DRIVING THOUGHTS
(My dear friend, Toto Sicangco, passed away Thursday in his home in North Carolina. I’m reprinting a story I wrote about him which was published in the book – Sugar and Smiles: The Negrense Legacy Beyond 2020, as my tribute to that man who had brought many audiences to another world, briefly and completely, through the costumes and stages he so masterfully designed.)
Eduardo “Toto” Varela Sicangco has the presence that demands a second attention. Standing a head above most people in a crowded Manila domestic airport, he exudes the aura of the Old World gentleman you’ve read in a book somewhere.
That image, though, ends when one hears him speak in Ilonggo — crisp and deep, in the island’s sing-song diction, untainted by English. He is “taga Negros” in its purest form — despite having lived in New York for more than 40 years and establishing a name in set and costume design.
EDUARDO ‘TOTO’ V. SICANGCO
Except for that aura of confidence, many will not recognize this man for who he is. Toto is the man who has transported many an audience to appreciate the arts through the visuals of sets and costumes.
Toto is like an invisible performer. He does not perform in front of an audience, his magic starts from backstage and reaches out to lift the audience to another mood.
Many have “met” him through the more than 130 sets and costumes he has designed for an eclectic variety of stage productions — from the endearing classic ballet Swan Lake to the entertaining Disney On Ice productions; from community theater productions to films.
He was hired to design the murals for the club in the Francis Ford Copolla film, The Cotton Club.
He’s done hundreds more of set designs for television, theme parks, circuses and for his beloved medium — the theater where he has designed for ballet, the opera, and musicales.
He made his debut in Broadway in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in 1995.
He has designed two Radio City Music Hall extravaganzas — “Gotta Getaway (for the scenery in 1994), and “The Easter Spectacular” (for the sets and costumes in 2000).
TOTO SICANGCO and the author after Ballet Philippines' Swan Lake Gala at the CCP in August 2019.
A long list of productions where he has left his style in costume, sets, or both costume and set designs, define his creativity — and the reach of his reputation. He’s designed for companies around the U.S. — in Houston, Miami, Cincinatti, St. Louis, New York.
Among the operas that Toto has designed for were Carmen (costumes); Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, both for the New York City Opera; and The Barber of Seville (1985), for sets and costumes, for the Houston Grand Opera.
He has a longer list for ballet productions, among them — Zodiac (costumes for the world premiere, 2015) for the Houston Ballet; The Nutcrackers (sets 1991, 2009) for the Ballet Florida; Romeo and Juliet (sets and costumes, 1997) and in August 2019, Swan Lake (sets) for the Ballet Philippines’ 50th anniversary presentation.
It was another homecoming for Toto. His first break was a set design for Ballet Philippines.
“My first break as a set designer came when Alice Reyes and Salvador Bernal (now National Artists) decided to have me design a double bill for Ballet Philippines: “Le Carnaval” and the second act of “The Nutcracker”. I was daunted but thrilled to be making my professional debut at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. I was 21,” he said.
Referring to Romeo and Juliet production, where his sister, principal dancer Cecile Sicangco danced the lead role in a costume he designed, Toto said:“That was a highlight of my career.”
His designs in musicales are well-known in the industry with productions such as The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, Babes in Toyland,
His art has been celebrated in at least 10 exhibitions of his works, one of them at the Ayala Museum in Makati, titled, “From Inspiration to Illusion the Scenographic Works of Eduardo Varela Sicangco (2008).”
Years later, in 2015, his costume designs were the subject of an exhibit entitled “Showgirls” at the House of Frida, an art gallery in Bacolod City. It was the first time that his works were on exhibit in his home city, more than 40 years after he had left for college, and then New York.
Toto had spent his life in Bacolod City, leaving in 1971 for Manila where he studied in Ateneo for college.
He traces his inspiration to be an artist from his family — his parents were very interested in the arts, his mother was a constant figure in local musical productions, his father loved music, and his grandmother would bring him to watch six movies over a single weekend.
“Four movie theaters, each showing a double-feature which would change every Tuesday of the week: Real, Iris, State and Floredith (Bacolod movie houses). As a child, watching an average of six movies every weekend with my grandmother imprinted Hollywood on me and greatly influenced my career,” Toto said of how his love for visual arts started.
As an artist, he saw the landmarks of Bacolod from an artist’s eye. When asked about is memories of the city, the first on is list was the “the Bacolod Plaza with its striking chessboard floor pattern, and the gazebo with its interior ceiling of which is inscribed with the names of four Classical composers: Haydn, Wagner, Beethoven and Mozart.”
“This landmark made its way into one of my earliest designs for Ballet Philippines (Le Carnaval by Fokine),” he said.
The other landmarks that has stayed in his mind define his art: “The magnificent provincial capitol building with its reflecting pool and those two glorious art deco statues with the carabaos.”
