For one who has gone through as many trials as he has, Gabby Concepcion surely doesn’t show it. He is as handsome as when he rocked the portals of show business with his romance and eventual union with Sharon Cuneta. Gabby’s biography could well be the perfect recipe of how to survive in show business. We are personally amazed at how he has managed this, having followed his career through its ups and downs.
At the press launch of the movie A Moment in Time, opening today, it is immediately evident how expertly Gabby has been able to parry questions that newcomers would be at a loss to answer. The Star Cinema Valentine offering directed by Emmanuel Quindo Palo follows the romantic and emotional journey of Patrick (Coco Martin) and Jillian (Julia Montes) who seek true love. The film also stars Cherie Gil, Ella Cruz, Joseph Marco, Manuel Chua, Ivan Dorschner, PJ Endrinal, and introduces the PBB twins Joj and Jai Agpangan.
We had met Gabby a long time ago, from the days of Dear Heart that brought the teen love team of Sharon and Gabby to the highest peaks of success. It was in July 1981 and the director was Danny Zialcita. The couple married on Sept. 23, 1984, in a wedding ceremony billed the most attended in Philippine history. They separated in 1987 and were annulled in 1993. Their only daughter, Kristina Cassandra “KC†Concepcion, has been making her own name in show business.
We waited for the crowd to thin before we approached him. If he showed any signs of discomfiture with all the personal questions asked of him, we hardly detected it. When our turn came, we couldn’t help but go back in time. Gabby broke the ice by sending regards to Romy Vitug who was cinematographer of all the Eddie Garcia films produced by Viva with the Sharon-Gabby team-up in the early ’80s.
There was something in particular we wanted to share with him that we were uncertain he had been told. Prior to Gabby’s arrival in the country after a 10-year absence, we were at the residence of direk Danny Zialcita who had asked us over for important news. He was on the phone with Gabby’s dad Rollie discussing a movie project they would do upon his return to the Philippines. Then Danny handed me the phone and on the line was Rollie telling us the story of a film they would produce where Gabby would be a priest with conflicts of love and the priesthood to solve.
Gabby nodded his head; yes, he knew about that project but then his dad died and they never got to do it. Danny, too, had lost his hope for a comeback. And now, it’s too late. Piolo Pascual has made something close to what his dad had in mind.
Few people knew that Rollie was ahead of his time, Gabby said. There was another film titled Miracle of Love and many other storylines. He had thought of projects that would be what indie filmmakers today would do. We ask Gabby if he would like to do an indie? His face brightens up, saying he could even direct it himself indie style.
On our way home, we thought of how Gabby seemed to face his problems without brooding about them. During his hiatus in America, he decided to go back to school, acquiring double majors in Management and International Business Administration. From becoming purchasing agent with a division of GAP, to joining Prudential California Realty, to achieving professional status as a licensed real estate broker in March 2007, Gabby started gaining awards and memberships in honor societies in the realty business.
Life in America is hard, comparing it to the spoiled Filipino way with maids, drivers, relatives and friends everywhere, the happy-go-lucky attitude. Gabby must have missed all that, plus his yearning to be with his sick father. It was another intrigue-laden return to the Philippines, old wounds re-opened, new problems created with a new manager. But he has survived with the US experience as catalyst. Now, he knows better. And he is a happier person. It all shows in his attitude towards work, in his face that hardly reveals that he is pushing 50. Welcome back, Gabby Concepcion! The mistakes, the trials and tribulations of the past all must have been for a reason.
(E-mail the author at bibsymcar@yahoo.com.)