PJ Valerio as Romeo time warped into the ’50s.

Young singer-actor PJ Valerio will be doing a James Marsden (in his “Enchanted” role) playing Shakespeare’s Romeo zapped from Elizabethan period to Brooklyn 1960. PJ co-stars opposite Cris Villonco in Repertory Philippines’ take on “Romeo & Bernadette,” the Mark Saltzman musical given a local spin debut on Friday, Feb. 5 with a Valentine season run up to Feb. 28.

In an unlikely crack at a dashing prince kind of role, PJ described his part to be a total departure from the usual bits he has previously done bordering on good old teeny-bopper-types. In “Romeo & Bernadette,” the signature character that is Romeo failed to kill himself and instead sends himself in a coma only to wake up in the 1950s. He then finds the world of love turning on a different axis the way James Marsden’s prince did in “Enchanted” and even that of Hugh Jackman’s character in “Kate & Leopold.”

Since it’s not the first time PJ is paired with Cris (they worked together in “Mulan” in 2008), the two admitted to a familiar chemistry, one that they had to implore since “Romeo & Bernadette” is a more mature material. “Yes, [I can say] we have a working relationship that benefits ‘Romeo & Bernadette,’” said PJ in an interview with the Manila Bulletin. Meanwhile, Cris agreed, “Yeah, we feel comfortable working together despite the more mature material in this musical.”

According to PJ, Romeo is a character he has yet to play but given the nature of the musical (Read: A modern marriage of spoof and farce) made Romeo a very fun male lead to explore and even exploit. “Actually I get to tale the accent with me [and a part of me] really is flirty and romantic. The pop/hip-hop side is just a facade... I’m really a rockstar,” jested one of the more underrated young talents we have in the industry today.

Then again the palpable chemistry is better experienced than heard. It’s a good thing PJ and Cris performed three numbers culled from “Romeo & Bernadette.” Cris shines as Bernadette who longs to be swept by someone far from the downtown men she meets. Romeo mistakes her for Juliet but actually, Bernadette is the daughter of a dominant mob leader. For a press preview (as the lead cast lent snippets of performances from the actual play in jeans and casual tops) Cris and PJ were pretty convincing as star-crossed, time-warped lovers trying to figure out love in the most unfamiliar and comic territories.

The people behind the local staging of “Romeo & Bernadette” claim that the play may have been among the fun productions they got their hands on but the most difficult feel to sustain on stage is that ground on farce because the play has to trod that thin line between slapstick and effective modern theater humor. But with the killer combination of talent and story-telling Cris and PJ displayed during their teaser performance, it does not only seem that “Romeo & Bernadette” is on the right track.

Because authentic talent is evident of the lead actors, PJ and Cris make for believable performances that substantiate the musical promises those who were at the “preview” hoped to see: Every bit the modern stage hilarity paired with an intriguing spoof plot.

Directed by Joy Virata, also in the play are Red Concepcion, Liesl Batucan, Dido de la Paz, Juno Henares, Kenneth Keng, Jim Paoleli, Jamie Wilson, and Rem Zamora.

“Romeo & Bernadette” will have its hilarious but entertaining run from Feb. 5 to 28 at the Onstage Greenbelt 1 in Makati City.