Perigargan: Before Philamlife Theater's Last Curtain Call

Although I'm not an artist - far from it - I somehow managed to wrestle some performances at the Philamlife Theater during my 4-year/10-month tenure as an employee of Philamlife by singing two anthems, solo and a capella, to formally open employee programs – one, the National Anthem (Lupang Hinirang) and two, the Philamlife Anthem or hymn. My personal claim to fame therefore is that at one point in time I launched my “singing career” at the Philamlife Theater. (lmao)

(left): the theater with its unique floor-to-ceiling wooden panels;

(right): the wood carvings of Paete artists lend an elegant and

warm ambiance to the theater

It was with trepid apprehension then when we learned about the sale of the property on which the theater and the Philamlife building sit. With the sale seems to go the inevitable destruction of both the theater and the building to give way to new development. Apparently, the site has been sold to SM Development Corporation (SMDC).

the building and its cantilever entrance

obviously, it has luxury of space - the spacious lobby and hallway

the lifts fronting the lobby with priceless Manansalas

As regards the theater and building, VERA files by Pablo A. Tariman has this to say:

Known for its excellent acoustics, Philam Life Auditorium on United Nations Avenue in Ermita is a 780-seat theater whose acoustics were done by Bolt, Beranek & Newman, which also did the acoustics of the Sydney Opera House, United Nations Assembly Hall in New York, Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Cultural Center of the Philippines and Baltimore's Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

The Philam Life building was designed by Filipino architect Carlos Arguelles and built in 1961. The Urban Roamer website said, “The building was built in accordance with the International Style of architecture, a style that emerged after World War II that emphasized on the building’s ‘natural’ beauty …rather than relying on decorative facades.

The idea of the theater being turned into a shopping mall has alarmed the classical music community. PPO’s music director Olivier Ochanine has launched an online petition asking the theater’s new owner to spare the auditorium.

“This is one of the best performance halls in the entire Philippines and must be saved,” the petition, which has so far netted an initial 3000 signatories, said. “It has some of the best acoustics for Manila's orchestras, choirs, and solo musical artists and its destruction would be a gigantic loss for Filipino culture and heritage. We must stand together to protect this, our most acoustically ‘sound’ performance venue. Let us make this one of the biggest uprisings Manila has seen.”

“This is by far the best hall I've sung in,” said Arthur Espiritu, the first Filipino tenor to sing at the La Scala di Milan. Espiritu ranks Philam Life Theater’s excellent acoustics second only to the little theater in Carnegie Hall.

Acoustics in the theater is so good such that when members of the audience talk to each other, even those seated on the last row can be heard by the performers on stage. I once watched a play halted momentarily by the director in medias res as he heard some audience members talking in decibels distracting to the stage actors. Still at another time, Cecil Licad was intensely playing one of her classical pieces when this actress who was with her actor-husband unwrapped a piece of candy in the middle of Cecil's performance. High-brow society matrons heard the irritating sound of the plastic wrapper and looked over their shoulders to find out where the noise was coming from. The actress had to stop unwrapping her candy in order to stay under the prowling eyes.

My friends and I, who are either current or ex-Philamlifers quickly organized a photo shoot for posterity before everything gets consigned to oblivion. We enjoyed every moment of it as we reminisced our happy and wacky moments in Philamlife. Our special thanks goes out to Mags who arranged for a photographer for our photo shoot.