Hermogenes Ilagan wrote some of the best-love Tagalog zarzuelas of all time. His most popular zarzuela, 'Dalagang Bukid,' has been mounted for an unprecedented number of times, perhaps the most-performed Tagalog play of all time. Made into a movie starring Atang de la Rama, the superstar of her era, it ushered in the sound era and became the first real blockbuster hist of Philippine cinema. Ilagan wrote about a hundred zarzuelas, many of whose scripts were destroyed during the Second World War. But his more notable works have survived and they display Ilagan's grasp of the social muilieu. Some of the issues that he tackled during his time remain burning concerns up to this day, like divorce, homosexuality, gambling and superstition, and patronage politics.

Published in 2000 by the University of Santo Tomas

251 pages / Paperback