Ogie Juliano Remembered

Kindness. That is the word that I associate with director/designer/actor/educator Ogie Juliano despite the tales of heated explosions.

I have no idea why, but he offered me the lead role in the classic comedy of mistaken identity She Stoops to Conquer when I was just starting out as a young female actor.

And I would also work with Ogie as a co-actor in Anton Juan’s Dulaang UP plays Portrait of the Artist as Filipino and Death in the Form of a Rose.

And then, a couple of years ago, I was fortunate enough to have worked with him once again as my director in the psychological thriller Angel Street playing the role that divine thespian Divina Cavestany pointed out was the same role that won for Ingrid Bergman an Oscar for Best Actress (Movie Title: Gaslight).

The most powerful memory that I have of Ogie is when I was trying to quit Angel Street because of chronic laryngitis, which threatened the disappearance of my voice.

Instead of letting me quit, he changed the schedule of performances to alternate so that my vocal cords will have the chance to rest in between shows.

To this day, I am awed that he threw into disarray the schedules of so many people to accommodate me, particularly that of all the actors in the English and Filipino versions of the play Angel Street (I was in the English version).

On 11 April 2007 the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater in UP was a full house with individuals who wished to pay their last respects to Professor Rogelio “Ogie” Salvador Juliano.

The Mass was followed by a Necrological Service before Ogie’s cremated remains were brought to The Columbary of Sto. Nino de Cebu, where his ashes will reside beside that of his beloved mother.

Coincidentally, Ma’am J, as she was fondly called, passed away on a Good Friday while Ogie passed away from heart failure on a Black Saturday. Ogie was only 46 years old.