Images of three soap divas

by Boy Villasanta

Theater must have been the most potent influence in their acting career on popular medium.

This is evident when you watch them act ensemble or individually with big or small stars. There is depth and sincerity on any role they take on.

They might not be your teenage idols but soap divas Racquel Villavicencio, Madeliene Nicolas and Susan Africa will remain real actresses in the truest sense of the word cutting across any generation.

Both Madeliene and Susan have had stints at the Philippine Educational Theater Association or PETA while Racquel had some stage production background in college. Nicolas was also an erstwhile staff of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and she is still very much active in some CCP theatrical performances.

When ABS-CBN’s “Mara Clara” was topping the ratings charts during the nineties, Susan was one of its most memorable characters having played mother to young star Judy Ann Santos.

Meanwhile, Lino Brocka employed Racquel in some of his stage, television and film projects while Madeliene was and still is one of Jose Javier Reyes’ favorite character actresses.

Lately, Racquel and Madeliene were featured in an afternoon TV soap opera under the helm of their film colleague and friend Joel Lamangan. Although, they played villainesses to the story’s central figure, their portrayal were remarkable.

Susan, on the other hand, busies herself in digital films the recent of which is her cameo participation in director Ed Palmos’ “Tingala Sa Pugad,” a foray into a balikbayan search for her missing father who turned out to be a rebel.

No doubt, the intensity of the three thespians onstage, on TV and on movies, is great that even if the role is too small the bigness of their delineation is quite impressive.

“Mabuti talaga sa isang artista na may background ng theater para mas makatulong sa internalization and discipline. (It’s advisable to a star to have a theater background to help in internalization of the character, situation and all the elements of acting and of course, discipline),” advised Madeliene.

No matter how short Nicolas scene is in any medium, she left a very memorable acting experience to the audience. Who would ever forget her role as a leader of a syndicate in Joey Reyes’ “Luksong Tinik”?

“Dedication sa pag-arte ang isa sa mahahalagang katangian ng isang artista. Pag may dedication ka, malayo ang mararating mo. (Dedication to acting is one of the most important traits of an artist. You’ll come a long way if you are a dedicated artist),” emphasized Racquel who also dabbles in scriptwriting.

“Pero wala nang gumagawa ng pelikula kaya wala na rin akong trabaho sa screenwriting. (But there aren’t many who make movies now so I am jobless in screenwriting),” she chuckled.

Aside from her regular acting berth, Susan works as a researcher of the Development Academy of the Philippines. “Sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, kailangan, may iba kang trabaho aside from acting. Tatlo-tatlo ang pinag-aaral namin ni Spanky (Manikan to whom she is married). (Life is hard so we need other sources of income aside from acting. Spanky and I send three kids to school in Ateneo),” said Africa.