Of movie & music fans

MANILA, Philippines - In my younger years, I was a typical fanatic movie fan.

In the mid-’60s when I first set foot in Manila, I walked from East Ave. to Gilmore Ave. in Quezon City to do whole afternoon vigil at the gates of the Sampaguita Pictures studio hoping to see Susan Roces in person.

Never had such luck.

Saw everyone from Boy Alano to Rosemarie Sonora but never Susan Roces.

When Ricky Lo assigned me to interview Susan Roces, in the early ’90s, I replied with a triple “Yes!”

Waiting at the living room of her Lincoln Street home in Greenhills, I actually was very nervous.

That was the feeling when the one you were about to interview was the same person you had hiked East Ave. to Gilmore Ave. for just to see in person. The niece, Sheryl Cruz, appeared in the living room and told me “Swanee” would be around in a while. “Mukhang nininerbiyos. Baka daw mahihirap ang mga tanong mo,” she said and I thought she was kidding.

I was the one shaking from nervousness (or maybe more due to excitement).

When Susan appeared, I thought I saw a saint descend in the living room.

It took a while to break the ice as I instantly recalled how I would frequent Catanduanes Theater in Virac everytime there was a Susan Roces starrer.

I actually became more relaxed when she recalled her first audition at the Sampaguita studio and one of the scenes she was made to re-enact was an “attempted rape” scene. She said she hollered “Saklolo” as though her life depended on that scream. We ended up sharing laughter because she said she was very naïve when she did that scene.

Later during the interview, she also recalled visiting the grave of a close relative and noticed what looks like snow all over the place, “Pablo, I thought finally nagka-snow na sa Pilipinas. But when I touched it, sabi ko bakit hindi malamig?”

 It turned out they were ashes from Mt. Pinatubo.

Again, we shared boisterous laughter and then I realized my movie idol was just as human as the girl next door.

(Offhand, I thought that sharing spontaneous laughter with Swanee was like sharing stifled laughter with Mrs. Marcos when someone in fourth row at the CCP main theater farted in the middle of a Rachmaninoff concerto and everyone in that orchestra center seats  — including the presidential daughter — being prim and proper pretended it didn’t happen. When I looked at Mrs. Marcos the second time, she was still stifling her laughter like I did.)

If in my youth I was fixated on Susan Roces, of course, it is common knowledge that in my 30s to my 60s, I was — and still am — a certified fan of pianist Cecile Licad.

So imagine my surprise when backstage after a Licad performance in the mid-’80s, I saw Susan, the late Charito Solis, Dina Bonnevie and Marilou Diaz-Abaya in the audience. In that CCP scene, my eyes were again on Susan and Charito and of course, Marilou who became a dear friend and later my backstage assistant in one Licad concert in Baguio City. I remember Marilou shouted at the piano tuner when she smelled liquor. “Nobody touches liquor in this concert until the piano is thoroughly tuned!” she thundered and it shook the ceiling of the Camp John Hay Convention Center.

Of course, Marilou would not fly with me to Baguio and Tuguegarao cities if she were not a Licad fan. Licad herself became a Marilou fan when she saw Jose Rizal in New York. Licad was one of the first persons who witnessed Marilou’s first chemotherapy at St. Luke’s weeks after the latter was diagnosed with breast cancer.

(I remember that after the Tuguegarao concert of Licad at the St. Paul’s University, there were two long lines of autograph-seekers: One for Licad and another one for Marilou when I announced the latter was in the audience.)

Another stage actor that I admire is Lea Salonga and of course, there was no need for those awards to confirm she was an unbeatable singing actress. Then I just thought it would be nice if Iloilo’s international tenor, Otoniel Gonzaga, team up with Lea.

It was my first attempt to bring together a Broadway star and an opera singer.

In that CCP concert where Lea was already seven months pregnant with Nicole, the rapport was instant.

Their solo numbers were received with cheers and bravos. But in the popular number called The Prayer, everyone thought it was a heavenly and almost hair-raising experience.

As I await the March 17 performance of Licad with Lea and prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde at the CCP main theater, it must be noted that Lea herself became a Licad fan when she heard the pianist for the first time last year with her conductor-brother Gerald at the Philamlife Theater.

Wrote Lea of that Licad performance: “I had never seen her (Licad) perform live, so sitting in the third row was a special treat. Her fingers were fleeting, lightning-fast all over the keyboard. This is to be expected, given her training and experience. Most impressive was her expression. She ‘sang’ along when she played, her mouth moving almost as quickly as her hands. She would stamp her foot on the pedal from time to time, depending on what was happening in the music.

“After the main program, the hooting, hollering and screaming audience on its feet kept her coming back for more. She must have played four or five encores. Man, I could have listened to her all night.

“Ms. Licad possesses amazing technical proficiency and emotional transparency. I never once had to guess how she was interpreting a piece, by the way it sounded, by her posture (and how it would change depending on the passage), a breath, a look, a smirk, a knowing grin.

“I don’t know anyone can follow in Ms. Licad’s footsteps at this time. I haven’t heard of another pianist that possesses the same qualities. I sure hope someone rises up to the plate. It would be unfortunate if she proves to be one of the last artisans of her kind. 

“After the concert I went online in search of her recordings; I do plan to purchase all of them. I entered the auditorium to watch Ms. Licad, for the first time and came away a rabid fan.”

(Cecile Licad, Lea Salonga, prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde with conductor Gerald Salonga and the Filharmonika Orchestra will be heard at the CCP on March 17, 8 p.m. Call 891-9999 for tickets. After the CCP performance, Licad will be heard in a solo recital at the Holy Angel University in Angeles City on March 22 and Cebu City on March 27. Her solo provincial program: Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61; Three Mazurkas op.56; Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante in E-flat major, Op. 22 and Liszt’s Miserere du “Trovatore” de Verdi — Paraphrase de Concert and Après une Lecture de Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata. Call 748-4152 or 0906-5104270.)