ABOUT THE MANILA METROPOLITAN THEATER
Finally, a theater for the people by Gemma Cruz AranetaExecutive Assistant to the Mayor of ManilaVice-chairperson, Manila Historical & Heritage CommissionPost-World War II Filipinos were for decades anguished by the forlorn carcass of the Metropolitan Theater. For decades, it remained a painful reminder of that terrible Battle for Manila which raged for a month, killing a hundred thousand innocent, non-combatant civilians. The countrys capital and my home town, The Pearl of the Orient, was bombed to smithereens, never again to recover its fabled luster. A war baby like me has no memory of how grand the Metropolitan Theater must have been; its pitiful remains were so frightfully grotesque. I had not learned to appreciate Art Deco, even if it had charming Filipino nuances. . . . The tiara-like dome with stylized minarets, the sensuous female figures in exotic drapes, an exterior with whimsical rope designs, friezes and curly cues, the clashing ethnic-like geometric designs, a rectangular stained glass on the facade, mask-like chimeras and asparagus turrets the total effect was bizarre, not at all alluring to a child . . According to historical records, the Metropolitan Theatre was built in 1924 when Manila was not only the Pearl of the Orient but also the Milan of Asia, reputed to be as charming as Paris, considered a most extraordinary capital city, the only one that embraced four cultures -- the Asian, European, North American and through Spain and Mexico, the Latin American. Italian opera singers came to town so did French and Spanish theater groups. Travel books raved about amazing, incredible Manila, truly Asias must see destination. So, when a member of the first Philippine Legislature in American colonial times proposed that a theatre be constructed at the lush Mehan Garden, (formerly the Jardin Botanico and the first in Asia), no one lambasted him for being a profligate elitist with misguided priorities. Culture had a high premium in those days; it had not been declared as the least of government priorities. Building the Metropolitan Theater did not seem excessive because all other basic needs like education were properly addressed with generous portions of Insular taxes allotted to the construction of public schools. To this very day, those venerable structures, found all over the countryside, are still called Gabaldon schoolhouses, in memory of that honorable gentleman from Nueva Ecija who appropriated a million pesos in 1907.The infrastructure-building frenzy included roads, bridges, ports, hospitals, town and city halls, plazas, monuments and gazebos. It took another six years to lay the first stone of the Met (as it was popularly called) on a selected spot at the eight thousand square meter Mehan Garden. Finally, on 10 December 1931, it was gloriously inaugurated with Manilas elegant high society in full attendance. The Met boasted of one thousand six hundred seventy seats, and three sections, the orchestra, loge and balcony.A number of young adventurous American architects who came with city planner Daniel Burnham lured by the unique opportunity of designing, in tropical Asia, edifices that would symbolize the power of glory of the American colonial administration and the democratic institutions it intended to establish. William Parsons, probably the most prolific, designed many Gabaldon schoolhouses and Douane Wright lavished his creative energy on the Lingayen capitol building and other seats of power.It was also the heyday of the first batch of Filipino architects who graduated from schools in the USA and were immediately absorbed by the Architecture section of the Bureau of Public Works. What fun they must have had designing all those town and city halls, school houses, bridges, public buildings and other infrastructure. Reading their meticulous reports about each single project in the Public Works journals is truly delightful. I imagined the brothers Arellano, Juan and Arcadio, young and idealistic, feeling very self-fulfilled that they were helping build this nation through their architectural designs Fortunately, a number of their unrivalled buildings have survived the onslaught of time, political vicissitudes and the cruel wreckers ball. Indisputably, the Metropolitan Theater was the masterpiece of Architect Juan Arellano. He did it in Art Deco style which was then rage in the USA However, Arellanos Art Deco was not sparse and cold but as exuberant as the tropical landscape that surrounded him. Slowly but surely, I began to admire how he transformed traditional designs into modern fantasies, his eclecticism and that imperceptible hint of decadence. Juan Arellano certainly had imagination; no wonder the Met is considered a precious jewel of the Art Deco genre. During the Japanese occupation, many theaters in Manila closed down but the Met continued to be the center of cultural entertainment presenting zarzuelas, plays, operas and variety shows. It was damaged during the Battle for Manila in February 1945 and was saved from total extinction by the US Rehabilitation Act of 1946. But by the 1960S it had fallen into disrepair. When Imelda R. Marcos, First Lady, began to patronize the arts and one of her projects was to restore the Met to its former glory, a dream fulfilled in December 1978. As if by miracle, Francesco Monti's sculptured deities at the Met lobby came to life, so did the Amorsolo murals that celebrated dance and music (now at the GSIS for safekeeping). The stained glass façade by Kraut and the proscenium by House of Precast were stunning. Tomas Pinpins delightful ceiling trellises of succulent mangoes, graceful bamboo stalks, flamboyant anahaw and banana leaves were the rarest examples of Philippine Art Deco. Under Mrs. Marcos' watch, the Met had a ballroom with a chandelier and furniture from Europe; there were offices, dressing rooms, verandas and the interior gardens landscaped and manicured. The Met housed the Manila Symphony, a gallery of Philippine costumes and two rare grand pianos, the names of which I could never pronounce. Mrs. Marcos had appointed Ms. Conchita Sunico, venerable socialite, as the director of the Met. When the Marcos government was overthrown in 1986, the new dispensation declared culture as the least of its priorities. I think Ms. Sunico was constrained to resign after which the GSIS and Manila were both claiming ownership of the Met while it slowly deteriorated due to water infiltration and disuse.At one point, Mrs. Nenita Manzano (Edu's mothers) took over, valiantly, as the Met without official support began to die, slowly and painfully. It was leased to several entertainment companies like Bulwagang Gantimpala, Teatro Pilipino and the Action Community Theater Group. Mrs. Manzano (may she rest in peace) could not even hold regular office hours at a place where electricity and water had been cut off. In the meantime, thanks to then Mayor Lito Atienza, a nondescript Park n' Ride was constructed behind the Met, eating up more of the Mehan Garden, attracting itinerant vendors, insalubrious food stalls, thus compromising the privileged landscape of our Art Deco jewel.Persistently , the Met refused to die. In 2004, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) received Php 50 million from President Gloria M. Arroyo for the restoration of the Metropolitan Threatre. In July 2007, Senator Alfredo S. Lim became mayor of Manila once again; he revived the Manila Historical and Heritage Commission (MHHC) and assigned to it the restoration of the Met. The NCCA hired a private firm to prepare a detailed engineering study which includes a rehabilitation plan that is now being implemented by the City of Manila Engineering Office. The main roof and the two minor ones have been repaired. The orchestra pit is no longer a swimming pool for dengue mosquitos. The House of Precast has returned to the scene and is now restoring the proscenium it made in the 1930's and Kraut is working on the stained glass facade. Representative Monica P. Teodoro kindly donated Php 1 million and not to be outdone, Representative Mary Anne Susano pledged Php 5 million but has yet to send the Special Allotment Release (SAR). A Met Theatre Restoration Steering Committee has been formed to focus on rehabilitation and operations. Among its members are: NCCA Chairperson, Villma Labrador, Presidential Assistant on Culture and the Arts, Cecile G. Alvarez, German Moreno, GSIS Property Manager, Danilo S. Martinez, Manila Councilors John Marvin Nieto and Lou Veloso, Museo ng Maynilas Officer-in-Charge, Ma. Monina Katherina B. Santiago, and yours truly. At this writing, a Tripartite Memorandum of Agreement is scheduled for signing by the troika-- City of Manila, GSIS and NCCA. Manila may no longer be the Milan of Asia but it will soon have a precious Art Deco peoples theater that will be the pride of Asia.
