Almost all the major movie theaters had their regular revue companies, but the big name stars like Rogelio de la Rosa, Gregorio Ticman, Rosa Aguirre, and Leopoldo Salcedo were appearing in the big theaters. Perhaps Lou Salvador's group was the biggest of them all, appearing at one time or other in three different theaters: the Dalisay, Strand, and the Palace. Thus the stage entertainment groups mushroomed one after another and all of them enjoyed capacity audiences since there was no rival entertainment.
Federico Mangahas' article in the Tribune (10 January 1943) describes how popular the stage show was. A clear hour before show time the crowds outside had fought and sweated their way just to get near the ticket window. It was a definitely hazardous business to get your ticket. An enterprising lad had somehow managed to get on top of the shoulders of the mob milling about the ticket cage and for a while got himself tossed back and forth over a surface of arms without anywhere getting nearer his objective. And he further comments "that was not an unusual phenomenon in the downtown theater district on a holiday."
(Source: Philippine Studies: Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints Volume 29 Number 1 Article 6 10-24-2018 Philippine Stage Performances During the Japanese Occupation by Motoe Terami Wada)
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