Dolly Lulu’s Lyric and Beat conjures its beauty from its lively, youthful, and heartwarming demonstration of how powerful dreams are.
Actors: Andrea Brillantes, Seth Fedelin, Kyle Echarri, Darren Espanto, AC Bonifacio, Awra Briguela,Jeremy Glinoga, Angela Ken, Agot isidro, Lito Pimentel, Nyoy Volante, Jett Pangan, Joel Saracho, Alora Sasam, Pinky Amador, Gian Maggdangal, Brian Sy, Rocco Sanchez
Genre: Youth, Drama, Musical
Premise: As she enters a prestigious conservatory, an aspiring singer joins the underdog show choir to try and make it to the nationals. But the journey to the top is steep, and she must go all out with her group to prevent her dream from fizzling out. (iWantTFC)
Director: Dolly Dulu
Running Time: 35 minutes
Watch it on: iWantTFC
Why You Should see It:
Brimming with important life lessons and motivating messages, Lyric and Beat is a heartwarming and breezy web series about a group of teens trying to reach their dreams in music. The series focuses its lens on the titular characters, Lyric (Andrea Briilantes) and Beat (Seth Fedelin), who discover their mutual love for music and performing when they both got admitted to the Philippine National Conservatory of Music (PNCM).
Lyric, a character perfectly designed to capture hearts, could be a bore sometimes, given its very familiar assets. She comes from a family that is burdened by finances; his father could not send her to the school of her choice, and she has to accept several gigs to earn money. Beat, on the other hand, comes from a well-off family; in fact, his father sits on PNCM’s board of directors, and he does not have to exert much effort to get into the prestigious school, although he knows that he certainly did.
Lyric and Beat is a musical drama, and much of its grace and spunk emanate from its beautiful sing-and-dance numbers, which are lively, vibrant, and awe-inspiring. It helps that the series makes use of Jonathan Manalo’s extensive discography, as it allows the already strong and moving sentiments of his songs, to blend beautifully with the performances. But then, as Lyric and Beat remain a drama, the power truly comes from the magnificent and moving portrayals of the young actors. Having paired up in the past for a couple of projects, already, it is not surprising that Fedelin and Brillantes quickly find their chemistry, and make it more solid as early as the third episode.
The series also finds strong support performances from the other young members of the cast, including Darren Espanro, Sheena Belarmino, and AC Bonifacio. Agot Isidro and Lito Pimentel form the more senior part of the show’s talented roster, and it does not surprise that they have so far pulled off powerful performances. Here, Pimentel plays a loving father, who is only adamant about letting his daughter fly, because of what happened to her mother. Isidro, on the other hand, is a manipulative parent who loves to be at the helm of her children’s dreams. That said, it is not hard to guess that both have instinctual motivations, ones that only make them as genuinely human as anyone else.
Also, a coming-of-age tale, Lyric and Beat inevitably touches sore spots in the life of a teenager, especially ones who have just started discovering themselves and what they can do to achieve their dreams. At its core, the series imparts a heartfelt truth about the power of dreams, and what good dreaming can do, in our quest to fully understand who we are and where we are headed. I guess that is where this lovely, energy-fused, musical teenage drama, becomes overly affectionate: its messages are real and help us find that perfect rhythm that will guide us into reaching our dreams.
Lyric and Beat is now streaming on iWantTFC. Watch the official full trailer below:
