25. Star Shrine: JUDY COLLINS

JUDY COLLINS IN A 1965 FEATURE ON THE LEADING FOLK ARTISTS OF AMERICA. 

As a folkie in the 70s, I was a diehard fan of Peter, Paul and Mary and the King and Queen of Folk Music, Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Among the leading female folk singers, it was Baez who I admired most—she, with the crystal-clear soprano voice self-accompanied by her guitar, singing lyrics, laments, broadside ballads, spirituals and the protest songs of my generation. Hooked on Baez folk, I was ready to kiss the rest of female folksingers goodbye--like Buffy Sainte-Marie and Carolyn Hester –who, I thought were a far second and third to my inimitable Queen Joan.

RARE JUDY COLLINS CDs. Live at Newport, Judy Collins Fifth Album and the 1st two recordings of Judy Collins, "Maid of Constant Sorrow" and "Golden Apples of the Sun". "Live at Newport" compiles her early performance in the mid 60s at America's most well-known folk festival. 

Until I heard Judy Collins—from an old long playing record salvaged from an Angeles thrift shop, singing a plaintive folk tune, “I am a maid of constant sorrow..I've seen trouble all my days..”. I bought the vinyl and immediately played it on our stereo. For the next hour, I was mesmerized by her voice and her storytelling of “The Great Silkie”, “John Riley”, and “The Wars of Germany”. She sang different versions of Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary tunes—like “Fennario”, “Shule Aroon” and “Little Brown Dog” –with her low soprano vocals and unique guitar playing which I thought was more advanced than Joan’s. And while Joan was a purist (for which she was severely critricized, even by Dylan), Judy's musicality allowed her to put her own distinctive spin into the songs and thus, own them.

JUDY COLLINS, self accompanied herself on the guitar, but could also play a mean piano. She studied classical piano music for many years. 

Before I knew it, I was scouring record shops for her albums, and hers were fewer and far more difficult to find. In fact, the first albums I have of her were the later ones, when she had diversified her musical tastes to include songs of Jacques Brel, the Beatles and Leonard Cohen. I knew, from the few articles written about her, that she had a classical background and was taught piano by the great Prof. Antonia Bricco. But she discovered the music of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, and traded her baby grand for a guitar, to the consternation of her father and her professor who believed that a career in folk music was not possible.

  HOOT: A 25-YEAR HISTORY OF THE GREENWICH VILLAGE MUSIC SCENE, has an extensive feature on the early start of Judy Collins, who today, remains a New York resident. 

The next chapter of her life reads like a soap opera: she got married at 19, had a son and took on a job as a folksinger at a Colorado resort lodge to support the family while her husband went to school. Shortley thereafter, Elektra Records signed her up and cut her first record—“A Maid of Constant Sorrow”—the same scratchy disc I found in the thrift shop. Her first 3 albums contained traditional number and a few protest songs written by songwriters like Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan, Eric Andersen and Richard Farina.

 THE JUDY COLLINS SONGBOOK, featuring the celebrated early songs of Judy Collins, 1970. 

But her musical maturation surfaced in 1966 when she recorded the album, “In My Life”, a collection of eclectic songs from other artists like the Beatles and Kurt Weill , featuring lush orchestrations. Her career took off the next year with “Wildflowers”, which contained the hit song “Both Sides Now”, written by the Canadian folkie, Joni Mitchell.

 JUDY ON DVD.Very early Judy performing on Pete Seeger's TV folk show, Rainbow Quest. A recent concert of her also on DVD is "An American Girl In Concert". 

The next years saw Judy Collins shedding off her folk image with a slew of hit songs and albums that reflected her varied musical interests: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” had a pronounced country flavor while “Judith” carried the billboard topper, “Send In the Clowns”, a song by Stephen Sondheim from the Broadway musical, “A Little Night Music”. Another song closely associated with her is “Amazing Grace”, a religious hymn and Julie Gold’s “From A Distance” and “Wind Beneath My Wings”, which she recorded ahead of Bette Midler. In 1979, she even posed nude for the cover of her album, “Hard Times for Lovers”!

 A CONCERT PROGRAM OF MS. JUDY COLLINS. 

All was not rosy with her personal life, however, and, in the course of her career, she suffered alcohol addiction, got divorced, lost custody of her son Clark, suffered from tuberculosis and had an abortion. She had a fling with Stephen Stills (of Crosby Stills & Nash. The song “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” was written about her) and actor Stacey Keach. Her second marriage to artist Louis Nelson proved to be more stable but she suffered another personal tragedy when her son, Clark, committed suicide in 1992.

