THE ARTIST THAT IS MARIO O"HARA

Every fan has his anecdote about one's favorite actor, and I have one about Mario O'Hara.

Many moons ago when I was a Technical Director for the Cultural Center of the Philippines and assigned to oversee Tanghalang Pilipino's production of Shusaku Endo's Ang Ginintuang Bayan, then TP Artistic Director Nonon Padilla and the play's director Jonas Sebastian asked me to understudy the part being played by Nonie Buencamino in the production. Nonie's wife Shamaine was due to give birth anytime during the course of the production, and since the couple were prepared to deliver the baby through lamaze, Nonie just had to be with his wife when she did. Hence, the need for an understudy.

Since the most part of my acting career had been made up of filling in for other actors at the last minute, I had the temerity to accept the assignment. Memorizing the lines and the blocking came rather easy for me since I had been watching the rehearsals for quite some time by then anyway. The difficult part was a tea ceremony that Nonie's character had to do in one scene that he did with two other actors -- Pen Medina and Mario O'Hara.

Now, the only way that one could go through a tea ceremony is by actually doing it, and in anticipation of my having to step in for the part, special rehearsals were scheduled for the scene that had the tea ceremony in it.

To cut the story short, the rehearsals for the scene turned out to be long, tedious and excruciating, for the lines had to be said at specific points during the tea ceremony. We did the scene over and over again, Pen Medina and Mario O'Hara around doing it with me.

It turned out that I didn't need to worry, as Shamaine gave birth in the morning, giving Nonie time to return to the theater for the afternoon matinee. I was saved.

The one thing I cannot forget is how wonderful it felt to be with Mario O'Hara in a scene, and no matter how many times we had to do it and how he could simply have let a Stage Manager throw me the lines, he stayed and helped the understudy learn the scene.

When I thought of programming Kudeta for Tanghalang Pilipino's 21st Theater Season, I thought of asking Mario O'Hara to play the leading part of President Edward Francis Jones, with the rest of the cast to be played by the members of the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors' Company. I thought it would be a great experience for the young actors to perform with one of the greatest actors Philippine theater has produced. (My wife will willingly accept any role as long as she gets to play with Mario O'Hara; lucky for her, she has had the chance to do so more than once.)

And then again, just watching Mario O'Hara is already worth the price of the ticket. Just ask any one from the capacity-crowds that have been flocking to see him in Kudeta at the CCP.

Tanghalang Pilipino's production of KUDETA! (The Coup) by Mustapha Matura directed by Floy Quintos will have its final weekend run on February 1-2 at 8pm and February 2-3 at 3pm at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Huseng Batute (Studio Theater). For tickets, call 832-3661, 832-3704, or 891-9999.