Bodabil
Encyclopedia
Bodabil was a popular genre of entertainment in the Philippines
from the 1910s until the mid-1960s. For decades, it competed with film, radio and television as the dominant form of Filipino mass entertainment. It peaked in popularity during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines from 1941 to 1945. Many of the leading figures of Philippine film
in the 20th century, such as Dolphy
, Nora Aunor
, Leopoldo Salcedo
and Rogelio de la Rosa
, began their showbusiness careers in bodabil.
Bodabil is an indigenized form of vaudeville
, which had been introduced in the Philippines around the turn of the 20th century. It featured a hodgepodge of musical numbers, short-form comedy and dramatic skits, and even magic acts, often staged inside the theaters of Manila
. Bodabil proved the vehicle for the popularization of musical trends and musicians, performance genres and performers.
During these early years of vaudeville in the Philippines, most of the featured entertainers were non-Filipinos. By the middle of the 1910s, a few Filipino performers would begin to appear in vaudeville acts as well. The zarzuela star Atang de la Rama was among the first of such performers, as well as the singer Katy de la Cruz
, who first appeared on Manila stages aged 7. The routines they would perform were featured as intermission
numbers in between sarswelas. These intermission numbers were sometimes called "jamborees".
In 1923, there were three theaters in Manila that were exclusively devoted to bodabil. By 1941, there were 40 theaters in Manila featuring bodabil shows. The popularity of bodabil was not confined to Manila stages. Bodabil routines were also staged in town fiestas and carnivals. The typical bodabil shows would feature a mixture of performances of American ballads, torch songs and blues
numbers; dance numbers featuring tap dance
rs and chorus girl
s and jitterbug showcases; and even the occasional kundiman
.
Within that period, established performers such as Katy de la Cruz and Borromeo Lou continued to thrive. New stars also emerged, such as the singers Diana Toy and Miami Salvador; the dancer Bayani Casimiro
, and the magician and Chaplin
imitator Canuplin
. Many leading lights of Philippine cinema began their entertainment careers in bodabil during this period, such as Rogelio de la Rosa
, Leopoldo Salcedo
, Dely Atay-Atayan
and Chichay
. Bodabil thrived despite the emergence of Filipino film productions. Many moviehouses featured bodabil performances in between screenings, and many film and bodabil stars frequently crossed over from one genre to the other.
Among the performers whose careers were jumpstarted during this period were Panchito Alba
, Anita Linda
, Rosa Mia, the tandem of Tugo and Pugo, and Dolphy
, who started under the stage name "Golay" as a comic dance partner of Bayani Casimiro.
Many bodabil shows during the war incorporated subtle anti-Japanese and pro-American messages. Tugo and Pugo had a popular routine where they portrayed Japanese soldiers wearing multiple wristwatches on both of their arms, and they were soon briefly incarcerated for that spoof. There were comedic and dramatic skits that referred to the impending return of "Mang Arturo", an allusion to General MacArthur
's promise, "I shall return." Even guerilla members attended bodabil shows, and when word reached the performers that the Kempetai were due to arrive, they'd break out into a special song that served as code to the guerillas to leave the premises.
and German Moreno
, the singers Pepe Pimentel, Diomedes Maturan
, and Eddie Peregrina
.
Bodabil continued to capitalize on the latest trends in Western entertainment. It featured popular Latin dances such as the mambo and cha-cha, or the boogie
, which was popularized by Chiquito. When rock and roll
emerged in the 1950s, bodabil showcased Eddie Mesa, who became known as the "Elvis Presley
of the Philippines". In the late 1950s, singers such as Nora Aunor
, Elizabeth Ramsey, Pilita Corrales
and Sylvia La Torre
also plied the bodabil circuit. Bodabil had also started to incorporate burlesque
numbers into its routines.
By the 1960s, bodabil had to compete as well with the rise of commercial television broadcasts in the Philippines. It underwent a swift decline, and by the late 1960s, the form drew on the limited market for its burlesque routines. The emergence of bomba films around 1969-1970, which killed off burlesque, also marked the end of bodabil.
After martial law was declared in 1972, President
Ferdinand Marcos
attempted to revive a sanitized form of bodabil. Theaters such as the Manila Grand Opera House
again featured bodabil routines, with slogans praising martial law rule piped into the theaters in between numbers. These efforts proved unpopular. In the 1980s, activist groups within the University of the Philippines
also tried to utilize the bodabil format, using the medium to promote socially-conscious themes.
