Doctor Boogienights

Published January 1, 2008
INQUIRER.net

Theo Gonzalves is an academic, writer, musician, composer, community organizer, theater artist and activist-- a Fil Am Renaissance man in other words.

Now don’t take that to mean he’s a square or a nerd. You’ll never find a square or a nerd who goes by the name Doctor Boogienights. That’s his stage name as part of the Filam band, Bobby Banduria. Actually, he began as “Captain Boogienights” then gave himself a promotion to “doctor” after, well, he became a doctor with a PhD from the University of California-Irvine.

As you can see it’s pretty obvious that Theo, the son of Pinoy immigrants, is your typical Pinoy: big on higher education, big on music and performing.

“My parents have always loved music,” he recalled. “They encouraged me to learn to play the piano and clarinet as a youngster. I played all throughout my younger days on the Monterey Peninsula. My first regular stint as a pianist was playing for my local parish in Marina, California. Instead of becoming an altar server I joined the musicians.”He said he learned “to fill out the arrangements on the piano by adding chords with my right hand and playing bass lines with my left.”

And he even developed a unique gift, so to speak: Theo found a way to mix holy water with “Purple Rain.”

“Around that same time I became a huge fan of Prince's music,” Theo continued. “I disguised every tune I could learn of his into the Sunday mass. The older ladies in the parish complimented me on the mellow mood music I was playing during the offertory or after the communion service finished up. But my friends knew I was sneaking in smoothed out versions of ‘Let's Pretend We're Married,’ ‘Darling Nikki,’ and ‘Computer Blue’ into the service.”

I first came across Theo while watching a show in San Francisco where he was a member of the famous FilAm comedy troupe, “Tongue In a Mood.” (Hint: Say the name really fast.) Theo served as musical director of the group which he said specialized in “politically subversive theater.” It pokes fun at our own taboos,” he told me many years ago.Tongue In a Mood became known for ribbing Filipino immigrants, Filams and Filipinos in the Philippines.

One my favorite skits featured a decorations commonly found in Filipino homes and banished to the basement. Imagine what a girl dancing the Tinikling, a naked man in a barrel and Jesus Christ would talk about to pass the time?

Theo’s interest in theater and performing extended to his career as an assistant professor of American studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has just published a book, “Stage Presence: Conversations with Filipino American Performing Artists” (Meritage Press, 2007). The book, which Theo edited, is a collection on essays and interviews with Filipino American performing artists who talk candidly about performing – how they go about mounting a play or a concert, what inspires them, what challenges they face as artists of Filipino descent in the United States.

The book features a pretty impressive lineup.

There’s Danongan Kalundayan, the famous kulintang player and teacher, and Gabe Baltazar, Jr., the master alto saxophonist and clarinetist of the bop school. Then there’s Tongue In a Mood founder Allan Manalo, the Bay Area comic who a few years ago moved to Manila where is now a well-known humorist and theater artist.Theo said the idea for the collection came from his conversations with poet Eileen Tabios, the publisher of Mertiage Press, “about the different kinds of projects that combined artists from various performing arts disciplines.”

“The intent of the books is … to allow performers an opportunity to talk about their creative processes,” he said. “Many of the artists featured in the book have been mentors of mine for many years. I wanted to feature those who were performers in their own right as well as those that have led ensembles, companies, troupes, or bands. Performers who take on the larger responsibilities of leading a group have to rely on a range of skills in addition to their artistic training. It could involve everything from marketing, making business plans, media management, accounting, working with city planners, and chasing down grants to figuring out how to make a group work well together night after night. Add to that a tour schedule and you're really taxing multiple skill sets.”

He said the artists featured in the book all drew from their Filipinoness to do their work as artists, but not just that.

“They also have been at the cutting edges of giving us new ways to think about what it could mean to be Filipino in the world today,” Theo said. “They experiment with while extending traditions.”“They insist on looking and turning to Filipino histories not because it's a comfortable place to go back to but rather because they want to remind us that lessons from the past still have to learned - about the Philippine American war, migration from the country, and so much more,” Theo added. “But their work is not just about playing histories out on stages. I've been enjoying their work because they produce outstanding, fun, heartbreaking and vital work. It's truly alive.”

Copyright 2008 By Benjamin Pimentel