Cultural Center of the Philippines

I recently visited the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in Manila, although I only had the chance to see the exterior. Even so, it was a memorable experience. The building is a stunning example of brutalist architecture, with its massive concrete structure and unique, bold design. It stands out in the cityscape, making a strong visual impression. The area around the CCP is beautifully maintained, with open spaces and gardens that make for a relaxing walk. Even without stepping inside, the architecture alone is worth the visit. The CCP’s impressive design and the serene surroundings create a great atmosphere. I can't wait to return and explore the cultural and artistic offerings inside the building.

It is a good place to go to if you need a place to unwind. Also the use of different lights accentuates the beauty of the artworks. But, I went here during the redevelopment of the CCP, that's why the only floor that was open to the public is the third floor which is an art gallery hall. Nice experience even though I didn't get the full experience.

Great for running. Has affordable shows. I highly suggest going for the ballet shows. 1k will get you orchestra seats. Gala nights sometimes have live orchestra but costs more. Do it at least once for the experience

One of the prettiest sunsets ive seen in Manila! It was neat and well maintained. Its a good place to contemplate, relax, walk and even catch up with friends while seeing nature. There's only limited food options around which could be good to keep its cleanliness. On the other side, its a well known location for jogging and working out.

A great place for cultural & tourism events at Pasay City. It was conceived in 1966 when President Ferdinand Marcos issued Executive Order No. 60, establishing its board and arranging for his wife, First Lady Imelda Marcos to become chair of its board of directors.

Its a place where the Sagisag Marathon will be held. Hope I'll win something aside from the race. God Bless all runners who will participate and keep safe always. 07-09-23 It's still the same, lots of homeless people, while running along Pasay City. The only thing I can do is pray for them and hope that they will always be safe.😊🥰 During a fun run, the place is still smelly ahaha I'm not sure if it's because of a lot of industrial buildings around it. But I enjoyed running with strangers😊🥰

The place has been just recently reopened (September) and will be soon closed for renovation (since January 1, 2023) for at least 2 years. So hurry up if you want to see the exhibition of over 200 artworks and archival materials of Imelda Cajipe Endaya. The exhibition titled “Refusal and Hope, a Retrospective” can be viewed at the main gallery and adjacent hallways. It will last until December 4. The venue is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. The entrance is free of charge.

Incredible piece of architecture. Incredible interiors - not a thing i usually see. You can really say that there's an architect who worked on in here. Art appreciation. Filipino paintings. Exhibits. Ballets. Orchestra. The red floor carpet all throughout is a pleasure to walk into! The comfort rooms are clean. It's so quiet inside, and along with the collection of arts inside, that it makes the interior so "holy" or "creepy" and I think that's cool because this experience is really meant to touch your soul, consciousness. The miniature of the who complex is nice as well. I have always thought this place to be exclusive to elite people. But after stepping up the stairs and going thru the door, my perception changed; the place welcoming to everyone!

Every time I set foot on the grounds of CCP, I always feel like I am in the brink of nirvana. The dim lighting, the carpeted staircase, the spacious lobby near the main theater, the chandeliers - all these things that I see as I climb one floor to the next lend a sense of awe and prestige to this cultural Parthenon. And, I haven't started talking about the exhibits and performances yet! When there are events going on, the halls transform into a vibrant place, reminding me of how, in the Phantom of the Opera, the dust suddenly flew away from the theater and revealed the structure's old grandeur. Even the small box-like theater, the Tanghalang Huseng Batute, becomes alive and magical with every performance during the Virgin Labfest season. And, all floors becomes packed with students, film enthusiasts and various other people when Cinemalaya runs its carefully-chosen independent films. But even when there are no festivals or much-publicized events going on, the artistic atmosphere does not leave CCP. Exhibits are a staple. I suggest you feed your eyes with a view of the beautiful, critical artworks in Bulwagang Fernando Amorsolo and Bulwagang Juan Luna. Or, you can also feed your ears by visiting the paid for exhibit in the 4th floor entitled "Diwa: Buhay, Ritwal at Sining". It displays Asian musical instruments, some of which you are permitted to play (note: ask the guard which you can touch and which you cannot.) Also, not to forget, CCP has a library which houses audio and videorecordings of some performances and several books about art. I did some of my thesis research here. The library did not charge me a fee and all the staff were very accommodating.