The influence of bodabil in Filipino culture arguably persists to this day. Its hodgepodge of song and dance numbers are still recognizable in television variety shows and even in intermission numbers in political rallies.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
from the 1910s until the mid-1960s. For decades, it competed with film, radio and television as the dominant form of Filipino mass entertainment. It peaked in popularity during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines from 1941 to 1945. Many of the leading figures of Philippine film
Cinema of the Philippines
Cinema of the Philippines started with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on January 1, 1897 at the Salón de Pertierra in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph...
in the 20th century, such as Dolphy
Dolphy
Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Sr. , known by his screen name Dolphy, is a Filipino comedian-actor in the Philippines. He has appeared in a number of works on stage, radio, television and movies.-Biography:Dolphy was born on P. Herrera St...
, Nora Aunor
Nora Aunor
Nora "Guy" Aunor is a multi-awarded Filipino actress, singer and producer. Aunor has also topbilled several stage plays, television shows, and concerts. She is regarded as the "Superstar in Philippine Entertainment Industry"...
, Leopoldo Salcedo
Leopoldo Salcedo
Leopoldo Salcedo was a two-time FAMAS award-winning Filipino film actor who specialized in portraying dramatic heroes. Dubbed as "The Great Profile" , he was said to be among the first kayumanggi or dark-skinned Filipino film stars, in contrast to the lighter-skinned mestizo actors of his...
and Rogelio de la Rosa
Rogelio de la Rosa
Regidor de la Rosa , better known as Rogelio de la Rosa, was one of the most popular Filipino matinee idols of the 20th century. He is also remembered for his statesmanship, in particular his accomplishments as a diplomat...
, began their showbusiness careers in bodabil.
Bodabil is an indigenized form of vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, which had been introduced in the Philippines around the turn of the 20th century. It featured a hodgepodge of musical numbers, short-form comedy and dramatic skits, and even magic acts, often staged inside the theaters of Manila
Standalone movie theaters of the Philippines
Art Deco theaters of the Philippines are theaters constructed the 1930s to 1950s built in the style of Art Deco or a branch of the style like Streamline Moderne in the Philippines...
. Bodabil proved the vehicle for the popularization of musical trends and musicians, performance genres and performers.
Origins
At around the beginning of the American occupation of the Philippines at the turn of the 20th century, stage entertainment in the Philippines was dominated by the Spanish-influenced komedya and the newly emergent zarzuela (or "sarswela"). In order to entertain American troops stationed in the Philippines, vaudeville acts from outside the Philippines were brought in to provide entertainment. As early as 1901, a leading Manila theater, the Teatro Zorilla, would promote some of these visiting vaudeville troupes as "Novelties in Manila".During these early years of vaudeville in the Philippines, most of the featured entertainers were non-Filipinos. By the middle of the 1910s, a few Filipino performers would begin to appear in vaudeville acts as well. The zarzuela star Atang de la Rama was among the first of such performers, as well as the singer Katy de la Cruz
Katy de la Cruz
Katy de la Cruz was a leading Filipino singer who specialized in jazz vocals and torch songs in a performing career that lasted eight decades. Hailed as "The Queen of Filipino Jazz" and as "The Queen of Bodabil", she was, by the age of 18, the highest paid entertainer in the Philippines...
, who first appeared on Manila stages aged 7. The routines they would perform were featured as intermission
Intermission
An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....
numbers in between sarswelas. These intermission numbers were sometimes called "jamborees".
Vaudeville to bodabil
In 1920, a Filipino entertainer named Luis Borromeo returned from North America, renamed himself "Borromeo Lou", and organized what became the first Filipino bodabil company. The main showcase of Borromeo Lou's company was an orchestral band, which played what he called "Classical-Jazz Music", and variety acts in between. Borromeo's band is credited as having popularized jazz in the Philippines. It was also Borromeo who dubbed the emerging form as "vod-a-vil", which soon became popularly known by its Filipinized name, bodabil.In 1923, there were three theaters in Manila that were exclusively devoted to bodabil. By 1941, there were 40 theaters in Manila featuring bodabil shows. The popularity of bodabil was not confined to Manila stages. Bodabil routines were also staged in town fiestas and carnivals. The typical bodabil shows would feature a mixture of performances of American ballads, torch songs and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
numbers; dance numbers featuring tap dance
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...
rs and chorus girl
Chorus Girl
A chorus girl is a female performer in a chorus or chorus line.It may also refer to:*Chorus Girl , a compilation from Atomic Records*Chorus Girls , a 1981 musical*"The Chorus Girl", a story by Anton Chekhov...
s and jitterbug showcases; and even the occasional kundiman
Kundiman
Kundiman is a genre of traditional Filipino love songs. The lyrics of the Kundiman are written in Tagalog. The melody is characterized by a smooth, flowing and gentle rhythm with dramatic intervals...