 BIOGRAPHY OF A FOLK SINGER, "Trust Your Heart", as written by Judy Collins. 

Thank God for ebay and amazon.com, I have managed to collect Judy Collins rarities through the years, including her early recordings, videos of her early appearances on TV and various folk festivals and books (she wrote her bio, “Trust Your Heart”, “Singing Lessons” and “Sanity & Grace”, the last deals with her son’s suicide).

TO ALEX CASTRO, LOVE--JUDY COLLINS. 

 I LOVE YOU BACK, JUDAY!

By far, my most treasured Judy Collins item has got to be a personally-autographed souvenir program of her Sarajevo Concert. A few years back, on whim, I had the audacity to write Judy Collins, using an address I found on one of her albums. It was a typical fan letter, narrating how I stumbled upon her first album in a ramshackle thrift shop years before and how I grew up enjoying and learning her songs. Lo and behold, I received a short note from the legendary folk diva herself, personally addressed to me and signed with her precious name.

Now you see why I’m a Judy Collins fan forever. (I am still waiting for an answer from that Baez what'shername..hmmph!)

“If amethysts could sing..they would sound like Judy Collins" --Richard Farina 

(27 April 2009)

17. Review: COMFORT WOMEN: Slave of Destiny

Category: Books
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Author: Maria Rosa Henson

Maria Rosa Luna Henson burst into the national consciousness in 1992, when she broke half-a-century's silence to talk about her ordeal as a ‘comfort woman’ in a World War II rape camp.

In April 1943, then 15 year old Rosa was taken by Japanese soldiers and forced to render sexual services to the military. In this moving autobiography, she recalls her childhood as the bastard daughter of a rich Angeles landowner, her wartime experience and her decision to go public with a secret she had kept for 50 years. She wrote her memoirs by hand, often crying as she remembered. ‘Comfort Woman’ is a story of a young woman’s survival, but it is also an account of her extraordinary courage which moves and inspires us all.

Her example encouraged other women to come out with their own stories, belying earlier claims that the Japanese forces did not set up ‘comfort stations’ in the Philippines as they did in Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia. Lola Rosa overcame great odds to become a champion of justice for the most secret and silent victims of World War II. Sadly, her personal crusade went unfinished when she died of a heart attack at the Pasay City hospital on the night of August 18, 1997. She was 69. The book was a finalist for Best Biography in the 1997 National Book Awards.

5. Star Shrine: TESSIE TOMAS, The Total Comedienne

TONGUE-THAI'D. Tessie Tomas drops by for a surprise visit during my work stint in Bangkok, Thailand. 1992.

“Good evening! I am Tessie Tomas, but you may call me T.T. for short. T.T. stands for Tessie Tomas, but most of the time it stands by itself..”

I first knew of the irrepressible Tessie Tomas when I joined Ace Compton as a junior copywriter in 1981. Ace Compton was in transition then, after losing its major creative talents to other agencies brought about by the loss of the Pepsi and other important accounts. Small, post-lunch talk would revolve around this brilliant creative director—Tessie Tomas by name-- whom the agency had lost to McCann Erickson, and who had subsequently risen to the rank of a Vice President, after creating winning campaigns for Johnson and Johnson. But the creatives would also talk endearingly about her antics and her zany humor and the ease by which she sold creative ideas with her voice-acting and her energy.

WHAT'S MY CUE? Tessie's handwritten cue cards for a show at her agency alma mater, Ace Compton. 1985.

After all, Tessie was a cum laude Communications graduate from U.P. She also happened to be the daughter of the respected radio voice talent, Laura Hermosa, and it was from her that Tessie inherited her gift of vocal performance and drama.

Her bosom friend, also an Ace Creative Director, Julie Lingan, also serviced the same Johnson & Johnson account of which I was her writer. In client calls, we would sometimes bump into Tessie--and I was at once starstruck. Not only because she was an industry legend but also at that time, she was already doing after-hours comedy dinner shows and was a regular in a hit TV comedy show called “Champoy”.

ALL LAFFS RESERVED. Manila Garden Hotel show, 1985.

It was Julie who sold me to Tessie. "You should mee my writer--si Alex! Magaling magsulat! He writes our Xmas chow script. Very funny! You should try him out sa mga shows mo.."

So that 's how I got to meet Tessie, early 1983. By then, she had done the unthinkable--she had resigned from her corporate job and had decided to plunge headlong into the dizzying, dazzling world of showbiz-- a world she was born in, and whose challenges she was now set to embrace. 

