Freddie Santos

Theatre career

Santos was born in Quezon City, Metro Manila. His early studies were at Lourdes School (Quezon City), Sacred Heart School and University of Southern Philippines (Cebu City). As a Rotex Scholar in Arvada West, Colorado, he was trained by David Helm in drama and by Rex Nelson in music.

Upon his return to Manila, he was hired by advertising company Dentsu to join its copy department and within three months, he was promoted to copy chief at the age of eighteen. After two years he moved to working in theatre.

He was mentored in voice by his uncle, the baritone Aurelio Santos Estanislao, who at that time headed the Voice Department at the College of Music, University of the Philippines. Santos joined Repertory Philippines. He joined productions of Teatro Pilipino, Musical Theater Philippines and SRO Philippines. He was professionally involved, either as actor, coach, assistant director or director in more than a hundred-stage plays and musicales totaling nearly a thousand performances. After five years with Repertory Philippines where he was also active in the research and publicity committees, he eventually moved to SRO Philippines where the focus was on dinner theater and where he found the freedom to further develop his other skills. Here, Santos wrote an original play adapted from the book Paper Moon and headlined by a very young Lea Salonga during its premiere run. He also nurtured his skill in stage lighting, make-up and choreography.

Freddie Santos has been involved with the performing arts for over thirty years now, winning thrice the Aliw Award for Best Stage Director in the country, the first to win the award in both categories of Stage Musical ('87, '00) and Concert ('08).

Music career

Santos also began singing in lounges, spicing up his gigs with humor. His weekly acts at Tita Lola's and Café Alvarado became quite popular with young professionals and garnered him a number of rave reviews in the papers. It was then he was asked to direct a lounge show by jazz queen Jacqui Magno and its impact on his life encouraged him to change life directions dramatically. Almost immediately, he abandoned his performing career to fast become one of the country's top concert directors with a distinctive crossover directorial style that combines theater with pop and cutting-edge technology. To date, he has written, designed and/or directed more than 400 pop, rock and roll and classical concerts totaling over 3,000 performances, working with artists such as Jamie Rivera, Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Gary Valenciano, and Regine Velasquez.

He has also written a number of pop songs, and has worked as a lyricist with composer Louie Ocampo.

Other work

Santos has written the plays First Name, Joseph, The Dreamer, So David…, Widows, Orphans and Wildebeests, and Il Divino.

He acted as Corporate Events Director for companies such as Sony (10 National Conventions, 2 World Conventions), Bayer (5 Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Programme Awards, 1st Bayer-UNDP Eco-Forum), Microsoft (Philippine Launch of XP, OS2000), Citibank (2 Citibank Excellence Awards, Voice of Citibank affairs), Philippine Airlines (5 Sales Awards Nights), Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (80th Anniversary Launch, PLDT/Smart Foundation Launch), Smart Communications (Annual Smart Infinity Golf Classic, various company events), Kia (Launch of Kia Pride), Destiny Cable (Launch of Various Products), NXP (Philippine Launch), Concepcion Industries (Conventions/Product Launches in Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Manila), Young Presidents' Organization World Convention, SMX Convention Center (Launch), Philippine International Convention Center (15th Anniversary Celebration).

He has directed social events including five state dinners/presentations for HRH Bolkiah of Brunei with guests of honor Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Prince Charles of the UK, Grand Philippine Reception/Performance for former Prime Minister of the UK and Ireland Mr. Tony Blair, 80th Birth Anniversary and 50th Wedding Anniversary of Taipan Henry Sy, and the debut of KC Concepcion.

He has done quite a number of spoken word recordings, a number of which were aired on European Radio and continues to give lectures and workshops to young performers today. Several of his sessions were aired on national television in two high-rating weekly musical shows.

He has worked in television, directing 'Yan Ang Bata (Ch7, Catholic Mass Media Awards Winner), Musikatbp. (Ch5, 13, CMMA Winner), The Manilyn Reynes Musical Show (Ch13), The CBN Drama Special (USA, Sequence Director), Mikael (Indonesia, Sequence Director), Love Lea (Ch4, Sequence Director), Triple Treat (Ch2 Sequence Director), and has directed 24 music videos for Ch13.

His latest achievement in video is the 10-part Documentary on the life and works of International Spanish artist, Philippine Presidential Order of Merit Recipient and Cross of Isabella Awardee Juvenal Sanso.

Since the 1990s, he has also been a board member of House of Refuge, a shelter devoted to looking after abused and abandoned streetchildren. During the September 2009 devastation brought about by Typhoon Ketsana, the entire shelter and its vehicles were lost to floodwaters that reached over 14 feet high. Santos is now, on top of everything else, working with the other board members to rehabilitate the shelter on new property in the highlands of Silang, a town in the Philippine province of Cavite located immediately south of Metropolitan Manila..