“One fine day, Nanding Josef, the articulate artistic director of Tanghalang Pilipino (TP), resident drama group of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, called up to announce that TP’s 25th anniversary was fast approaching. And would I like to write a book about the organization and its accomplishments?
Hmm. Definitely I was interested. I hadn’t written a book for several years, and was tired of living in genteel penury like some aging character in a Henry James novel.
So initial meetings were set up, an outline was drafted, a budget was prepared, and the go-ahead signal eventually came from the TP chair, Tonyboy Cojuangco, and its board of trustees.
Immersion
For about a year I would go almost daily to the TP offices located behind the CCP and immerse myself in their archives, which were more or less in good order. I pored over the bound volumes, souvenir programs, historical background, notes from the directors and production designers, press releases, preproduction information, photos and illustrations of set designs, and musical scores.”
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