My acting debut at the Met

MANILA, Philippines - It was just weeks after Manila was declared an Open City by General Douglas MacArthur in December 1941 when my mother Sarah and I got a call from Narciso “Pim” Pimentel Jr. for a conference at the Metropolitan Theater building on Plaza Lawton.

At the time, the mood of most Manilans, right after the Japanese Imperial Army had entered the city, was somber and guarded, but the situation in the metropolis was peaceful. Perhaps this was because the Japanese Imperial Army had kept its side of the bargain not to create any trouble after they had taken over the city.

As an 11-year-old Manila boy, I knew little about the Metropolitan Theater, mostly from radio announcements and posters we read about arriving classical presentations and spectacular extravaganzas from Europe and the U.S. Such was the reputation of this theater – and rightly so – for it is said that the theater boasted of excellent acoustics such that even a whisper from the actor on stage can reach the very last row of the balcony – and the patron can hear it clearly.

Perhaps, this and many other outstanding features made the Met – as many fondly called it – very popular and respected. It was also named the opera house of the East.

When we got to the theater, Pim announced that he had set up a group named Dramatic Philippines Inc. and that he and other investors had gotten a contract with the theater owners to produce shows of quality for the public.

At the meeting were a few local actors and directors like Bert Avellana and wife Daisy, Spanish stage directors like Enrique Davila as well as some actors from Philippine cinema, alumni from Catholic girls’ and boys’ colleges who liked to act.

We learned later that the charter members of Dramatic Philippines Inc. that Pim had formed were mostly colleagues of his from the Ateneo de Manila where he had graduated, fellow alumni who loved acting and drama despite their involvement in other pursuits like government service and corporate life.

Among the major productions that Dramatic Philippines Inc. had lined up was the Tagalog translation of a play written by Fr. Joseph Mulry, SJ titled “Passion Play – the suffering and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo, another colleague from Ateneo, did the translation in classic Tagalog. It was renamed “Martir sa Golgotha” which was presented during the Lenten season on weekends, with daily shows during Holy Week plus matinees during Good Friday up to Easter Sunday. 

Co-authors Tony Joaquin and Gloria Castro Kismadi at the launch of the book “Nick: A Portrait of the Artist Nick Joaquin”.

Martir was a smashing success when it opened during the Lenten season of 1942. It was the first time that the theater had presented such a play in Tagalog. Pim then made it a point that every year for almost six years during Holy Week, Martir was presented at the Metropolitan Theater. Soon, the theater got the name “the Legitimate Theater” and this was made fun of by others who came from the other side of the Pasig River.

In the management of Dramatic Philippines, a key role was played by Pim’s colleague Alexander Sycip, who was its treasurer. For Martir they lavished beautiful sets and costumes which won raves not only from the common crowd but from Manila’s four hundred who made it a point to watch the much talked about Lenten presentation. 

Featured among the cast members were beauty queens and young starlets including Susan Roces, Susan Magalona, Elvira Ledesma, Gloria Romero, and others. Through the years, they took turns playing the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. John was played by good looking mestizos like Gustavo Gonzales, Virgilio Hilario, J.V. Cruz, and the Padilla brothers.

Christ was played by Jennings Sturgeon, an American movie actor living in Manila, for he resembled Christ very well.

Aside from my role as a dead boy I took part in the crowd scenes like that when Jesus was to be judged by Pontius Pilate. For extras we had teenage boys from Catholic schools around Manila who played the role of soldiers during the crucifixion scene.

When I was cast in the initial Martir production of 1942 – which actually was my stage debut as a professional actor since we got paid – I played the “dead boy” who was brought back to life by St. John the Apostle. I had no lines at all. My 10 seconds of fame was after St. John uttered the words: “Ezra, magbangon ka (Ezra, rise up).” I took some seconds before moving under the white sheet that covered me and slowly, very slowly, removed the sheet that covered my face, slowly rising, puzzled at the scene. When I spotted my mother I rush to her arms and…curtains! Most of the male members of the cast and crew ribbed me each time I performed this because the lady who played my mother was a buxom and shapely young Filipino woman!

Aside from Martir, Dramatic Philippines presented classic plays also translated into Tagalog. A major production was Edmund Rostand’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” which Soc once again put his skill into translating – in verse! 

It was a sight to see Pim as Cyrano rehearsing the lines in Tagalog as he wielded the epee fighting his adversaries. The play was so demanding on Pim’s part that he shed some 30 pounds.

One would marvel at the mixture of actors for Cyrano since the cast included a Cabinet secretary and civic leaders, including Gregorio Hernandez, Jess Paredes, Manny Colayco, Lucas Paredes, Emma Benitez, Nati Valentin, and Fidel Sicam. It was at the theater that a budding announcer got his break: Cris de Vera who later became a radio sensation who could mimic the voices of many actors and statesmen.

Other classical plays in English which were presented in Tagalog included “The Monkey’s Paw” (Paa ng Kwago), Charlie’s Aunt (Sino ba kayo), and Tagalog classic “Sa Pula Sa Puti.”

It is interesting to note that while the Met was presenting these shows so successfully, the downtown theaters that had no movies to show were turned into stage show places. Movie directors and actors presented shows for the populace. And these cinema houses turned proscenium theaters also showed to packed houses every day.

One reason was that immediately after the occupation by Japanese forces, there was hardly any business to speak of. Directives from the new puppet government were also still being formulated. So everyone had lots of free time and watching their favorite comedians and actors on stage was the best they could do.

Among the directors who regularly directed stage shows were Bert Avellana, Gregorio Ticman, Jose Estella III, Gerry de Leon. The top comedians at the time were Pugo and Tugo but they had to modify their names to Puging and Tuging because Tugo sounded like that of the Japanese prime minister Tojo.

The author is the son of the late actress Sarah Joaquin. He recently returned from New York to launch a book on his uncle, the late National Artist Nick Joaquin.