You know you are visiting a Filipino American family if there is chicken adobo on the dinner table, a karaoke sing-along after or a Santo Niño or The Last Supper image somewhere. "God Will Do the Rest," a play written by Nicholas Pilapil and directed by Fran de Leon, is about a multigenerational Filipino American household that is warm and funny. "Each of the characters has to navigate balancing their lives with love and duty to family.
Like most immigrants, Filipinos come to this country looking for a better life — but sometimes they have other, unspoken reasons. It's not part of our culture to talk openly about things. I wanted to paint a picture of what life could be like if a family threw everything on the table, no holds barred," described playwright Pilapil who is known for such plays as "The Bottoming Process" and "If All That You Take From This Is Courage, Then I've No Regrets.
" It features some of the top Fil-Am actors in the industry like Reggie Lee (who portrays the father, Ferdie de Dios), Ellen D. Williams (who portrays the eldest daughter, a former teen mom and the black sheep of the family, Connie) and Jason Rogel (who portrays the over-the-top Babette). Others in the cast include Rinabeth Apostol (the strong, glamorous family matriarch Maggie), Ryan Nebreja (the aspiring chef son Tanner), Josette Canilao (the youngest daughter Fritzie), and Josh Odsess-Rubin (a real estate agent and Jewish fiancé of Fritzie, Nate).
We were able to virtually interview Lee.