Eduardo Sicangco: Inspired Illusionist

From Inspiration to Illusion is an appropriate title for the Eduardo Sicangco exhibit ongoing at the Ayala Museum until January next year, for that is what this world-renowned scenographer does – he turns prodigious inspiration into amazing illusions on stage, transporting audiences to exciting places, some way beyond normal imagination. For more than 30 years, Sicangco’s designs for costumes and scenery for opera, ballet, and musical theater have inhabited the stages of Lincoln Center, Radio City Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, off-Broadway and regional theaters, and even the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Scenic design crosses over artistic disciplines, combining the skills of a painter, sculptor, architect, and lighting designer to conceptualize what is essentially literature and interpret it visually in three dimensions. The exhibit consists of original works ranging from drawings, photographs, actual scale models of stage designs and costume plates, and actual stage costumes.

Sicangco grew up in Negros, a child with an over-active imagination, and his love for theater arts and “show business,” as he calls it, had been nurtured early on. His mother was a lyric soprano and his father was an audiophile and a collector of Broadway cast recordings.

He describes the transition from inspiration to illusion: “The point where inspiration and illusion become reality is when the opening night curtain goes up and a spell is cast over the audience – assuming that the design is successful – when the curtain goes up on your set and costumes and you hear a collective gasp of wonderment from the audience.”

In reality, the process is, of course, a lot of hard work. Sicangco talks about first studying the text – “finding the tone of the piece” – then research, followed by “the drawing process, costume sketches and fabric swatches,” bids for executing the designs, supervision…

“Everything converges during technical rehearsals, an intense and fairly stressful period where one works with the lighting designer, the stagehands and the seamstresses on hand,” he explains. “The culmination of tech week is the first preview where one listens to the audience and gauges their reaction. After a series of previews, the show is tweaked towards success. Upon opening night, the designer’s job is done.”

Sicangco admits his natural curiosity leads him to take inspiration from everyday reality and ordinary things. New York, where he now lives, is “a constant source of wonderment and inspiration.”

He relates: “Sometimes I find myself on the subway looking at an outrageously dressed passenger and thinking to myself: ‘If I put that on stage, no one will believe me.’ Ditto with my block’s resident homeless person/beggar. He is a 6’ 3” tall and skinny black man, dressed entirely in white from head to 6” platform shoes, no matter the season. I kid you not.

“Some smart person once said that ‘originality is looking at things everyone sees and thinking thoughts no one else does.’ Another smarty-pants also said: ‘Originality is the art of hiding your source.’

“Everyone and everything has a story to tell. If you bother to dig deep enough, more often than not, the story proves to be fascinating. And that is why I love the theater. We are storytellers. Sir Peter Hall, the famous stage director, said it best. To paraphrase him: back in prehistoric times, the cavemen would wake up, hunt for food, then gather in their caves at night and over a fire, tell (or probably grunt) each other stories. Today, our caves are air-conditioned and our fires are electric. Yet we are still doing the same thing: telling each other stories. 

“The humanity of the creative arts is what floats my boat.”

Despite spending three decades abroad, Sicangco still looks to and is proud of his Filipino roots. “They inform my sensibility and sensitivity as a designer and as an artist. And what advantageous roots! Malay/Pacific Islander, Spanish/European/Latino, Asian/Oriental, American/Hollywood, even Muslim. For a designer, the Philippines is a fortuitous and lucky place to be from, specifically in terms of frames of reference. Look around: Spanish cathedrals and cobble-stoned streets, mosques and minarets, McDonalds and Starbucks, pagodas and nipa huts, primitive tribal art and Juan Luna! Short of African, I am fortunate enough to possess a natural affinity for most sensibilities required by various projects. Now take all these and combine them with the ultra-sophisticated mindset of a world-class city like New York and you have quite an edge.”

Asked to set his sights on theater and the arts in the Philippines, Sicangco gives an all-too-familiar sad refrain. “With all due respect to whomever and without ruffling any feathers, I would like to see more support for theater design in particular and the performing arts in general,” he says. “With regards the latter, one can’t help but applaud the valiant efforts of the committed artists in Manila who keep theater, dance and opera going, defying all odds. One wishes for more funding, from the government and from the business and private sectors.” 

He admits that if he were to design a show in Manila, he would “miss the technical and artisanal support” from scores of craftspeople – wig makers, cobblers, embroiderers, jewelers and the like – that he has access to in New York.

“The reason they are so good at what they do is quite simple: they get paid well for it. It is a career,” he says. “There is a huge demand for their services and talents. And the reason for this is that the performing arts is a viable and fairly profitable business in that part of the world.”

He continues: “As I used to tell my NYU (New York University) students, it ain’t called ‘Show Art;’ it’s called ‘Show Business.’ For me as a designer, the challenge becomes: ‘how much art can I inject into the business and vice versa?’”

But he is ever optimistic. “I hope for the day, hopefully sooner rather than later, when we won’t have to ‘make do’ and that there is high demand for good-caliber performing arts in our beloved country and that we artists can make a decent living doing what we love and have to do. Note I said ‘decent;’ I do not ask for more – unless you insist. Please insist. The rest is icing on the cake.

“The natural talent is definitely here and always has been. In spades, mind you. Just look at Ms. Salonga for starters. The lack of patronage and support is the major challenge, along with good training and self-discipline, which both translate into a high level of professionalism.”

And lest we get mired in the difficulties and lose the fantasy and illusion of life, he says, as an almost final word: “I’ve always felt that life should glitter more. I am a bit of a glitz queen, which is an understatement. Everyday life is inherently theatrical, in my book.”

From Inspiration to Illusion: The Scenography of Eduardo Sicangco runs at the Ground Floor Gallery of the Ayala Museum (Greenbelt Park, Makati) until January 11, 2009.