GALLERY
A modern inspired-by-a-true-story of Filipino inmates dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” that launched one of the world’s first viral YouTube videos in 2007, this award-winning musical created by Filipinos Romeo Candido and Carmen De Jesus comes on the heels of Asian Pacific Islander stories increasingly finding their rightful place on global stages and screens.
With its powerful fusion of pop, house, R&B and emotional ballads, Prison Dancer is a story of redemption and how a prisoner named Lola brings purpose and joy to a group of inmates through song and dance. The musical is being shepherded on its Broadway-bound journey by four-time Tony Award® recipient, producer Jonathan Reinis, who joins producers Ana Serrano, Carla Serrano and Hillary Reinis in mounting this show.
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MANILA, PHILIPPINES
June 20, 2026
(prisondancermusical.com)
After its sold-out run at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, Prison Dancer: The Musical is coming home to Manila for a special presentation at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
This uniquely Filipino story joins the 21st Virgin Labfest, presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Tangtransmediaipino Foundation Inc., and Writers Bloc, the festival features 12 new one-act plays by emerging and returning playwrights, exploring identity, memory, and vulnerability while championing untried and unstaged works.
“We’re bringing this story back to its origins, where it needs no cultural translation,” said Carmen Leilani De Jesus, co-creator and playwright. “Since our first performances in 2010, this show has connected Filipinos around the world and become a platform for the triple-threat, world-class talent of Filipino artists.”
Created by Romeo Candido (composer/lyricist/book/director) and Carmen Leilani De Jesus (book), Prison Dancer is a transmedia property spanning a musical web series, hybrid screenings, workshops, and fully mounted stage productions. The Virgin Labfest run marks its first performance outside North America—and its first in the Philippines.
”It is not lost on me at how meaningful it is to present at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, literally the epicentre for Filipino artistry and culture here in Manila as part of VLF 21,” says Romeo Candido, who is an Emmy-nominated director, writer, composer, and CSA-winning producer whose dynamic career spans film, television, theatre, and music.
Prison Dancer Inc. production received support from the National Arts Centre’s National Creation Fund and from Prison Dancer’s Tita and Tito Circle – Gail Asper, Vicenta Gaspar-Yoo, Jennifer Ouano and Jonathan and Hillary Reinis.