Other landmarks of Bacolod City define his youth: “Certainly Bob’s (formerly Bob’s Big Boy when it was still a drive-in), Roli’s (best chicken sandwich in town). We used to hold dances at the now demolished SPCMA pavilion by the sea, proms at Sea Breeze hotel and the Bacolod Golf and Country Club.”
He still remembers the shops: “As a budding costume designer, my go-to fabric store was “Fashion House” on the same block as China Rose Department store. They had the best and most stage-worthy fabrics.”
And the venue for musicals, plays, and grand productions:“The old La Salle Gym which was the venue for many grand extravaganzas.”
After many years in New York where he earned a masters degree in Stage Design with a J.S. Seidman Award for Excellence in Design from New York University — Tisch School of the Arts, and the position of Master Teacher of Design in NYU, Toto has become a celebrity among those who know him and his art well.
Stepping into the realm of the legends, designing sets for big Broadway productions, and now teaching in University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Toto appreciates his past. To him, growing up in Bacolod City is what had shaped him to be a celebrated invisible celebrity.
Here’s what he says about being a Negrense:
What feature of Negrense life do you feel was the most significant in moving your career?
“The most significant part of my Negrense life is that I was lucky enough to have been born there: the genteel lifestyle, which translated to good manners and social behavior, as well as a taste for and most importantly, exposure to the finer things in life,” he said.
What are your fondest memories of Negros?
“The Lions Club extravaganza: “An Evening on Broadway” (directed by an imported Frenchman named Jacques Conder) and designed by Jess Aiko, a major artistic influence on me.
“The King and I”, directed by Bro. Alexis Gonzalez and starring my mother as Mrs. Anna, Hernan Adad as the king, Baby Lizares as Tuptim, Makiling Ascalon as Lady Thiang, Bernard Maranon as Luntha, Nonoy Diaz as the Kralahome and with a local orchestra conducted by Francisco Kilayko.
“The Bacolod Santacruzan with Lulu Monfort as Hermana Mayor with beautiful sagalas consisting of the crème de la crème of Bacolod society.”
“The Genesius Guild, a community theater group of young theater enthusiasts. We would stage plays and musicals every summer vacation. We had the likes of Peque Gallaga, Rene Hinojales, June Rufino and our breakthrough star, Joel Torre, who started out as a child actor playing Rufus in Tad Mosel’s “All The Way Home”.
“Mrs. Estrella “Titay” Hagad, a classically trained painter who gave private lessons at her home every Saturday. My mother enrolled me for such classes from age seven to eleven and the skills learned formed a strong foundation for my career as an artist.
“The dance recitals of Lydia Gaston and Marichit Hofilena, which were among my first set and costume designs.”
How has growing up as a Negrense affected you and your decisions?
“Growing up as a Negrense has made me a “snob” in the best possible way. This may sound contradictory but it means a general disdain for social pretension of any kind, not suffering fools gladly, a humility and assuredness anchored by the fact that one has grown up in a cultured society appreciative of and open to the arts. This is largely because Negrenses of my parent’s and their parent’s generations were well-travelled and were thus exposed to, and brought back, world culture.
Where did you go to school in Negros? Who were your favorite teachers and classmates?
*Kindergarten was at St. Scholastica with those intimidating German nuns who wore wool in the tropics. Grade school and high school was La Salle Bacolod.
*As for favorite teachers, I adored Mrs. Maypa in high school. Rumor had it that she carried a gun in her handbag. When I was an adult I saw her again at a reunion and asked if the rumor was true. She chuckled and said no, but she never denied it at the time.
*During high school in La Salle, there lived a stray dog with a pronounced limp on the hind leg and whose walk reminded everyone of a certain superstar crooner. So he was christened “Elvis” and became the unofficial mascot of the school. Elvis roamed the corridors freely, attended graduations, performances, convocations and was loved and protected by all. He even earned a full “in memoriam” page in the class of ’71 yearbook. I believe that later on, it turned out that Elvis was a she.
What is the thing you look forward to doing, or eating, when you go to Bacolod?
"For me, Bacolod will always be about food and relaxation, the genteel lifestyle that I mentioned earlier: good manners, delicadeza, chicken inasal and Bobs boneless bangus.
“Having lived in New York for over 40 years, I have learned to do household chores by myself, including cooking, laundry and cleaning. I do not miss the help but I have come to appreciate them even more.
“As for the sing-song dialect, I have always loved it and will always shelve American weng-weng and speak Ilonggo whenever I get the chance. My favorite part of the dialect are the cuss words. When I am with a fellow Ilonggo, refinement goes out the window and a certain satisfaction comes with blurting out words like “bilatibay,” “linti,” “yodeputa.”