The Ovation Story

MANILA, Philippines - As Ovation Productions’ very first venture into Broadway musicals, Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, nears its opening in January 2015, there is one big event that Ovation Productions will be celebrating this first week of December, it’s the 35th year of doing what we do; and that is the bringing of quality international artists to our shores.

It was in 1978 when teenage movie star-turned-WEA recording artist Leif Garrett came to Manila to do a promo tour. Being a radio jock and A&R manager for Dyna Records’ Polygram label and concurrently handling the WEA Record Revue, the record company’s weekly-radio countdown of hit songs, I was tasked by WEA’s Ramon Chuaying to be part of the team that would do the rounds with our superstar guest and his manager.

I would first come on stage to work the crowd of screaming fans then introduce Leif. Something about what I did or might have said must have registered nicely with Leif’s manager, Stan Moress, as he told me that he would want me to be the Manila promoter when Leif toured Asia in December the next year (1979). WEA management gave its blessings and promised full support for the job which I did not apply for but was quick to accept. Funny thing was that prior to this, Circus Band member Pat Castillo told me that she felt that I would be a good promoter. Many years after having been one, I mentioned this to Pat but she couldn’t even remember telling me.

We did well with Leif and went on to do Blood Sweat & Tears featuring David Clayton Thomas, Kenny Rankin, Michael Franks, America, Air Supply, Don McLean, Nazareth, Rupert Holmes, Randy Crawford, and a number of other artists of the era. We occasionally partnered with the late great impresario Ching Imperial on acts like Bon Jovi, Michael Bolton, etc. and who became our godfather when Celinda and I got married.

I remember the times when Cel and I would walk the entire length of Avenida Rizal in Manila with me lugging an expanded leather attaché case (hahaha!) starting in Shoemart Carriedo, then Good Earth Emporium, then Alemar’s, followed by National Bookstore in C.M. Recto, ending in Merriam Bookstore in Morayta. We’d monitor sales in these outlets and deliver or pull out tickets manually as there wasn’t any computerized ticketing system then. It was tedious enough having the tickets printed, each one counted and rubber stamped, brought to City Hall to be registered, preparing ticket delivery receipts, then finally delivering to the various outlets. A good two- to three-week period would have passed before we could actually start selling. These days, if an act gets confirmed, you can go online immediately and the store is open 24 hours a day.

There was a time when the City of Manila disagreed with the City of Pasay on who had jurisdiction over the Folk Arts Theater. I ended up paying amusement tax to both city governments. Thankfully, the issue has long been resolved in favor of Pasay City but I no longer use the Folk Arts Theater. I certainly miss that venue and although I loved its theater operations director Teddy Hilado, I certainly don’t miss our loud shouting matches.

Gone, thankfully, are the days I’d drive out at 3 a.m. to Globe Mackay or Philcom in Paseo de Roxas to receive or send out telexes. E-mail has made the job a lot easier but you’d nevertheless have sleepless nights if you find yourself in a difficult situation… and in this business, you’re always in some kind of bind. Definitely not your kind of work if you’re happy with a 9 to 5 schedule and have a low threshold for stress.

How long does it take to prepare for a concert? Ideally, three months but you don’t always have control over who’s available and when. Obviously, the longer lead time, the better as it gives you the benefit to promote longer, depending on the strength of the artist. Sometimes, a really good break comes along like One Direction where confirmation comes more than one year in advance but all you need is just a few hours to sell out two outdoor shows. Other times, all you’re given is just a few weeks so you need to mobilize fast. There’d be instances you’d be pressured to buy one show even if the act is weak with the promise of a strong act in the future. It will be naïve of you to fall for this as every deal is made separately and you will most probably be unable to do the next act anyway if you lose big once.

People tell me that they like the name Ovation Productions and how I was able to come up with it. In 1978, I promoted at the Pines Hotel in Baguio City the very popular and outrageously hilarious play The Boys In The Band which has been running for months at Hotel Mirador in San Marcelino St., Manila. It starred Bernardo Bernardo, Marco Sison, Soxy Topacio, Manny Castañeda, Nestor Torre, Larry Leviste and others. I was dealing with Menggie Cobarrubias who was also in the cast and was the show’s manager/agent. His company was called Applause Promotions which I liked. Immediately, standing ovation came to mind which evolved into Ovation Productions. So there.

It was during our frequent tie-ups with Emilio Tuason’s 99.5RT where the term “Official Concert Station” was born. It used to be that promoters collaborated with record companies to promote an artist’s concert through radio. Now, you don’t need the record companies to promote, and sadly, you don’t even need radio. It’s a whole new ballgame. People now go streaming and for Valentine’s 2015, I happen to be promoting Spotify’s No. 1 most streamed international artist in the Philippines. Its name is Boyce Avenue and the band doesn’t even get to be played on the radio. We sold out Resorts World Manila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater last year. We’re ready to take on Araneta Coliseum.

Ovation does all genres from “oldies“ like Engelbert Humperdinck to hot current acts like Taylor Swift. Tony Bennett whom we also did could be 87 years old but is somehow considered current. Amazing longevity in both life and career.

