Uy Kieng San, father of Chinese movies cinema in Cebu
The Constellation Theater was one of the oldest movie theaters in Cebu. It was a second run movie house. It used to be located at the corner of Dimasalang and Leon Kilat Street. It was housed in the building owned by the Go Chan's.
It is adjacent to the Cebu Eastern College and in front of the back gate of the Colegio de San Jose Recoletos (now University of San Jose Recoletos).
Uy Kieng San of China who migrated to the Philippines opened "Constellation Theater" in the 1960's. This lasted until in the late 1980's. Among the other movie theaters in Cebu City were Lane Theater, Eden, Cinema, Vision, Best, Queen, Ultra Vistarama, Oriente, Center, Gems, Cygnet and Coronet.
Constellation movie house was later managed by the wife of Uy Kieng San by the name of Carmen Uy who was assisted by a son by the name of Wilkie Uy. The last to manage was his son by the name of Edwin Uy.
Constellation Theater was known for showing Chinese Martial Arts movies. A tragedy however struck when a member of the family was raped and killed by a janitor sometime in the 1970s'. This started the slow downfall of the theater.
The last to manage the movie house, Edwin Uy married Cecilia Velasquez Baz, a teacher at the University of the Visayas. The couple produced five children: Richard Allan (President of the Philatelic Society of Cebu, an actor and advocate of promotion of Cebuano Heritage, he was responsible for the SELYO SA KASAYSAYAN SA FORT SAN PEDRO), Richard Beethoven (Electrical Engineer), Anna Catherine May (used to be the Dean of the Teachers College of the University of San Jose Recoletos, she is now abroad and is married to a British National, Timothy Day), Deborah Ann (graduated with the course of Marketing at the University of San Jose Recoletos) and Richard Edwin Jr.
Edwin Uy remarried after his wife died in 1986. His second wife is Rosario Apurado of San Carlos City. They have two children. The founder of San Carlos is an Apurado who was from Cebu.
Uy Kieng San and Carmen Uy migrated to Samar, in fact their son Edwin was born in Borongan, Eastern Samar. When the couple came back to Cebu, Kieng San started to operate moviehouses.
The family became known to Cebu when the children of Kieng and Carmen performed every intermission of the movie program, they were known by the name of their band, William Rockers. The family movie house was then known as Cebu Theater (the area near the then Gaisano South, now known as Gaisano Capital after it was burned and renovated, along Leon Kilat and Colon Streets).
Among the hundreds of movie programs showed in Constellation Theater were Chin Xings Blacklist, Jacky Chan's Drunken Master, Snake in the Eagle Shadow, Shaolin Wooden Men. The Big Boss of Bruce Lee, the movies of Alexander Meng Fei (he married Filipina Actress, Elizabeth Oropeza and Ti Lung. It doubled show Tagalog Movies.
Edwin Uy finished Bachelor of Arts in Commerce at the University of the Visayas so as his wife, Cecilia Baz who after graduation taught at the University of the Visayas until her death in 1986.
Constellation Theater did not have air conditioned units but it was always full owing to its lower admission fee and it shows double programs. The theater only had big electric fans but always full and it was known as the theater for the masses.
Constellation's movie house entrance in 1965 was 20 Centavos. Its other movie house, Cebu Theater showed Sampaguita Pictures like DUGO SA KAMAY and BIG BROADCAST partly in color. Other film shown was the FPJ's English Version, THE WALLS OF HELL with Jack Mahoney. Its Tagalog version was entitled INTRAMUROS, until it closed in 1962, then another movie house was opened by the family, given the name as CONSTELLATION THEATER.
- Latest
