“It’s the acting in theater that I really love,” says the award-winning actor ahead of the Trumpets musical’s November run
NONIE BUENCAMINO – The veteran actor says 2026 is the year he has truly come home to the theater, as he prepares to play the patriarch Jacob in Trumpets’ staging of the Filipino musical Joseph the Dreamer, he shared in an interview published on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
The production runs from November 6 to 22 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza, Makati City. Nonie plays Jacob without an alternate, taking on a role once played by the late actor-director Freddie Santos, theater pillar Audie Gemora and Gary Valenciano.
The new staging also features Neo Rivera and Jordan Andrews sharing the title role, with Liam Nery and Enzo Isaac as Young Joseph and Julia Serad as Rachel. Tickets range from ₱1,680 for balcony seats to ₱3,850 for orchestra center.
Nonie admitted he sometimes has to catch up with a Trumpets ensemble that knows the material by heart, but he refuses to treat the show as a repeat. “I see it not as a rerun. My attack is to go by the truth by applying my process of learning a role,” he said.
To prepare, he went back to Jacob’s story in the Old Testament and found a man full of contradictions, one who deceived his twin brother Esau out of his birthright. “He was not a saint, but he was a spiritual man,” Nonie said. “Even spiritual people go through struggles, and it’s just a matter of falling at certain moments in their lives.”
The role comes on the heels of recognition for his stage work. He recently received a citation from Philstage’s Gawad Buhay Awards as Best Male Lead in a Musical for the title role in Repertory Philippines’ Man of La Mancha, after winning the Gawad Buhay for Male Lead in a Play in 2025 for Tanghalang Pilipino’s Balete.
He said juggling theater with television has become easier. Taking on Balete while appearing in FPJ’s Batang Quiapo in 2024 made him realize how much free time a supporting TV role gives him. “I have the time to do theater,” he said. He currently plays mob leader Samuel in the GMA series Hari ng Tondo.
“It’s the acting in theater that I really love,” Nonie said. “It’s because I love it as an art.”
The actor, who has been married to fellow thespian Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino for 30 years, also shared what keeps their marriage strong. “When you love a person, you just can’t say I’ve fallen out of love. But I will say, ‘I’ve chosen to love you — and I love you,'” he said.
For Nonie, every story he tells should leave room for hope. “Even if I play the bad guy, I want the ending to have redemption — the redemption of man,” he said.