She introduced  whole brand of humor to a willing audience--more cerebral, less slapstick, comedy that made funny commentaries on our social state, our prevailing mores, the travails of eking out a living. She took a jab at corrupt politicians, and celebrated the resilience of Filipinos.

PASSION PLAY. "A woman named Desire, wants you to play with fire".  Valentine show at Century Park Sheraton. 1985.

Her first one-woman show—“Miss Margarida’s Way”—featured her as the demented, underpaid schoolmarm, which proved to be her first hit. Her star was clearly and quickly on the rise.

 “Let me introduce you to..Literary Geometry. Cosine to the left of them…tangents to the right of them… Into the valley of death…rode the logarithms!”

A SHOW OF PASSION. Scripts by Alex R. Castro, Tessie Tomas, Lorenzo Reyes. Directed by Rene Hinojales.

She wrote most of her material, but when rehearsals took most of her time, she farmed out scripting jobs to friends like Peque Gallaga, Lorie Reyes and Enrico Santos. Tessie tried me out for a dinner-theater show at a popular bistro in Magallanes called “The Windmill”. She was always pretty clear with the characters she wanted to portray, and for this initial assignment, she wanted me to do a script for a Japanese geisha working in the Philippines. So that’s how Sakura Bitsu-Bitsu was born. She brought the house down when she performed the skit in that show, and she decided to repeat that performance on “Champoy”, which was also met with howling success.

“Hero, I am Sakura Bitsu-Bitsu, originally from Nagasaki, Japan, now living in Naga City, Firipins. Wercam to my restaurant, ne? I am your o-to-san. Our espesyarti is Pancit Miki..very precious noodle, ne? Because is made from real Mikimoto pearls from Japan, and not from Miki Mouse from Disniland. Sayonarang!”

BONI BUENDIA: Ang Bituing Matapang (Da Bold Star), directed by Peque Gallaga. Manila Peninsula. 1985.

In time, the audience met her different personas—social worker Charito Calubaquib, Lady ‘Day—Princess of Leyte Gulf, the ever-pregnant housewife Teysi Abuvaquer, and Saudi wife Mimay Timtiman. Then there’s the the Playboy rabbit, Bunny Elsa and the culinary expert Nora Lasa. From a contributing writer, I was promoted to being her main writer, and in 1984, she put up her one-woman spectacle at Hotel Intercon, directed by Boy Abunda Jr. entitled, “T.Tillations”.

T.T.LLATIONS. A One-Woman Spectacle. Scripts by Alex R. Castro and Tessie Tomas. Directed by Boy Abunda. Hotel Intercon, 1984.

 “There’s a thin line between sanity and madness”, the program blurb warned, and this was proved true when, for the next hour or so, Tessie became Boni Buendia (d’bold star), Kona’na the Barbarian, Nastasia Kiski (sex-crazed therapist) and Little Red Riding Hood (she played also the wolf and the woodsman).

It was a thrill to watch her perform my scripts and even if the show got mixed reviews, I knew Tessie was bound for greater things.

“Hi, allow me to seduce myself. I am Nastassia Kiski. Sex Therapist by profession, sex maniac by night. My father is Polish, my mother is Danish, my sex life is Swedish”

FROM GAGS TO STITCHES. Light & Sound Theatre Lounge. Scripts by Tessie Tomas, Alex Castro, Peque Gallaga, Ipe Pelino. Directed by Rene Hinojales. 1985.

 “Champoy” had also started making buzz on TV, with the ribtickling and oftentimes, controversial rotines of Noel Trinidad (also an ex- Ace Comptonite, by the way), Gary Lising, Subas Herrero—and of course, Tessie Tomas. While the “Mr. Boom-Boom” jokes proved to be an instant hit, the wacky weather reports of umbrella-wielding Amanda Pineda, were making even more lasting impressions. While reporting weather conditions, Amanda would, at the same time be making dire observations about our dire social conditions under a repressive government, dishing out her fearful forecasts for the nation, often sugar-coated with her brand of seemingly-innocent humor and catchy punchlines.

“PAG-ASA-A. Pan-American, Pantasmagoric, Accumulation of Global Atmospheric Allegiance for Southeast Asia, America, Africa, Antartica, Australia and All Around the World—PAG-ASA-A!”.

 At the height of the Ninoy fever, when anti-Marcos sentiments were silently but surely growing, Tessie introduced us to another character that was to bring her lasting fame and infamy, as well as define the totality of her career as a first-rate performer: MELDITA. She had already been doing vignettes of this colorful persona—obviously a take on Imelda Marcos—creating a character that is at once powerful yet pathetic, strong-willed yet soft, greedy yet giving.

