Before television took over entertainment, Filipinos still went to live shows in droves. In the 1950s, it was the the short-lived "stageshow." This month, Tanghalang?Pilipino will transport its audience to this pre-electronic realm and honor its icons who are still around.
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Through a Oct. 13 celebration called ?Gabi ng Pagkilala sa mga Beterano ng Stageshow,? Tanghalang Pilipino (TP), the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), pays tribute to several Filipino talents who started their careers performing in the entertainment and art form called ?stageshow? in the years immediately after World War II.
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Photo credit: Tanghalang Pilipino
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The ?Gabi ng Pagkilala sa mga Beterano ng Stageshow? honors the likes of German Moreno, Pilita Corrales, Elizabeth Ramsey, the late Dolphy, and their numerous ?stageshow? colleagues now forgotten, said Cherry Bong Edralin, TP marketing manager.
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According to Chris Millado, CCP vice president and artistic director, the late Mario O?Hara, playwright of ?Stageshow,? the third TP production in its 26th season, will also be memorialized during the night of tributes.
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Millado, director of ?Stageshow,? said O?Hara had done extensive research on and interviews with the ?stageshow? performers during the post-war years before crafting the script for his last play.
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O?Hara, a veteran radio, television, theater, and cinema actor and award-winning director, writer, and playwright, died last June 26 of cardiac arrest as a complication of acute leukemia.?
?Tanghalang Pilipino will honor the veterans of stageshow and vaudeville in a short program before the evening show on Oct. 13. This will also be the occasion to honor the legacy of Mario O?Hara and formally dedicate the performances of 'Stageshow' to him. Mario?s family will be present during the tribute,? said Millado in an interview.
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O?Hara was known for not watching the productions or performances of the plays he had written. However, Millado said that O?Hara surprised the cast of ?Stageshow? by showing up during the reading of his play.
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?Everyone was pleasantly surprised. During the reading, Mario told the cast how he learned his early craft in writing and acting for his radio shows from the stageshow performers he was closely associated with in his younger days,? Millado said.
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The ?Gabi ng Pagkilala sa mga Beterano ng Stageshow? is an unprecedented gala tribute to be mounted by TP, which was established in 1987, while the CCP, on the other hand, had honored Filipino artists and performers in at least two galas such as ?Lagi Kitang Mamahalin? and ?Lagi Kitang Naaalala.?
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Millado said it is important to understand and remember the artistic contributions of ?stageshow? performers, who are not as successful or as famous as Moreno, Corrales, Ramsey, or the late Dolphy.
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Other famous names associated with ?stageshow? are Bayani Casimiro, Rogelio dela Rosa, Sylvia La Torre, Oscar Obligacion, Chichay, the tandem of Pugo and Tugo, among others.
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?A whole generation of stageshow performers has faded into anonymity without having been recognized for its contribution of Philippine arts and entertainment. They are part of our artistic and cultural heritage. The present and future generation of artists and audiences should be aware of the challenges, triumphs, and the contributions of these unheralded stageshow performers,? Millado said.
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Sounding wistful, Millado said the advent of films and television partly brought about the rapid decline of ?stageshow? as an entertainment and art medium.
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?A number of the leading talents in stageshows and films were appropriated by the film studios at the time. The routine of the stageshows were adopted by the television variety shows and could be seen ?free? by the public. The palaces of entertainment became moviehouses before their decline,? he added.
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Millado said the influence and impact of ?stageshow? are very much present in the broadcast and cinema industries. ?Hasn?t it occurred to you that when you watch noontime television shows and enjoy the variety, the exuberance, the color, the innuendos, and sometimes the darkly comic shows that you are actually watching a stageshow??
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?A lot of what we enjoy in popular Philippine entertainment today is the legacy of the stageshow industry of the bygone years and the ?Stageshow? theater production is an opportunity to connect with that feisty generation that started it all,? Millado said.
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?This production taps into the rousing rhythm of the stageshow routines as suggested by Mario?s script?where the characters effortlessly slide in and out of a tap dance number or a skit to realistic scenes where they would play out their sacrifices and difficult offstage lives. It is in this back and forth, between being flippant before the footlights and the desperate lives they lived after the show, that the TP production Stageshow, achieves its poignancy and purpose,? he said.
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Fernando Josef, artistic director of TP, said: ?Some of these former stageshow entertainers are now in their senior years, either sick or dying, or dead. Some are living alone in rented small spaces, some lived in empty tombs in public cemeteries, some in the streets?they, who were adored like gods during the prime of their careers as Filipino entertainers, as Filipino artists.?
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Josef said several of the ?Stageshow? performances will feature special guests who will do one special ?stageshow? or ?bodabil? song and/or dance number in keeping with the ?essence of the original form of the stageshow? during the 1950s.
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Among the artists who have expressed willingness to perform are Mitch Valdez, Ricky Davao, Joel Lamangan, Willie Nepomuceno, Jenine Desiderio, and Isay Alvarez, Josef said. ?There are other stars who are trying to fix their schedules to be able to appear in a 'Stageshow' performance,? he added.
Photo credit: Tanghalang Pilipino
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Veteran and award-winning performers Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino and Nonie Buencamino, with Liesl Batucan and Roeder Cama?ag, who will act as alternates, top bill ?Stageshow,? which is TP?s official entry to the National Theater Festival in November.
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Other members of the cast are: Angelina Kanapi, Mae Paner, May Bayot de Castro, Rayna Reyes, Rody Vera, Lou Veloso, Gie Onida, Pam Hundana, Gino Ramirez, Jonathan Tadioan, April I?igo, Tara Cabaero, Hazel Maranan, Kaye Garcia, Agnes Sarreal, Anthony Falcon, and Aaron Ching.
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Production staff includes Jeffrey Hernandez (composer/arranger/musical director), Denisa Reyes (choreographer), Tuxqs Rutaquio (set designer), Brenda Fajardo (costume designer), Katsch Catoy (lights designer/technical director), TJ Ramos (sound engineer), King Catoy (videographer), Mia Bola?os (vocal coach), Tony Casimiro (tap dance instructor), and Yette Valenzuela (hair and make-up designer).
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?Stageshow? has 16 performances during the period October 10-14 and 17-21, with 8 p.m. performances from Wednesday to Saturday, and 3 p.m. shows on Saturday and Sunday. ?KG/TJD, GMA News
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For details and inquiries, please contact 0917-750-0107 / 0918-959-3949 / 832-1125 local 1620 or 1621. Tickets are also available at Ticketworld at 891-9999 and at the CCP Box Office. Visit the official TP website www.tanghalangpilipino.org.ph for more information.
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