I'm lucky to have been able to call the Cultural Center of the Philippines my second home. Dancing with Ballet Philippines required me to be at the CCP every day and so I got to experience a lot of the events in the hub of the performing arts in Manila. From art exhibits to stage plays, full-length ballets to musicals, film festivals to the Aliwan festival, CCP plays host to several large scale events within the year, and there's always something happening on its grounds. In the first quarter of the year, you'll have most overseas productions come to the Main Theater and the closing gala of most of the resident CCP companies like the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Tanghalang Pilipino, and Ballet Philippines, to name a few. The best time to go is in February when Arts Month is in full swing, because the complex will be at its busiest, especially during Pasinaya - the CCP Open House weekend where all the resident performing companies put on mini-showcases in various locations around the complex. Food stalls are found all around the streets of the complex like one big fiesta. Best of all is its pay-what-you-can entrance fee! The summer season also brings along summer workshops, so if you've ever wanted to try acting, singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, or writing a play, you can enroll in one of the many workshops that the companies at the CCP have to offer. This will also be when the major companies hold auditions and begin preparations for their next seasons. (They've got a bulletin board by the Artist's Entrance that holds all the audition announcements.) More festivals like Cinemalaya (an independent film fest) and Virgin Labfest (theater), and competitions like the National Music Competition for Young Artists are held in the latter quarters, as well as the onset of the regular performing season at the CCP. Even during its most quiet days, the CCP always has something to offer. During my free time in between rehearsals, I would walk around and always find something new to discover, whether it's in the galleries on the upper floors, or the archives of Philippine theater in the CCP library, the beautiful architecture inside, or seeing rehearsals of the various performing companies. It's where the best of the best in the performing arts come to create, and it's also one of the foremost places that makes Manila what it is.

I haven't really gotten inside CCP and most of my memories of it were in the middle of my childhood days. I pass by it every time I go to school and would often see a lot of people running around, uphill, and downhill. Sometimes, there's none at all. I've always seen and thought of CCP as a jogging place back then and had no idea that it would be an establishment that would cater to the development, showcasing, and preservation of Filipino culture especially in terms of media whether it be the performing arts, visual, or multimedia. I would love to someday enter its premises and witness that it's not just a place where people would go for fitness purposes. Hopefully, that kind of image would be replaced by how this establishment is one of the greatest home of the Filipino culture and a temporary home to some of the popular international live shows or musicals.

A must visit for tourists and residents alike. There was a lot of effort and investment in this beautiful facility. The building has a nice cafe and an area to view films. There are daily/monthly programs of activities if you are a cinema lover at heart.

I seriously don't know anyone my age who studies in Manila and didn't at least once visit the Cultural Center of the Philippines for a field trip. Neither do I know a real art lover who has never gone to CCP to watch a musical, a play, or a cultural show. Because really, there is so much to see and experience in CCP. I have on several occasions gone to CCP to watch a cultural show on the history of Philippine dance, seen an international musical (two thumbs up for Stomp, yeah?), and even went to watch and listen to the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra live. Aside from the shows, what I like about going to CCP is the splendor, the grandeur, the modest existence of it's being. I mean, really. The structure itself is simple yet so sophisticated in it's timelessness. National Artist Leandro Locsin did a phenomenal job for this landmark. Heck, no less than Ronald Reagan was there for it's opening. From the grand fountain on it's fornt lawn, the capiz chandeliers at the main lobby, the brass sculpture of Vicente Manansala, the piece of Arturo Luz (personal favorite), and even the curtain at the main theatre that pays homage to H.R. Ocampo. Really, there's no place I know that houses this much history, art, and culture as grand as the Cultural Center of the Philippines does.