.
Within that period, established performers such as Katy de la Cruz and Borromeo Lou continued to thrive. New stars also emerged, such as the singers Diana Toy and Miami Salvador; the dancer Bayani Casimiro
Bayani Casimiro
Bayani Casimiro, Sr. was a Filipino dancer who was among the leading stars of bodabil in the 1930s and 1940s. He also appeared in musical films and later in life, in comedic roles. A tap dancer, he was frequently dubbed as the "Fred Astaire of the Philippines".-Early years:Casimiro was born in...
, and the magician and Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
imitator Canuplin
Canuplin
Canuto Francia , better known as Canuplin, was a Filipino stage performer and magician who gained fame for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin in Filipino movies and the local bodabil circuit.-Biography:...
. Many leading lights of Philippine cinema began their entertainment careers in bodabil during this period, such as Rogelio de la Rosa
Rogelio de la Rosa
Regidor de la Rosa , better known as Rogelio de la Rosa, was one of the most popular Filipino matinee idols of the 20th century. He is also remembered for his statesmanship, in particular his accomplishments as a diplomat...
, Leopoldo Salcedo
Leopoldo Salcedo
Leopoldo Salcedo was a two-time FAMAS award-winning Filipino film actor who specialized in portraying dramatic heroes. Dubbed as "The Great Profile" , he was said to be among the first kayumanggi or dark-skinned Filipino film stars, in contrast to the lighter-skinned mestizo actors of his...
, Dely Atay-Atayan
Dely Atay-Atayan
Dely Atay-Atayan, also Adela, Fernando, , born Adelaida Fernando, was a Filipina comedian and singer. Her career in entertainment spanned seven decades, beginning in bodabil and ending in television.-Biography:...
and Chichay
Chichay
Chichay was a Filipino comedienne. Her short and stocky stature, scratchy voice and prematurely aged appearance allowed her to portray grandmothers while only in her thirties.-Biography:...
. Bodabil thrived despite the emergence of Filipino film productions. Many moviehouses featured bodabil performances in between screenings, and many film and bodabil stars frequently crossed over from one genre to the other.
Bodabil during World War II
The Japanese invasion of the Philippines in late 1941 led to a halt in film production in the country, at the insistence of the Japanese who were not keen to allow Western influences to persist within the country. Bodabil however was permitted, and it became the predominant form of entertainment in the country. Many film actors whose careers had been stalled became regular performers in bodabil shows.Among the performers whose careers were jumpstarted during this period were Panchito Alba
Panchito Alba
Panchito Alba was a FAMAS award-winning Filipino film actor who almost exclusively appeared in comedy roles. He was billed as either "Panchito Alba" or simply "Panchito". Known for his swarthy looks and a prominent big nose, which was often the target of ridicule...
, Anita Linda
Anita Linda
Anita Linda is a two-time FAMAS award-winning and Gawad Urian award-winning Filipino film actress. A romantic lead in her youth, she later gained critical acclaim for her portrayals in maternal or elderly roles...
, Rosa Mia, the tandem of Tugo and Pugo, and Dolphy
Dolphy
Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Sr. , known by his screen name Dolphy, is a Filipino comedian-actor in the Philippines. He has appeared in a number of works on stage, radio, television and movies.-Biography:Dolphy was born on P. Herrera St...
, who started under the stage name "Golay" as a comic dance partner of Bayani Casimiro.
Many bodabil shows during the war incorporated subtle anti-Japanese and pro-American messages. Tugo and Pugo had a popular routine where they portrayed Japanese soldiers wearing multiple wristwatches on both of their arms, and they were soon briefly incarcerated for that spoof. There were comedic and dramatic skits that referred to the impending return of "Mang Arturo", an allusion to General MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
's promise, "I shall return." Even guerilla members attended bodabil shows, and when word reached the performers that the Kempetai were due to arrive, they'd break out into a special song that served as code to the guerillas to leave the premises.
