From stage to...

THEN: Nov. 13, 1985 — 25 years ago

The Music Box along Timog had a different clientele that night For Rent was on and the theme had two gays played by Odette Khan and Ricky Hora who were trying to make it in a heterosexual world. Earlier, Ronaldo Bertuhin, a young stage director who also wrote the material, told me that he wrote the material in three weeks time with Odette and Ricky in mind to play the lead roles.

Odette is a woman who has met many challenges in life. From our hometown in Bacolod, she made her mark as an actress, taken on many roles through the years. She has come a long way from the hometown stage that she used to star. The stage in Manila is another one she aims to conquer.

The Music Box has that kind of sing-along stage good for a performer and a minus one. For Rent has four characters and the ingenious stagecraft allowed them to fit in and out so precisely that they did not crowd the small space too much. Odette plays the role of a tomboy movie writer who is having a “relationship” with a dancer and a model that she tries to book and promote through her fan magazine writing. The nuances of the relationship are very now and can be glimpse on several characters peopling our midst in the entertainment field.

Ricky plays the role of the homosexual who works as a female impersonator in one of those clubs which the knowing crowd relished as the names were adlibbed in.

Earlier, Odette told us that the stage has been an obsession with her ever since.

“I feel that there is a more direct line between me and the audience when I performed on stage. The movies can be distant in some aspect while on stage everything is direct. There is no chance to edit or do another take.”

With the success of For Rent, there is a chance that Odette will try her talent on a bigger stage.

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Now at the helm of Ballet Philippines is Denise Reyes who will take over from Alice Reyes for seven months while Alice is on leave. After March, she goes back to New York, her base for the last 10 years.

When we got a talk with Denise, she was bristling over an item written about Swan Lake which she said was obviously “politically inspired.”

“I don’t care if they talk about the performance or do a critique on the dance itself. But I feel that the attack was biased. We don’t consider criticism a problem. But the problem here is that we don’t really have dance critics. And all the hard work can be destroyed by irresponsible criticism.

“There should be no political undertone when it comes to art. The company has a social purpose to introduce dance and the arts to young people. The main idea is to survive at this point.”

The CCP Dance Company Ballet Philippine has 15 percent subsidy from CCP for its annual budget. The rest of the 85 percent has to be raised by the group themselves through shows and enrollment fees. It has the biggest enrollment in dance and has strengthened its dance program suited to Filipino character and physique. It has the lowest tuition fees and offers definite goals and placements for the dancers. It has 32 dancers per year on a full-time basis.

Denise started in the US as a scholar at the Jacob’s Pillow Summer Dance in Lee, Massachu­setts. She later obtained her BFA degree in dance on a full scholarship at The State University in New York in Purchase.

She has presented her works like Ifugaos in New York and Firebird in the Philippines She has choreographed major concerts here and abroad. She has done One Ton Pinay, Neo-Pilipino, Made in the Philippines and One for the Gods.

“I intend to put up a Filipino dance company in the US. New York has a lot of opportunities. There is teaching, dancing for other companies and sometimes helping out in theater groups.”

A stage personality who will be missed in the forthcoming provincial tour of Magsimula Ka is winsome Isay Alvarez, who has since become a star in her own right. She has made her mark with her performances in entertainment circuit and Jograd’s Enter Laughing.

The Magsimula Ka group will be leaving for the southern islands while Isay will be doing her commitments here in Manila.

NOW: Jan. 10, 2011 — 25 years later.

Odette is semi-retired and lives in Laguna. It is a pleasure to see her guest on TV once in a while. Her only daughter Claudette is a successful academician. Odette, like most grandmothers, dotes on her grandchildren.

Denise spends most her time abroad. She is more into teaching the art of the dance.

Isay has been active as ever. Since her successful stint in Miss Saigon, she married Robert Seña who was another big hit when he played the engineer also in Miss Saigon. Still deep in the arts, they put up their own theater company to produce shows. The new series of Magsimula Ka is under their company. Robert and Isay also guest on television where they show not only their musical but their acting prowess as well.