Cecile as Juana la Loca

October 19, 2010

Dear Miss Orosa:

This is a much delayed thank you for your support to Dia del Galeon. I was so overwhelmed with work I wasn’t able to write you earlier to thank you for your never ending support which we deeply appreciated. It gave us encouragement to carry on in spite of difficulties that we were able to successfully overcome. Thanks for the faith, perseverance and cooperation of everyone involved, particularly, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee Sen. Edgardo Angara with NCCA Chairman Vilma L. Labrador.

I am so sorry that you were not able to see the different spectaculo modules created out of Artes Talleres that was created under the direction of Gardy Labad recently given the Best Director Award by Aliw for his exceptional staging of Tagore’s Post Office. Gardy was assisted by a team of Filipino artists that beautifully synergized and fused talents of a multinational cast in doing a final showcase work-in-progress of Juana la Loca which was a unique triangulated performance by a Mexican playwright Miguel Sabido about the Queen of Spain who people thought went mad out of her passion for her philandering husband Felipe Hermoso but was a feminist that opposed oppression. It gave a collaborative symbol of a triangulated presentation between Manila, Madrid and Mexico.

It portrayed Juana to fulfill a promise to the playwright who wasn’t able to come but insisted that I undertake the role for him to give the rights for the presentation. Thank God it went well. We were visited by DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin Luistro, DOT Secretary Alberto Lim, and DFA Usec. Jose Brillantes who represented Secretary Alberto Romulo, chairman of the Advisory Board composed of ambassadors headed by Spanish Ambassador Luis Arias Romero and Mexican Ambassador Tomas Javier Unna Calvillo. NCCA Chairman Labrador presided over the closing ceremony. Sen. Angara was represented by his nephew Patrick and Aurora’s administrator since the Baler Steering Committee co-produced Juana la Loca with NCCA and the International Theater Institute, Philippine Center.

Particularly interesting was the participation of 17 Mask and Drum Dancers of Seoul’s Institute of the Arts headed by distinguished artist of Korea, Duk Hyung Yoo who in 1971 directed Alamang for the First Third World Theater Festival of the ITI-UNESCO. International participants included Nepalese actor and director Anup Baral, Indians, Brazilians, Chinese acrobats, Vietnamese musicians, Japanese contemporary artist Jun Amanto who is the creator of unique dance method Kabuku-Mai, Korean Sun Ock Lee who taught the Zen meditation dance and a wonderful Mexican Aztec artist Vicente Baroco Reyes whose picture with the Galleon, complete with his incredible headdress of feather, colorful attire, and musical instrument appeared in various papers.

We had a very talented composer Jeffrey Hernandez with a musical consultant from Spain Mr. Pedro Luengo Gutierrez, the UST Liturgikon and the Gawad Kalinga Tatalon Performing Arts Group. The flexible staging was set by designer Rolly de Leon also recognized by Aliw Awards. The costume team was led by Eric Pineda with Raven Ong and the marvelous wig and make-up artist Rey Dulay who could transform a lola like me to a 20-year-old until she died at about 80 years old.

Visuals were by CJ Andaluz, an award-winning, talented Indie filmmaker, and animator Ellen Ramos. Our choreographic team was led by Wally Tuyan with his Pamana dancers assisted by Sai Collado. Guillermo Gomez Rivera was a consultant on Spanish flamenco.

Gardy’s four assistants in charge of multiple characters were Peter S. Macrohon, Basilidas Pilapil Jr., Nestor de Veyra and German Janus Veydaben. The main roles were played by two upcoming stars: Felipe by Joselito Rigeurra, Carlos V by Paul Patrick Nabua, and the King and Queen were played by veteran singing actors Miguel Faustmann and Thea Perez Prosia. The important role of bishop was portrayed by Giovanni Respall. The witch was exquisitely essayed by May Bayot de Castro while Death was interpreted by Jun Francis Jaranilla. Mariana was a triple composite of storyteller, seer and court jester played by Bernadette Bernardo, Raymund Marcaida and Nikki Pahati, a cerebral palsy actor from the Earthsavers DREAMS Ensemble.

I haven’t been on stage for some time and people didn’t know I would be the lead so everyone was surprised but we got wonderful comments like the following:

From Rey Importante: “My engineers and staff who witnessed the show enjoyed but were amazed. They didn’t expect it was you in the lead role as actress! Superb! Bravo, Ma’am!”

From Patnubay, Tourism Officer of Angono: “We enjoyed the play. You are seen only as a leader and organizer. We were amazed because you are also great as a performer. The wife of Mayor Calderon could not believe you were acting.”

Juana was an interesting complex Queen, an early advocate of feminism. Now that I am retired, I can dabble in acting and help some very talented indie fillmmakers. As I plan to settle down to write my memoirs and finally work out my angst to do a film on EDSA aching to be fleshed out while reviving Balintataw classics on TV and keeping it on DZRH radio.

Again thank you for your eternal support.

Sincerely yours,

Cecile Guidote-Alvarez President, Philippine Center, International Theater Institute

It is immensely gratifying that Cecile will once again be performing in theater. One of the country’s finest actresses, she portrayed Doña Teodora decades ago in “My Son, Jose Rizal”, which play by National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquingco was described by Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero as “the best written in 1957”. Cecile’s portrayal of Rizal’s aged mother was so dramatic, so powerfully convincing, it moved me to tears.

Cecile founded the Philippine Educational Theater Association whose presentations in Fort Santiago laid the foundation for a national theater, foreign dramatic works dominating the stage at that time.

Escaping Marcos’ wrath, Cecile and Heherson flew to New York where Cecile gathered young Filipino talents and presented them in Ellen Stewart’s La Mama Theater off-Broadway. Back home, Cecile organized the Earthsavers DREAMS Ensemble consisting of disabled talents, garnering glowing praise.

Cecile lent tremendous assistance to Sec. Angara when he staged the zarzuela “Baler sa Puso Ko” in his native province, and again assisted him while she served as director-general of the “Dia del Galeon Festival” which paved the way for the arrival of the galleon Andalucia.

Until recently, Cecile was executive director of NCCA which agency vigorously initiated and promoted cultural activities for years.