Bobby, theater remembers

In the end, there was no tear left unshed in the Mirror Studio room that evening of December 17, 2025. It was as if the dam broke and the small, highly select gathering released its pent-up emotion—the grief and love that had been left unexpressed since Bobby Garcia passed away a year ago, in December 2024. 

His passing came only months away after his staging of Request Sa Radyo, starring Lea Salonga and Dolly de Leon, which gained critical acclaim; it turned out to be his last production in the Philippines. And theater artists had not been able to say goodbye to their esteemed director, mentor, and friend—the guiding force behind many of them, he who steered their art, provoked their passion, and shared their personal lives. 

Finally, last December, a week before Christmas, they said their goodbye and expressed their gratitude not only in words, but also in music.

The intimate gathering at the Mirror Studio on Kalayaan Avenue, Makati, had the country’s foremost theater artists, both local and global, bound by the love of Bobby Garcia, who helped shape and reshape the Philippine theater scene the past two decades, mainly through Atlantis Productions. 

The gathering was unpublicized, yet so well put together by kindred spirits led by Faust Peneyra. It was indeed a rare privilege for us to watch them sing and speak about Bobby in such an informal, cozy setting. It felt like we were privy to a highly private command performance—the artists’ sheer act of love.

Nelsito Gomez said that this rehearsal room was a fitting venue because Bobby had always said that the “best runs” were always in the rehearsal hall where, without the set and background, the imagination reigned free.

That night, he said, it would be filled with just songs and memories.

Nyoy Volante spoke of how Bobby “showed me the way…it wasn’t easy…the life that had Bobby Garcia in it…,” drawing laughter from the assembly. He added, “I love you very much. I owe you this.”

Kayla Rivera, before she sang, said of Atlantis and Philippine theater: “It really is a family because of him…He saw something else (in us).”

Ice Seguerra, the talent whom Bobby mined from the mainstream, noted how Bobby was always “ready to explain the character with us.”

Mig Ayesa, here from Australia, considered his stint with Bobby as “life-changing…he introduced me to a whole new family who are all here now.”

Pinky Amador drew chuckles from the close-knit gathering before singing the iconic song from Piaf, which was simply one of her most unforgettable work (for us) onstage—as she spoke of how she had learned to sing through tears, something “only Bernadette Peters and Monique Wilson could do.” She was in the signature Piaf dark dress—her Piaf “costume”—which she had tailor-made only for this memorial.

Jett Pangan’s remarks were brief but heartfelt: “Bob, this is for you…Keep Bobby in your hearts forever.”

Joanna Ampil called Bobby the “visionary, the storyteller, a mentor, a friend—simply our tito Bobby.” She spoke of how his life was the “human art of connection…to watch him work was to watch magic.” She recalled how Bobby gave “endlessly to his friends.” He left silence, yet the theater world still echoes with his laughter, she said as she fought back the tears.

Yes, theater remembers, Bobby.