We look at Ovation Productions in pretty much the same way. We have been around for 35 years and yet we continue evolving and take on bigger challenges. Ovation has just done the history-making International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) last weekend where we handled the production, staffing and event management at the Mall Of Asia Arena (but not the promotions of the event). We are in the history books of the venue itself, having opened Mall Of Asia Arena with Lady Gaga in May 2012. We just did Jason Mraz and Sergio Mendes concerts before IPTL. Before them, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Il Divo with Lea Salonga, Cesar Millan The Dog Whisperer, Vertical Horizon, Tony Orlando, Boyz II Men, magician David Blaine, among others. Those were only for this year alone. In a few weeks, we will be presenting Disney’s Beauty And The Beast but are already planning for our next musical later in 2015 and will soon be announcing our future concerts.

I am blessed with a very capable partner, my wife Celinda, and we are glad that our 33-year-old son, Bogie, has come on board to handle production, security and road management. What’s it like working with your wife and son? Well, for one, we don’t spend time holding endless meetings. We just talk about it and things get done as we all know our respective jobs.

It has, indeed, been a good 35 years of getting the job done but not without problems. We have been in really deep holes at least twice but have managed to climb out each time. We must be doing something right or we wouldn’t be around since 1979. We sincerely thank everyone for their support and patronage. By God’s grace, we will keep going until concerts are no longer in fashion. And as the song The Twelfth of Never goes… and that’s a long, long time.

On this page are some memorable photos from Ovation Productions’ 35-year history:

1. Leif Garrett (1979). This is how I started. Ovation Productions’ very first concert 35 years ago. Leif was the Justin Bieber of the 1970s. From left: Tito Ty, Dyna Records VP; Nonoy Tan, WEA Records producer who later became president of Filscap; Rudy Tee, WEA Records label manager who became managing director of Sony-BMG Records; teenage idol Leif; the late Bella Tan WEA’s AGM; Long Tall Howard, A&R manager of WEA now with radio station DZBB; and Ramon Chuaying, GM of WEA who became managing director of Universal Records and owner of Magnavision.

2. America (1981). Cel and I will forever love Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. The time they came into our lives couldn’t be any better. It was after a series of unsuccessful concerts and we considered them our last card. We totally sold out three nights at the Folk Arts Theater and the overflowing crowds just sat at the grassy areas surrounding the venue and had a picnic while listening to the music for free. America gave us the means to pay back our debts and for Cel and I to get married. We then traveled to Hong Kong the day after the wedding… our very first trip out of the country ever. (Photo was taken in Baguio in 2013, our 15th concert with the band!)

3. David Copperfield (1989). Amazing show! We did a two- or three-week run at the Folk Arts Theater with matinees on weekends at 2 p.m. The venue was at the Manila Bay area where afternoons were quite bright and humid but we had to black out the inside of the venue for the illusions to work. We sweated profusely as the venue had no air-con. After the run, we all lost so much weight!

4. Sting (1994) charmed the ladies with his male machismo. Articulate without being wordy. Dignified even just wearing a shirt. As for the concert, not an inch of open space left at the ULTRA “Open Air” in Pasig in January 1994. The outdoor venue was super packed by a very appreciative yet disciplined crowd. Many had to walk from as far as Megamall for lack of parking space. Awesome experience! We have since brought him back in 2012. 

5. The Lettermen. Outstanding vocal harmony by very professional and highly-entertaining performers. They call themselves the Backstreet Boys of the 1960s. There was not a song which a person in the audience didn’t recognize and love. The songs that made Michael Bublé famous or Rod Stewart’s career resurrect — covers of American standards — The Lettermen have been singing for decades. From the period 2005 to 2013, we have done multiple sell-out dates during our many Philippine tours.

6. Lady Gaga (2009). The Araneta concert was the first arena-size solo show of Lady Gaga and she was very emotional about the experience. She flew in from Australia where the Pussycat Dolls just ended their tour; she was their front act. We were told by her crew that all of Lady Gaga’s previous solo shows before Manila were bars and other small venues. She was in tears backstage because she felt she has “arrived”… an awesome feeling. Manila was so special to her.

7. Tears for Fears (2010). We have been trying to bring them to Manila since the ’80s. They finally relented in 2010 and were shocked at how they were enthusiastically received by Filipinos. The audience sang every song, word for word, from beginning till end of the concert at the top of their lungs as if to say “You made us wait this long, now take that!” Totally insane sing-along! This prompted Curt Smith to declare that “after 25 years Tears For Fears have now officially peaked!”

8a & 8b. Disney’s Beauty And the Beast (2015). Ovation Productions’ first venture in Broadway musicals. It took four trips to four cities to finalize the deal: Philadelphia, New York, Singapore and Abu Dhabi; five cities of Manila included. This is a dream come true for me as I almost pursued a career in theater. I won the Best Actor Award in the 1972 Inter-Collegiate Dramafest at U.S.T. representing the College of Engineering. The play was titled Pira-pirasong Pangarap. Award was given by Bernardo Bernardo who headed the panel of judges. I also appeared as second lead in an operetta produced by the U.S.T. Conservatory of Music Graduating Class of 1973 titled The Unmusical Impressario directed by Leo Martinez.