John Prats on directing TJ’s ‘Sarili Nating Mundo’: ‘More than just a dream’

Premier concerts and events director, John Prats, is no stranger to the challenges of mounting big shows – having already directed his fair share of K-Pop concerts, fan meets, and music festivals over the past years. However, one can surely say that TJ Monterde’s 3-day sold-out “Sarili Nating Mundo” concert last February 1, 2, and 3 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum has easily become one of the biggest, most memorable, and special projects that direk John has ever had the task of mounting. As he would say, this is “one for the books.” During the whole process of conceptualizing the concert, direk John had a very collaborative relationship with TJ. “Usually, ibibigay na sa’kin ng artist yung song, ‘ito na direk, ito yung opening namin,’ pero kasi ito ginagawa namin from scratch na sabay kami. Like sasabihin ko, ‘Teej ito yung nai-imagine ko.’ Tapos bubuuin niya with the band, yung visuals and the music, mine-merge namin,” direk John shared in an exclusive pre-concert interview with the media.

When it came to the music, both TJ and direk John also worked closely with the band – Chris Rosales, James Narvaez, Luis Cortez, Makoy Portado, and Nicko Vitobina – in creating the setlist and arrangements, and polishing the finer details one could only really appreciate in the live versions of TJ’s songs.  

The grandness of the concept and set pieces meant that direk John also got the chance to collaborate with Enzo Pizarro for the set design, Bong Garcia for the technical direction, and Dominique Gallardo for the lighting direction – industry veterans in their own right. 

As mentioned multiple times during the concert proper, direk John and TJ emphasized how the generous support and creative freedom that Cornerstone Entertainment gave them was crucial in the success of the whole project. 

On top of the numerous performance videos posted by concertgoers, netizens also shared their praises for the high quality of the whole production. There is one particular moment in the concert that people kept bringing up, describing it as magical and surreal – the overture with the LED wristbands opening section by section. Direk John described that “cueing the LED bracelets was a whirlwind of 200% focus, 300% stress, and 400% pure joy, lighting up the faces of all the Bituins. Above all, 1000% faith in God carried me through.”