The Woman with Many Faces

What can you say about a woman who can be a hundred other women – and another man? Who, in the wink of an eye, can be Imelda Marcos (Meldita), Cory Aquino (Cory Anino), Miriam Defensor-Santiago (Miriam Detektor Saanmanmagtago), Zsa Zsa Padilla (Cha-Cha Parilla), a bold star named Bonnie Buendia and Amado Pineda the PAGASA man (Amanda Pineda)?

Well, she must be suffering from a bad case of multiple personality, not being able to quite figure out who she is, or must be, when she wakes up in the morning.

In fact, the woman just happens to be gifted with the uncanny ability to be somebody else; she just happens to be Tessie Tomas who has such a great sense of humor that she chose to marry a man with that surname (she is Tessie Hermosa in real life) and therefore those initials.

She’s simply multi-talented, not limited to tickling the public’s funny bone but also capable of wrenching dry your tear ducts with her drama prowess (amply showcased in TV dramas like Charo Santos-Concio’s Maalaala Mo Kaya, etc.). Why, she even bagged the coveted role as Imelda Marcos in the HBO telemovie A Dangerous Life for which she got nominated Best Actress in a US TV awards.

"Comedians can be most effective as drama actors," said Double T, citing the likes of the late Nida Blanca, Gloria Romero, Comedy King Dolphy and the versatile Eddie Garcia (noted as much for his action-drama turns as for his tongue-in-cheek comedic style), adding, "it’s true what they say about making people cry being far easier than making people laugh."

In her 25 years in showbiz, Double T has squeezed herself under the skin of famous (and infamous) personalities, so you wonder, who are the 25 others she would love to impersonate (and why)?

Here’s the Honor Roll (at random):

1. Tessa Prieto – "Wacky!"

2. Gloria Diaz – "Candid."

3. Condoleeza Rice – "Preachy."

4. Pia Guanio – "Seductive."

5. Celine Lopez – "Fashionista."

6. Alyssa Alano – "Bilingual."

7. Melanie Marquez – "Multi-lingual."

8. SM Saleslady (selling potato peeler, vacuum cleaner, etc.) – "Indoctrinated."

9. Queen of England – "Serene."

10. BBC Newscasters – "Dispassionate."

11. CNN Newscasters – "Loud!"

12. Susan Roces – "Proper."

13. Elizabeth Ramsey – "Funny!"

14. Lucy Torres – "Demure."

15. Beyoncé – "Soulful."

16. Meryl Streep – "Deep."

17. Judy Dench – "Brilliant!"

18. Whoopi Goldberg – "Hilarious!"

19. MTV Veejays – "Animated!"

20. Male Radio Commentators – "Feisty!"

21. Mon Tulfo – "Feister!!"

22. Rep. Peter Allan Cayetano – "Feistiest!!!"

23. Mitch Valdes – "Overwhelming!"

24. Willie Nepomuceno – "Versatile."

25. Nova Villa – "Religious."

Double T is celebrating her 25th year in showbiz with a series of stand-up acts called TT25 (Tessie Tomas @ 25) at the Tavern on the Square in Greenbelt 3, Makati City on Oct. 27, and Nov. 4, 11 and 18 with Soxy Topacio as director and, as guests, Jon Santos, John Lapus and Mosang. (Note: For ticket inquiries, call the Tavern at 757-4484 to 85 or 817-4660.)

For a change, instead of engaging Double T in a free-wheeling and highly-revealing one-on-one, Conversations asked her to do a list of the 25 Memorable Moments in her life.

Here they are:

1) The day I went full-time into showbiz after resigning as creative director of McCann Erickson. (1981)

2) The day I wrote my first Amanda Pineda weather report – the first half in my office at McCann and the other half in a cab on my way to Champoy taping.

3) On a plane from Manila to Davao (Bulilit Flight 5:30 a.m.), I looked at the rising sun and I said to myself, "Yes, I really want to do a comedy play about Imelda." (March 1986)

4) The day I married Roger (Pullin, a British marine biologist) in April 1994 and seeing a replay of the wedding in my TV show Teysi ng Tahanan (TNT) the following day! That was great!

5) A phone conversation on Teysi ng Tahanan set between me and my son Robin (an artist now based in New York). He was studying in Michigan and I broke the news that Roger and I were getting married. Robin and I both cried.

6) The moment I received my first Star Award for Best Talk Show Host for TNT. (1992)

7) The moment I won the Aliw Entertainer of the Year Award for Meldita. (1987)

8) The moment I won the Manila Film Festival Best Actress for Cordora. (June 1992)

9) My first major one-woman show at the ballroom of the InterCon Hotel (1982). The mike went off for half the performance but I just carried on. The audience gave me a big applause at the end of the show.

10) Meldita in New York at Martin Luther King Theater in Manhattan. It was a one-night SRO performance and people were fighting to get a seat; some were even willing to pay double the price.

11) That fateful evening during the Edsa Revolution when the Marcoses left for Hawaii. I was at the rooftop of the ABS-CBN building entertaining the fans gathered on the street. I was with Freddie Aguilar, Apo Hiking Society, June Keithley and other artists. (Feb. 1986)

12) When someone from Mc Elroy & Mc Elroy Productions called that I got the role of Imelda Marcos in A Dangerous Life. Boy, that was one of the happiest moments in my showbiz career. (Dec. 1987)

13) When I got by mail my nomination for Best Actress in A mini-series for A Dangerous Life from American Cable Awards, informing me that they would provide two first-class round-trip tickets to L.A. and back.

14) My stay at a suite in Four Seasons Hotel in L.A. to attend the ACE Awards together with HBO executives.

15) The awards night for the Ace Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. I did not win but I felt like a winner just hobnobbing with Hollywood stars! (Jan. 1989)

16) When a drunk played with my props as I was doing my stand-up comedy at Sanctuary on P. Burgos. (1983)

17) When my production assistant dressed me up as Boni Buendia when I should come out first as Charito Calubaquib in a New Year’s Day show at Mandarin Hotel (1983). There were so many bookings and we were dead tired!

18) The night I split from Mr. Tomas was the night I had to be bouncy and happy, singing as "Sampaguita" the song Bonggahan in a big show at PICC. (1981)

19) When I won Enpress Awards’ Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Bahay Mo Ba ‘To? (BMBT) (2005)

20) My first taping for BMBT. It was a moment of realization that I was already a Kapuso. (2004)

21) When Dante Rivero had to spit on my face (as Sonia Enriquez) in the ABS-CBN soap Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako. (1999)

22) My first day of shoot for A Dangerous Life at the Australia Broadcasting Studio in Sydney. (1988)

23) When Margie Holmes and I did a live, impromptu episode because we did not have enough guests for the original episode in Teysi ng Tahanan. (1993)

24) When the teacher’s table broke as I collapsed for the final scene in Miss Margarida’s Way. The audience thought it was part of the script and they gave me a big cheer! (1983)

25) When I could not stop laughing as I was about to do the dramatic ending scene in Cordora. Flies were hovering over Eddie Garcia because of the Karo syrup used for "bloodstain" on his shirt.

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