Post-war bodabil
Following the end of World War II, film production in the Philippines resumed, and many of bodabil's stars either returned or shifted to cinema. Bodabil however remained popular for the next two decades. A large credit to bodabil's continued popularity can be attributed to Lou Salvador, Sr., a performer with the stage name "Chipopoy" who shifted to production after the war. Salvador would become the most successful stage show impresario in the '40s and '50s. He organized several bodabil troupes and discovered a new generation of bodabil performers, such as the comedians Chiquito, CachupoyCachupoy
Cachupoy is a famous actor and comedian in the Philippines. His trademark is sporting hair that is parted in the middle. He was a mainstay of the Magandang Tanghali television program...
and German Moreno
German Moreno
German Moreno, also known as Kuya Germs or the Master Showman , is a Filipino television host, actor, comedian and Talent Manager popular during the 1980s...
, the singers Pepe Pimentel, Diomedes Maturan
Diomedes Maturan
Diomedes Maturan was an actor who played in Botika sa baryo and Tawag ng tanghalan. Maturan died on April 7, 2002 of heart attack at age 61....
, and Eddie Peregrina
Eddie Peregrina
Eddie Villavicencio Peregrina , better known as Eddie Peregrina, was a singer and leading matinee idol of the 1970s. Dubbed as "the Original Jukebox King," he was most famous for hit songs such as What Am I Living For, Together Again, Two Lovely Flowers and Mardy, among others...
.
Bodabil continued to capitalize on the latest trends in Western entertainment. It featured popular Latin dances such as the mambo and cha-cha, or the boogie
Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded...
, which was popularized by Chiquito. When rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
emerged in the 1950s, bodabil showcased Eddie Mesa, who became known as the "Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
of the Philippines". In the late 1950s, singers such as Nora Aunor
Nora Aunor
Nora "Guy" Aunor is a multi-awarded Filipino actress, singer and producer. Aunor has also topbilled several stage plays, television shows, and concerts. She is regarded as the "Superstar in Philippine Entertainment Industry"...
, Elizabeth Ramsey, Pilita Corrales
Pilita Corrales
Pilita Garrido Corrales is a Popular Filipina singer. She is tagged "Asia's Queen of Songs."-Biography:Pilita Garrido Corrales was born in Lahug, Cebu to a Spanish mother Maria Garrido and a half Filipino half Spanish father Jose Corrales...
and Sylvia La Torre
Sylvia La Torre
Sylvia La Torre , known as "The Queen of Kundiman", is a Filipina singer, actress, and radio star. La Torre is the daughter of Filipino artist, Leonora Reyes, and director, Olive La Torre...
also plied the bodabil circuit. Bodabil had also started to incorporate burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
numbers into its routines.
By the 1960s, bodabil had to compete as well with the rise of commercial television broadcasts in the Philippines. It underwent a swift decline, and by the late 1960s, the form drew on the limited market for its burlesque routines. The emergence of bomba films around 1969-1970, which killed off burlesque, also marked the end of bodabil.
After martial law was declared in 1972, President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
attempted to revive a sanitized form of bodabil. Theaters such as the Manila Grand Opera House
Manila Grand Opera House
The Manila Grand Opera House was a theater and opera house located in the Santa Cruz district of Manila on the intersection of Rizal Avenue and Doroteo Jose Street. Built in the mid-19th century as the H.T...
again featured bodabil routines, with slogans praising martial law rule piped into the theaters in between numbers. These efforts proved unpopular. In the 1980s, activist groups within the University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines
The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
also tried to utilize the bodabil format, using the medium to promote socially-conscious themes.
Critical perspectives
While bodabil was undoubtedly popular and somewhat indigenized from vaudeville, it was hardly indigenous to the Philippines and seen as indicative of the pervasiveness of American culture in the country. Many of the cultural trends it popularized were Western or American in origin, though the interpreters largely Filipino. At the same time, many older, and arguably more indigenous forms of stage entertainment such as the komedya and the sarswela grew in decline due to the rise of bodabil.The influence of bodabil in Filipino culture arguably persists to this day. Its hodgepodge of song and dance numbers are still recognizable in television variety shows and even in intermission numbers in political rallies.