roeder camanag sails on...

younger roeder camanag during his years as matinee idol in philippine showbiz

a more mature roeder

It was a very relaxed and amiable Roeder Camanag that one blogger saw one early evening at the Artist Playground home base. His inept attitude of being kind to the members of the working print media remained warm and wonderful. It was because of his many years of experiences and friendship with the media people that counted the most in his heart.

We remembered, Roeder was really a "Darling of the Press", being launched then three times as a matinee idol-singer. That's why the press people loved him, really, and he loved them back, too. It was a two-way traffic- and surely, Roeder knew how to deal properly with the media. He was never a SNUB.

That was the early eighties decade that lasted until the '90's.

"It was so happy then, ang saya-saya ng mundo nating lahat noon, di ba, Robert?", Roeder said to his friend-blogger. "We never knew that those moments would not last forever. And seasons will change. Now, things are very different. Our entertainment industry has changed patterns and ways. It was not as happy as before."

And the blogger agreed, as he and Roeder both reminisced the 'good, old days' of the entertainment industry before that used to be so casual, undiscriminating, fun, happy-go-lucky and NEVER CORPORATE. But that was back then, and how he and Roeder both wished it would come back again.

Anyway, this year, some dates of the working days of Roeder's theater group- the Artist Playground- has moved his time table a little.

"We are not sticking with the original plan", Roeder said. "So we all decided to let go of the original dates. Mahirap banggain  ang dates of performances ng Virgin Labfest ni  Rody Vera, eh. Instead of June and July months, Artist Playground will open its next theater season on the month of August. And yes, we will be opening it with the Jun Pablo play about one church sacristan and a Catholic priest relationship. 

"After that, we will also stage the play about the Golden Gays entitled Gigi and Walterina", Roeder continued saying. "I will be portraying the Walterina character and Norman Penaflorinda will portray the Gigi (Justo C. Justo) character. They are not fictional characters, you see. They are real characters. That's why we have to be efficient talaga in portraying those characters."

Roeder was also happy to tell to a blogger that they are converting the backstage theater space of the AP (Artist Playground) into a mini-theater, and half of it, a Cinematheque. He toured the blogger to take a look at the space. And the blogger saw how big the other converted venue was.

"Paul Jake Paule's mini plays will staged there on the mini theater", Roeder further stressed. "And half of the space, we will convert into a mini-Cinema house wherein the indie film directors and short film directors could have a venue for their films. It's a 60-seater Cinematheque."

But the best of the many good developments at the Artist Playground was the new management of the Artist Playground Cafe.

"The old management of the AP Cafe begged-off, hindi na raw nila kaya", Roeder said. "It's because they don't open everyday. Now, my technical director and my Production Manager who are partners in real life, took over. They open the AP Cafe everyday. They changed the menu. Now, they are serving lunch, merienda and dinner. The employees of B.I.R. (Bureau of Internal Revenue) who holds office at the ground floor below, now go up to the fourth floor where the AP Cafe is located to eat there. Furthermore, they are now aware of what's going-on to our theater group. As they eat there, they become more interested to the Arts."

And Roeder treated his blogger-friend for a dinner at the AP Cafe. Amazingly, the food was great. It's served in big bunches and the blogger got full.

At the end of the interview, one blogger fully praised Roeder's performance as Jesus last Holy Week at the Daan ng Krus, the Musical Play. For the blogger, it's the best performance of a Holy Jesus.

"The feeling was so magical", Roeder said in the end. "As I performed and watched the videos of me portraying Jesus Christ, I can't believe it myself. It's so fascinating. I ask myself: 'Ako ba 'yun?' It's so wonderful. It's as if Jesus transformed himself to me. Even though I have been portraying Jesus in that play for so many years now, the feeling continued to be great."

Sail on further, Roeder. Sail on. The world of Arts will never be the same without you.



(written by robert manuguid silverio)
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROEDER CAMANAG FB PAGE.*

roeder as jesus christ

roeder with his favorite AP player/actress roj vibar regoso

roeder with fellow artists ricky lee and nora aunor

roeder in gag

ROEDER: masculinity was never an issue