Remembering Joyce Juan-Manalo
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Joyce Juan-Manalo
“I need a polvoron molder,” she explained, “They should have one at Seafood City.” I hopped in my car along with my mom and zoomed through the fog of Daly City. We sent pictures to her of the tin molder and she gave a thumbs up. When I got home, I placed the tin molder next to a bag of flour, powdered milk, and pinipig (pounded green rice, ingredients Joyce had ordered a week before. By the next day, her energy dissipated, and she just wanted to lie down on the couch. Weeks later, I just shelved the polvoron ingredients along with the tin molder. She never got to make her polvoron.
Joyce passed away peacefully on Monday, July 17, 2023 at our home that she had carefully nurtured, where her Kuya Boni and I took care of her, four months after experiencing a stroke, seven months after being diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer, and almost 22 weeks since she attempted to make her polvoron. She was a fighter until the end.
For decades, Joyce worked in the Filipin@ community, especially in the SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural Heritage District here in San Francisco. From leading the theater group Teatro ng Tanan in the late ‘90s and the Asian American arts organization Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) to helming Bindlestiff Studio with me, she supported countless shows and Filipin@ American artists. From co-creating KSW’s Celebrate Your Body fashion show, which celebrated positive body self-image to producing her favorite project of all, the Tagalog festival of plays from 2019-2022, which featured original plays from playwrights in the Philippines; she was a true visionary.
Joyce and Allan Manalo on the SOMAPilipinas banner
Joyce was born and raised in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila to Avelino Juan and Librada Dimalanta. She was the youngest of three brothers and an eldest sister. Her father’s pet name for her was “Chokit,” her pronunciation of the word “chocolate” as a little girl. Her mom called her “pretty rosebud.” Sadly, her father died in 1974 at the age of 47. That same year, Joyce, along with her mother and her Kuya Boni emigrated to Canada upon the petition of her eldest sister, Zenny. While in Manila she attended St. Paul College Elementary School in Pasig and continued at Central Spryfield Elementary School in Halifax. Later, Joyce and her mother returned to Manila where she attended high school at St. Paul College, New Manila in Quezon City. Upon completing her high school, they both returned to Canada where they stayed until Joyce returned again to Manila in 1994 to join her Kuya Boni who had resettled in the Philippines a year earlier.
I met Joyce in January 1995, during my first visit ever to the Philippines. I was a California boy born to a family that emigrated to Monterey Bay in the late ‘50s. Little did I know that meeting her would change my life. I was introduced to Joyce at the Blue Cafe, a gay bar in Malate where many of Manila’s theater artists hung out. I was performing standup comedy at the time and was taken around the performing arts scene by Chris Millado, whom I met in the early ‘90s when I performed in a play he directed in San Francisco.
Joyce and Allan’s first date in 1995
At first introductions, Joyce was not at all interested in me, politely shaking my hand like it was a wet noodle. With the help of Melvin Lee, an actor from PETA, Joyce was invited to attend a pre-Valentine party Melvin hosted annually and what he called “The Lonely Hearts Club.” At the party, Joyce gave me another look and then we hit it off immediately. After a whirlwind romance of several dates in the span of a week, I had to sadly return to San Francisco with the promise of seeing Joyce again.
We both kept in touch via letters and phone calls. My phone bill was so high I could have purchased a round trip ticket back to Manila. So I asked Joyce to join me in San Francisco and purchased a one-way ticket with the rest of my savings. She arrived in April to a proposal and engagement ring at the Golden Gate Bridge. On June 18, 1995, at 2 a.m., after a standup comedy gig in Las Vegas, we got married at City Hall on the old strip by Las Vegas’ Justice of the Peace. (We couldn’t find an Elvis chapel that was open.)
For the next year, Joyce accompanied me on the road, performing in a college tour of a “game show” called Blizzard of Bucks. Joyce took on the role of “Vanna Brown,” the gorgeous game show host assistant. We traveled through 43 states performing in more than 400 colleges, universities, and a couple of shopping malls. This extended honeymoon forged our dynamic working relationship in the years to come.
In 1996, Joyce and I settled back in San Francisco where I revived my comedy troupe, tongue in A mood. We both also found jobs slinging coffee at a nearby cafe. By 1997, tongue in A mood gained popularity and needed a venue to perform. While attending a performance of Babae by the young Pinay theater artist Lorna Aquino-Chui at the suggestion of Joyce's buddy Ogie Gonzales, we found the venue we had been looking for — a small black box theater in the South-of-Market Area called Bindlestiff Studio. Tongue in A mood was booked for a show that September with Joyce handling the logistics and publicity. By Spring 1998, Joyce and I had taken over the operations of Bindlestiff Studio and converted the venue into “an epicenter of Filipino American Performing Arts,” the only one of its kind in the entire country and still in operation today.
Since then, we were fortunate enough to have met, nurtured and showcased hundreds of budding Filipin@ artists. Because Joyce and I never had children, these artists became our “kids” and to this day, we continue to feel their embrace.
Joyce at Brenda’s Soul Food in San Francisco
Joyce will be deeply missed and forever remembered for her love of our community artists, her strong Áte (older sister) vibe (although she never like being called Áte) her no bull-shit humor, and her ability to make others around her shine.
On October 15, 2023, we will be celebrating Joyce’s creativity and love of Filipin@ artists in a day we are calling “Don’t Call Me Áte.” The celebration will start with a Pinay artisan pop-up called Blue Gayma, the name of a gift shop Joyce and Boni opened in Manila back in 2005. The day will continue with live performance at Bindlestiff Studio, the theater Joyce support and loved. All proceeds from tickets sales will go to the Joyce Juan-Manalo Legacy Fund for Pinay Artists. For more details, please check out www.joycejuanmanalo.com.
WE LOVE YOU JOYCE!
A. Samson Manalo is a writer, producer, theater director, and standup comic. He is the co-author of Gossip, Sex, & The End of the World: The collected works of tongue in A mood which chronicles the rise of the Filipin@ era of Bindlestiff Studio and the meeting of his soul mate Joyce Juan-Manalo.
