As the cast receives great adulation, the backstage crew often goes unnoticed. The costume designer who worked hard on the fittings and alterations, the technical staff who made sure that the lighting and sound system worked smoothly behind the scenes, the production people who made the artistic vision come alive with their hammers, paint brushes, and what have you.
Francisco M. Galvero Jr., with his apprentice Annie Ignacio, preparing the set for a ballet production Ignacio and Bonifacio both trained under Francisco M. Galvero Jr., or Manong Junior to people he has worked with. For more than five decades until his retirement last year, Manong Junior remained the only scenic painter of the CCP.
Bonifacio added that Manong Junior served as a father figure to him and his fellow workers. “As a mentor, he gave us artistic freedom to explore. He allows us to express our creativity, but he would appraise our works and rectify what we’ve done wrong in a very patient way,” said Bonifacio. For both, work does not feel like work. They find fulfillment in seeing what they worked hard for and pour their hearts into on the stage.
Bonifacio, who takes pride in his work with the Art House Cinema Facade decor and Sinag: Festival of Lights, reveals that he doesn’t see himself as an artist. It was only when his mentor Manong Junior recognized him as an artist that he started pondering his work.
Source: Energy Industry News (energyindustrynews.net)