Maryo J. de los Reyes turns a year wiser

“Can you imagine two Virgin Marys fighting?”

That statement may have sounded blasphemous, but it sent the usually prim and proper Boots Anson-Roa into fits of girlish giggles.

The topic was the top-rated Munting Heredera, where Boots was recently included to serve as thorn to Gloria Romero’s grand matriarch character.

In the story, they are fighting and I thought that was so strange considering the fact that — in their prime — they were always cast as the Blessed Mother in any passion play or stage/film/TV project that depicted the life of Christ.

I have no idea if the people behind the production of Munting Heredera figured that out when they cast Boots in the program, but I always feel weird watching them bicker because, well, they were both Mama Mary on screen!

Of course, they are both so effective in their respective roles, but viewers would only expect the best performance from Gloria Romero.

In the case of Boots, she was a slow burn (especially since she started as a host and not in the field of acting), but had already fully blossomed as an actress, especially in the last several years — when she was finally given a variety of roles to play on screen (in the past, she was always cast as, yes, the virginal type).

But look at her play the wicked woman now in Munting Heredera. She is so convincing that even her own relatives are starting to hate her. Ask them.

I’m sure even daughter Chiqui Roa-Puno, who is now shining on her own as a broadcaster (one of the most sensible ones), must be wondering if this is the same woman that raised her and her siblings to grow up into the responsible adults that they are today.

Luz Valdez and Marita Zobel among his well-wishers.

Casting against type was just one of the subjects discussed in our table during the birthday celebration of Maryo J. de los Reyes, who is also the director of Munting Heredera. (The J stands for Jorolan.)

I usually shun big parties, but I didn’t want to skip this one (even if I was in between commitments that time) because Maryo J. is one of the most loveable directors in local showbiz. And then, there is also my respect for him as a filmmaker and he had always been one of the finest — already the toast of the critics even early in his directorial career.

I also knew I made the right decision to attend this event when upon entering Pepeton’s (the party venue along Scout Borromeo) I immediately spotted a table where sat Gloria — together with Caridad Sanchez, Luz Valdez and Marita Zobel, women I always look up to with reverence.

Of course, I was quick to point out to them that Rosa Rosal will always be the greatest love of my life and no one contested that. They also remembered that Tita Rose’s birthday (last Oct. 16) was nearing and they sent their felicitations through me.

Eventually, Robert Arevalo walked in and managed to squeeze into our table even if ours was already filled to capacity. Of course, he was welcome to join us and I thought that what could be a better spot in that restaurant than our table — what with all the performers of note there? (I was actually the odd-man-out.)

And then came in Boots Anson-Roa and the casting was complete.

I offered my seat to Boots and moved to the one across where sat TV5 production bigwig Jo-Ann Banaga. From my chair I watched as the great actors of the local screen interacted with each other. You couldn’t have found a better casting than that.

There were actually many, many other guests who joined Maryo J. at his party that evening. I spotted and had a brief chat with director Mac Alejandre, Ynez Veneracion (another acting dynamite in Munting Heredera), Andrea del Rosario, Jaclyn Jose and talented fashion designer Frederick Peralta, but with due respect to these people, the senior actors were the dream company that evening.

Although he is widely acknowledged for his quality youth-oriented films (High School Circa ‘65, Bagets 1 and II, etc.), Maryo J. never fails to include the veteran performers in his movie/TV projects. That must be his way of showing their importance to the industry. In return, he also gets their affection and respect.

This is the reason why he got a cross-section of entertainment people to celebrate with him another year of turning wiser. They were all there to give their salutations to one of Philippine cinema’s most beloved and esteemed filmmakers.