Galerie Joaquin's Jack Teotico finds 'Silver Lining' in semi-autobiographical musical

"Silver Lining" tells the story of high school friends Leo, Anton, and Raul—now seniors—across two timelines.

- By NATHALIE M. TOMADA

Galerie Joaquin's Jack Teotico has found his own "silver lining" as the man behind the music and lyrics of the semi-autobiographical musical "Silver Lining Redux."

The show starts off with Leo planning an "en grande" musical involving his longtime friends and bandmates from high school for their alumni homecoming. They revisit their youthful experiences, from interschool and fraternity conflicts to teen romances, soirees, and "bakuran" days, all set against the turbulent backdrop of the '70s.

Interestingly, it was Teotico's real high school reunion that inspired the idea for this musical.

"'Silver Lining' is semi-autobiographical," Teotico told The STAR. "(The interest in music) started when we were in high school at La Salle Green Hills (LSGH). At that time, if you knew how to play the guitar, medyo may puntos ka na. So nagi-gitara ako. I've always kind of (done) music."

"And then we've been in the art business for 20-plus years, almost three decades now, with the group called Galerie Joaquin Collective. We've been exposed to visual art—paintings and sculpture."

From the arts scene, Teotico would find himself in the world of musical theater following the Golden Jubilee homecoming of his LSGH batch in 2022.

Before the reunion, he and some batchmates decided to form a band. "We wanted to sing at the homecoming," he shared. "We presented the idea to have a different format for the homecoming."

After rehearsing for almost four years, they ended up being allowed to perform just three songs at the homecoming as others also formed their own bands. Wanting to play more, this inspired Rockitwell, as they eventually called their band, to perform in other venues like 12 Monkeys, Red Rhino, and RJ Bistro, among others.