Long before she became a television host, actress, and performer, Atasha Muhlach was a 9-year-old girl standing under the bright lights of the Newport Performing Arts Theater, playing Brigitta von Trapp in "The Sound of Music."

It was her first taste of theater. Her first experience performing before a live audience. The beginning of a dream.

Fifteen years later, Muhlach is returning to the very same stage, this time as the star of "Bongga Ka, 'Day!: The Annie Batungbakal Musical," opening this September.

For Muhlach, the production is more than a new role. It is a deeply emotional homecoming.

"It feels like a full-circle moment," she said. "I think this is where I first started my theater journey with 'The Sound of Music,' and now I'm back for a new production on the same stage."

Over the years, audiences have seen her build a career in television, streaming, and live entertainment. Yet theater remains closely tied to her earliest memories as a performer and to the reason she fell in love with the craft in the first place.

Returning to Newport brought those memories rushing back.

"Just walking back onto that stage already felt emotional and heartwarming," she said. "It really brought tears of joy. I felt so grateful to be here, to be given this opportunity, and to be able to perform again in the place where it all started."

Part of that emotion comes from what theater represents to her. Unlike film or television, where scenes can be repeated, theater asks performers to trust their preparation and fully commit in the moment. Every performance is live, every reaction immediate, every emotion shared between actor and audience.

For Muhlach, there is something uniquely special about that connection.

"By the time you step onto the stage, especially in a continuous two-hour show with no cuts, everything feels instinctive," she said. "You know every movement, every cue, and the character begins to fully live through you."

Now she is stepping into the shoes of one of Philippine pop culture's most beloved characters: Annie Batungbakal.

The character traces her roots to Hotdog's iconic hit "Annie Batungbakal," one of the defining songs of the Manila Sound era in the late 1970s. Decades after its release, the song remains a cultural touchstone, celebrated for its catchy melody and colorful portrait of a young Filipina chasing her dreams.

In the musical, Annie is reimagined as a creative and ambitious young woman working as a sales clerk at House of Pasion while aspiring to become a fashion designer. Drawn to the glamorous Coco Banana crowd, she believes success and acceptance can be found in the right circles. Along the way, she learns that authenticity matters more than appearances.

It is a story about dreams, identity, and finding one's place in the world, themes that resonate with Muhlach as she continues to carve out her own path in show business.

"I'm currently living my dream of being an artista and still finding my way in this industry," she said. "So to return to the very stage where it all began 15 years later is deeply meaningful."

Joining Muhlach in the production are Sam Concepcion, KD Estrada, Jeff Moses, and Anthony Rosaldo.

For Muhlach, however, the heart of the experience remains the same as it was when she first stepped onto the Newport stage as a child: the chance to connect with an audience.

"What makes it even more meaningful is seeing the audience in real time, their reactions, their smiles, their laughter as the performance unfolds," she said. "That immediate connection is something truly memorable and fulfilling."

Fifteen years after a young girl first discovered the magic of theater, Atasha Muhlach is coming home to the stage where it all began.