Curtain-raisers:
• A pretty young actress has a pretty tough, growing problem. She has been much too carefree and wasn’t, uh, careful. She should have listened to her elders and learned a lesson from the bad “example” of her peers who were also carefree and not careful. Pretty soon, her problem will grow bigger and bigger until, to quote a song, something here inside cannot be denied.
• A senior actress also has a big problem concerning finances. She’s out of the country and, thus far, has been barely surviving on the generosity of her kababayan, most of whom end up disillusioned and scratching their heads for being suckers for (the actress’) sob stories. Her latest “victim” happens to be my friend who coddled the actress like her own sister, until the actress started badmouthing her. “So I drove her out of the apartment I was renting for her,” my friend barked.
• After denying and denying that she and a model-actor are going steady, a pretty TV host has finally made a clean breast of it and said, yes, “We are ‘on’.” Of course, her neighbors at a posh condominium in Mandaluyong City knew all the while that the guy has been sleeping at the girl’s place. “They don’t seem to try to hide the truth about them,” said one neighbor.
* * *
Just when I thought (with great relief!) that Cesar Montano and Sunshine Cruz, one of my very few favorite showbiz couples, were succeeding in ironing out kinks in their marriage and ready to get back together again under one roof (and, ehem, in one bed), the tabs have been coming out with items that things are going from bad to worse. It’s reported both in the tabs and in the Internet, that Sunshine and her sister-in-law have been hurling unsavory words and accusations at and against each other. It’s painful to learn that an old controversial clip from an unfinished (and therefore unshown) sexy movie has reportedly been uploaded in the Net to “destroy” Sunshine. Foul, foul, foul!
Could it be true that Sunshine has decided to file a petition for the annulment of their marriage solemnized in a romantic twilight garden wedding on Sept. 14, 2000?
Funfare Update texted Sunshine to find out what the truth is. She texted back, saying that she’s keeping mum on the matter, adding that I should ask her lawyer, the Bonifacio Alentajan (very familiar to showbiz people).
“Yes, it’s true,” confirmed Alentajan yesterday (he was somewhere in the Visayas on a holiday with his family), “Sunshine is filing for an annulment.”
He didn’t elaborate, neither did he confirm the other nasty rumors about the couple.
Stand by for further development.
Dingdong, Jessa here for ‘closure’
As you must have seen or heard them on TV newscasts, California-based couple Dingdong Avanzado and Jessa Zaragoza are back with their daughter Jayda and not, they stressed, “to pick a fight” with anybody, specifically Dingdong’s ex-girlfriend Rufa Mae Quinto who has been waging a word war with Jessa since early this year after a tell-all YES! mag interview about her many “exes,” Dingdong included.
The couple said that they came back purposely for “closure” of some unfinished business.
“Now that we are settled in the States,” they said, “we have decided to dispose of whatever properties we have here,” and that includes a condo unit in Ayala Heights, Quezon City.
They only laughed at reports that they are “hard up” that’s why they held a garage sale at their home in Vallejo, California.
“We didn’t need many of our things, so we decided to sell them,” said Jessa. “What’s wrong with that?”
Two other reasons for their homecoming: Dingdong wants to celebrate his 40th birthday here and they are pushing through with an all-star golf tournament in Guam any day now.
Does the “closure” include Dingdong finally saying his piece on the Rufa Mae issue?
“If I have to,” said Dingdong, “I will.”
Slated to leave for Europe for a show, Rufa Mae said that as far as she’s concerned, there’s already a “closure” after she said that she was “at fault.”
Another Pinay shining abroad
Here’s an interesting item from Girlie Rodis:
Julia Abueva, 12, last seen in Philippine theatre as Little Red Riding Hood in New Voice Company’s Into the Woods, is set to take on her biggest theater role playing opposite ‘80s pop icon and Broadway star Debbie Gibson in the new musical Superhero Diaries.
Superhero Diaries, dubbed a MUSERCUS (musical/concert/circus), explores a sad and funny world where superheroes need saving — the Dark Knight is in love with his male sidekick; Superman is nowhere to be found. Spiderman has allowed little old grannies to be robbed in broad daylight. This is the sad state of affairs that confronts 12-year-old Nora Mowwend (Julia) when she tries to get the superheroes to help battle the Black Azira, the Dark Queen who rules with Absolute Evil (Debbie Gibson). It is now up to Nora to rally her distracted superhero friends to save the world.
“I’m so excited about this musical,” shares Julia. “Nora is funny and brave, very spunky and I’m 12 too, like Nora. Plus, I get to work with Debbie Gibson. I’m excited to work with her again when rehearsals start.”
Superhero Diaries, a $1.8-M production by Singapore’s Toy Factory Productions, will have a premiere on Aug. 22 and 23 in Singapore’s largest indoor concert venue, the Singapore Indoor Stadium which will be transformed into a land known as Sleepless Town.
Currently based in Singapore, Julia will be performing in the UP Centennial concert at the CCP, from June 18 to 20. She returns to Singapore immediately after to resume rehearsals for the musical.
Briefly noted
• Don’t miss the second staging of Poohkwang, starring Pooh and Pokwang, tonight (starting at 8) at the Music Museum. Warning: You could double up with a tummy ache laughing. Produced by ASAP Live.
• Also, tune in to ABC 5 tonight for the highlights of the biggest environmental musical-tribute Earthday Jam 2008 in a one-hour TV special.
• Fr. Corsie Legaspi has scheduled healing Masses at the Coming Home Retreat and Meditation Center in Binakayan, Cavite, today, on June 10 (Tuesday) and June 14 (Saturday), 1 to 5 p.m.