.

“That was the year of 9/11. We did a whole tribute. We end up borrowing the fire station flag, and we created this whole thing, and people were crying in the audience,” Alberto said. “It was a very special theater moment. And so we're here now in our early 40s, doing this together.”

The all-original score was written by Alberto and her childhood friend Melody Habib. Habib plays keyboards in the orchestra pit along with musical director Allen Del Rosario, a Berklee College of Music graduate and member of the original Hogan drama team.

Alberto said she originally based her play on Madonna’s music, which she was unable to license, so she had to rewrite the whole play from scratch. “I love that even more,” she said, “because every song that you heard was all original music that I wrote.” 

One element of Madonna’s music did make it into the final play is the mention of a town named San Pedro. Alberto discovered a town in the Philippines called San Pedro. “Even better, I can include my culture,” Alberto said. She interviewed her uncles who were in the Navy and added elements to create a universal story that others could relate to, like growing up without one parent. 

The play employs unusual 3-D digital videos created by Jonjon Umbao. These are projected onto a white curtain and take the audience on cross-town transitions between set changes. Alberto said she hopes one day to take the play to a bigger stage in San Francisco, where those graphics can be shown on an LED background screen.

When asked if the play carries a timely message about immigration, Alberto said yes. “It goes back to the theme song of ‘One Love Under the Sun,’” she said. “It doesn't matter where you're from. We're all one human race, and that's what I wanted people to leave with.”

The play is directed by award winning filmmaker Ara Chawdhury and presented by Chocolate Rainbow Productions. It opens  on Friday and runs through Oct. 26, with a 7:30 p.m. curtain on Fridays and Saturdays, and Sundays curtain at 4 p.m. General Admission is $35.