Theater as the ultimate salvation of BB

Although there have been several of our countrymen who have had the nerve to come out and declare to the world their sexual preference, none have been as upfront as BB Gandanghari. Ever since she eschewed the existence of Rustom Padilla, saying Rustom is dead, BB Gandanghari is alive, she has faced all the brickbats she knew would come, bravely and without remorse.

We knew of the existence of Rustom as a handsome hunk in the ’90s and his popular partnering with Carmina Villarroel on the screen led to a marriage. In 2006, he joined the first ABS-CBN Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition and on the show confessed to being gay, which many already suspected. This, we thought, took guts and gumption, a quality he continued to exhibit until he left for the US to study filmmaking and returned as BB Gandanghari.

BB got herself busy guesting on TV and theater. She appeared in Sayaw ng mga Señorita last year at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) sharing credits with Manny Castañeda, Arnel Ignacio and Joel Lamangan all of them gay. During the run, BB confessed to director Soxie Topacio that she was interested in doing more theater and this is when Soxie suggested Halik ng Tarantula, Rene Villanueva’s play based on the Oscar-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman. This was originally directed by Soxie in 1989 with Mario O’Hara and Julio Diaz.

It has helped tremendously that BB’s family with the exception of Robin has shown understanding and support. His mom Eva Cariño had gone to watch his play Halik ng Tarantula at the Teatrino, Greenhills with nephews in a display of love for BB. A nephew, Raprap Padilla, said nothing could ever change their love for their uncle. “Tita BB, Tito Rustom, iisa lang po sa amin iyan,” he said, with the wisdom of a child.

Meantime, Daniel Padilla, the clan’s fast-rising star, has this to say: “Sa nakikita ko naman kay Tito Rustom, masaya po siya eh. Kaya masaya na po ako para sa kanya.” They all are confident that Robin will soon come around with acceptance.

Like many others, we went to watch Halik ng Tarantula on its last night and found the venue bursting at the seams. BB appeared happy with her production. It seems to us that with her various other involvements in the modeling world, she fits in with the world of theater and its inhabitants.

After two nights of performances, the word had spread, both good and bad about the play. Many found it boring, they also expected better acting from BB, one reviewer kept comparing it to Kiss of the Spider Woman, a lot of gays wanted more nudity.

As a matter of fact, there was hardly any nudity involving BB, and the cellmate of a revolutionary played by model Jet Alcantara (Jovic Monsod appeared on other nights). The love scenes were simulated; BB herself never bared which we felt kept the integrity of the play. Had it been riddled with sex scenes, it would have come across as simply a sex show.

Edel Templonuevo who handled the stage design, props, costumes and stage layout told us that compared to Soxie’s initial offering of 10 years ago, this was more difficult to mount due to its small stage. The video screen component, however,provided an added element that helped counter the heaviness of the material.

We agree with the observation that the production, nearly three hours long, tended to be boring. Since all the scenes in Act 1 were expository, perhaps some cutting could have been exercised. We observed walkouts in this portion. Happily, Act 2 was full of action and gunfights, and the pacing was fast and furious.

It is expected that when repeats are done in July or August, many of the problems would have been solved. The legitimate stage welcomes you, BB Gandanghari. You are some gutsy woman!

(E-mail me at [email protected].)