IMELDIFIC SHOW. "Meldita!". Light & Sound Theatre Lounge. Post-People Power Show. Directed by Kokoy Jimenez.

When Tessie took to the stage, she became a larger-than-life Imelda--and more. Each staging exposed Rizal Theater SRO crowds to the lurid madness that was Malacanang: her stormy relationships with Macoy and rebel child Imee, her fantasies about royalty, her obsessive-compulsive drive to make the Philippines great again. But it was also a story about finding fulfillment and acceptance by all means and at all costs, which Meldita always sought but never gained. Tessie not only received accolades for her tour-de-force performance, but also death threats. But she couldn’t care less; it was her craft that spurred her on--her pioneering one-woman shows had given her the avenue to artistically express her awakened sense of social awareness that she was now willing to impart.

 “Don’t cry for me, Metro Manila. The truth is—I never left you… All through my wild days.. My mad existence.. You can have Cory.. I have the money..” --Meldita, after the downfall.

ALL LAFFS RESERVED. Starring Tessie Tomas, Bill Ibanez, and introducing Jon Santos.

 Besides, the unfolding events in the country gave her new material to further sharpen her comedic skills, and these new routines were lapped up by laughing audiences from Rizal Theater, Sanctuary Bistro, Music Museum to Manila Mandarin and other mainstream venues. Meldita became a long-running theater act even after the coup, and for this, Tessie won the Aliw Award for Best Performer of the Year.

AS LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. From the show "T.Tillations. She portrayed multiple chatracters: Red Riding Hood, Wolf and Grandma!

 From the stage to the screen, Tessie proved to be an equally effective performer. Her first film was “Broken Marriage” in 1983. And then in 1987, she was cast in the international TV series “A Dangerous Life” based on the dying moments of the Marcos regime, where she bagged the coveted role of—who else?—Imelda Marcos. For this, she won an HBO Best Actress nomination.

KOMEDI TONAYT. At the Cosmo Bar, Greenhills. Scripts by Tessie Tomas, Marlon Rivera, Cary Rueda and Alex R. Castro. 1988.

Returning to her first love, she wrote the screenplay of “Separada” which won a Star Best Actress award for Maricel Soriano. Then, in 1991, Tessie transformed Mrs. Barbara Tengco--the neurotic rich matron in the long-running series “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata”-- into a TV and household word. Shifting gears, she hosted a successful talk show, “Teysi ng Tahanan”.

TESSIE UNCLOGGED. With Joji Isla. Scripts by Tessie Tomas and Alex R. Castro. Directed by Ed Murillo. Captain's Bar, Manila Mandarin. 1996.

Today, Tessie is still very much active in the entertainment circuit. She was last seen in the critically-acclaimed movies “Ploning” and “100”. She is currently appearing in the cast of the TV series, “Ako si Kim SamSoon”. Happily married to marine biologist, British Roger Pullin, Tessie is also a mother of an artist, U.S.-based Robin Tomas, who, at one time, was an art director of her mother’s agency alma mater, Ace Compton-Saatchi & Saatchi.

WEESHART! With Gary Lising. Directed by Johnny Manahan. Scripts by Tessie Tomas, Gary Lising and Alex Castro. Tavern on the Square.

As a friend, I am indebted to Tessie for opening new windows of opportunities for a junior writer like me. She let my ideas fly when I wrote her scripts, helping me expand and enrich my creative writing skills by allowing me to write material for fellow comedians Nanette Inventor, Gary Lising, Joji Isla and John Santos (whom she discovered in a college show at U.P.). When I was based and living in Bangkok, Tessie and Roger made a surprise visit which I really appreciated.

SHOOTING STAR. Shooting a segment for a Chow King corporate show, 2006.

Last time I was with her was when I got her to host a Chow King National Convention in Bohol 2 years ago. We had fun reliving the glory days of dinner theater shows and had more fun working together again. We don’t see each other as much these days, but every now and then, she would text or call for creative consultations with regards to her corporate shows.

That is why, I am looking forward to seeing er next month at the Ace-Compton Advertising Grand Reunion Show (“Amazing Ace’) which she will be hosting (and which I am now writing). It will be a gathering of agency creatives and colleagues from way back our crazy Compton days. I am sure the talk will invariably revolve around a wacky, brilliant creative director who followed her heart, became a star and made our agency proud: Tessie Tomas! (28 September 2008)

UPDATE 2011: TESSIE, JULIE AND ME. Bosom friends Tessie and Julie were both former creative directors at Ace-Compton Advertising. I would also join the ad agency and become a CD. It was Julie who introduced me to Tessie Tomas, and the rest, as they say, is history.