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| Angelina Kanapi, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino and Mae Paner |
I
initially thought that Tanghalang Pilipino’s Stageshow would just be a play about the people who had lived in
the era when the stageshow was the form of entertainment preferred by the
masses. Then I saw the play itself and I experienced not just a human story,
but also a peek at how entertainment was back in the day.
Stageshow, written by the late Mario O’Hara
and directed by Chris Millado, told the story of Ester and Tirso played by real
life couple Shamaine and Nonie Buencamino. The two lovers are stageshow artists
with Ester belonging to the Tres Dahlias trio alongside Chabeng (Angelina
Kanapi) and (Magdea) Mae Paner while Tirso is a bandmaster. As the stageshow era
began to decline, their lives began to unravel which was also the same fate
that has befallen many stageshow artists in real life.
As
the story between Ester and Tirso unfolds, snippets of numbers that comprised
as stageshow were presented in between scenes. At first, I thought that it was
mere filler and just to show what a stageshow really is. But I noticed that the
lines in these vignettes, song and dance numbers, comedy skits, melodrama and
even a Lenten play all moved the story forward. The seamless integration of all
these stageshow elements in the service of the bigger story was what I enjoyed
the most in this production.
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| Nonie Buencamino |
The
performances, led by the Buencaminos were solid. Those who had seen their
recent television roles would be very much surprised to see their range as
performers with Shamaine belting it out and Nonie tap dancing effortlessly.
Also notable was Rody Vera’s take as Bobby Gonzales although I have no idea how
Bobby was when he was still alive. The songs he sang (Ikaw ang Mahal Ko and Hahabol-Habol)
are very familiar to me and it was very nice to see them performed and
integrated in a play. Lou Veloso also portrayed a handful of roles and his
comic timing and masterful delivery made his brief scenes very memorable.
During this Gala Night, the audience was treated by a special performance by Tony Casimiro, the son of stageshow artist Bayani Casimiro. Despite being 72 years old, Tony out tapped everyone else in the production. He also served as the tap dance choreographer for this production.
After
seeing the show, it made me think of those artists who weren’t able to deal well
with the demise of the stageshow. The play had a very satisfying ending with
everything going back to where things are supposed to be but in real life, many
stageshow performers have already been forgotten. I also got very interested to
realize that back then, it didn’t take much to entertain people. But now, it
takes so much just to satisfy the audience. I also appreciate that the play
didn’t show any resentment to the medium that contributed to its downfall which
was cinema and radio. The few bits that gave nods to this form of entertainment
were done with fondness and good natured humor. And I would like to add to that
very clever lighting also during the film montage.
On
certain performances Liesl Batucan and Roeder Camañag play the roles of Ester
and Tirso respectively. May Bayot also alternate as Magdea. I do hope that I’ll
get the chance to see their performances during the last week of Stageshow. This production is the third offering for this season of Tanghalang Pilipino that tackles the theme of Truth and Consequence. And Stageshow definitely showed the truth in the fighting spirit and optimism of the Filipinos despite the tremendous odds.
Stageshow is staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater). Here
are the remaining dates for the second and last week of Stageshow:
Stageshow will also be staged on these dates as part of the National Theater Festival:
November 7, 2012, 8:00 PM
November 8, 2012, 3:00 PM
November 8, 2012, 8:00 PM (Invitational)
Tickets
are available in all TicketWorld outlets and the CCP Box Office. Tickets can
also be purchased tickets online via www.ticketworld.com.ph. For more
details call TicketWorld at 891-9999 or contact (0917) 750-0107, 832-1125 loc
1620-1621 for more details.
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