MANILA, Philippines - When Joel Trinidad talks about the current theater scene in Manila, he does so in a sure voice.

“Theater has been in a good place for some time now. It has become a legitimate form of entertainment here, even---shall we say--- a popular ‘gimik’ option and that’s why there are so many theater companies now such as Repertory, New Voice, Atlantis, etc.

“This is also one of the reasons that even movie and TV actors are crossing over into theater. The theater scene in the Philippines is more vibrant than ever,” he told Bulletin Entertainment in an exclusive interview.

He wears different hats at times---conducting acting labs, doing voice-overs, teaching English---but Joel maintains that he is a full-time theater actor; one whose “sidelines” have a performance element to them.

The 41-year old Joel is one of the sons of respected thespian Noel Trinidad. The former insists, however, that his dad never pushed him into theater.

“On the contrary, he even sort of discouraged me from getting into it by constantly saying that it’s not a stable job. ‘I won’t stop you but I won’t help you---maybe you’d like to do something else,’ he’d tell me.

“But I grew up seeing how much he loved theater and that influenced me greatly. If not for him, I probably wouldn’t love theater as much as I do,” Joel said.

The actor loves his world so much that he has put up his own company, Upstart Productions. According to a release, it is dedicated to the production of edgy, creative, and engaging material on stage, onscreen and online.

More, it is a haven for artists and audiences who want “to shake things up a bit.”

“Our thrust is doing original materials though that doesn’t mean we’ll limit ourselves to that. Priority lang namin ang originals kasi playwright din ako,” said he.

Upstart Productions’ first offering is “Breakups and Breakdowns,” which Joel wrote with composer Rony Fortich. It co-stars Joel’s wife, Emerita Alcid, along with Reuben Uy and Carla Guevara-Forteza.

 Joel describes the musical as “feel-good…pang-kilig… about the games people sometimes play when they try to get into a relationship.”

“Breakups and Breakdowns” will be staged at Teatrino in Greenhills on Fe.b 18, 19, 25 and 26, and on March 4, 5, 11 and 12. For inquiries contact upstarttickets@gmail.com.

More about Joel: A 20-year veteran of the stage, he was last seen as the solo performer in “Defending the Caveman,” the longest-running one-man show in the history of Broadway.

He is also a founding member of SPIT, or Silly People’s Improv Theater, the first Asian comedy

troupe ever to perform at the prestigious Los Angeles Improv Festival, and whose

impromptu, seat-of-the-pants comedy has also wowed audiences in Bali, Las Vegas, San

Diego, and New York.

He’s done quite a bit of onscreen work, too, having appeared in numerous local and foreign movies, TV commercials, and one phone-in Filipino game show broadcast live from Budapest, Hungary.

Joel received his first Aliw Award nomination for his role in the original Filipino musical “Something To Crow About” (which eventually enjoyed a successful run in New York and California) and his second for his multiple roles in the hugely successful Tony Award-winning musical ”Avenue Q” (which went on to play a sold-out run in Singapore).