I'm just glad the CCP is still around and it's going strong. God knows how many shows I've seen here during the past four decades, but it's an amazing place and I totally respect what it's trying to do. I have watched plays, musicals, film premieres, dances, performance art, and even a workshop or two. There's always something going on, and there's always something new to discover in the CCP. Such an incredible place. The reason it only gets 4 stars from me is that the CCP is starting to show its age. The physical facility is starting to show signs of wear and tear, and I really do hope they do something about this before it gets worse. The CCP is Metro Manila's biggest bastion of the arts, and we should give it more value than we already are.

The last time I was actually inside CCP (or, as one Yelper pointed out, the Nicanor Abelardo Theater), it was to see ZsaZsa Zaturnah. Think about that for a moment. I went to CCP, arguably the premier arts hub in the country still, to see a scrawny gay guy eat a rock and turn into the gorgeous Eula Valdes. It's as surreal as it sounds, don't worry. After that, my main contact with CCP is when I run up one side of the main ramp near the massive fountain and back down again on the other side. The grounds in and around CCP, especially the main theater, is like a magnet, and like moths to a flame, fitness enthusiasts flock this place every weekend morning (couples do the same after dark). Admittedly, the CCP Complex can do with a bit of a touch-up. Imelda did a good job with these buildings, despite the toll it took on the country's economy and people, and it would be good to keep them in better shape.

When people say they're going to CCP, they usually mean they're going to the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo, or the main theater, while in fact the complex actually has four more other smaller theaters, a number of art galleries and a couple of exhibition spaces. Which is to say there is so much more to CCP than big productions. My theory is that people zero in on the big stage because drama is arguably the centerpiece of Filipino culture. (If there is an art form the Filipino is known all over the world for, it is most definitely the performing arts.) That said, my earliest memory of CCP (Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo) was back in Grade School. After a successful run at the school auditorium, the play which I was a part of was brought to the CCP. I was 9 years old then and was playing a bit role but to this day, I still consider performing at the CCP one of the highlights of my life. The stage felt so vast. Looking at the audience made me feel like the world was watching and running frantically in the dressing rooms backstage, adjusting costumes and picking up new props made me feel like I was part of a REAL production. In short, I didn't feel like I was a member of a school org; I felt like...a pro. I would never experience performing like that again. But over the years, I would still find myself at CCP mostly to a see the ballet or the local staging of Broadway plays. The most recent visit was to watch a dance concert mounted by the Bayanihan Dance Company. I will not deny that the structure has seen better days. Yet, although it could use some refurbishing, the facility a few upgrades, and considering there are a handful of newer venues around, CCP still holds a certain prestige I cannot quite explain. After all, the building was designed by a National Artist for Architecture. Inside, the acoustics are still one of the best in the country, and the stage curtain is a beautiful painting done by another National Artist. The hallways on all four floors are bedecked with important art pieces and in every corner is a well-curated exhibit. Somehow, just like the artists that set foot upon its stages, The Center itself is also performing to anyone who would give it the time of day.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines is so far to where I live, but so worth the time and distance it takes to get there. In all the times I've seen a play staged there, the CCP captures the enchanting and immediate effect of the theater, suspending audiences in another world. Phantom of the Opera, CATS, Mamma Mia! And Cinderella have all been staged here, and more recently, Wicked and Beauty and the Beast. CCP has never failed to amaze me. There are also smaller and more intimate theaters inside the CCP, where they showcase untried and untested plays of Virgin Labfest, a workshop for first-time playwrights trying their hand at the business. Every time I come here to watch a play or musical, I'm reminded of how immaculate the beauty of the stage is, how theatre is the most direct and immediate art form to captivate senses and transport audiences to an enchanting time and place, where anything is possible.