Ibang-iba sa kanyang kasikatan noon: Mitch Valdez na-shock nang makasama sa dressing room ang young star na isang tambak ang alalay

Bawing-bawi, at least sa akin, si Mitch Valdez sa katatapos niyang performance at the Teatrino Promenade sa Greenhills, San Juan City para sa Mitch Valdez, Wow Pare! which Edu Manzano (yes, the actor) produced for his Tentra, Inc. for the benefit ng kanyang Edu Manzano Cancer Wing at the Philippine Children Medical Center.

Unlike when I watched her performance some months back sa Resorts World Manila, with such fellow comedians niya like Nanette Inventor, Tessie Tomas, at Jon Santos, I hardly laughed with any of her jokes. In this particular show niya, I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Like most everyone among the audience na varied — mga lalaki, babae, at in between — at iba-iba rin ang edad.

Maybe because the theme of the show was familiar, as it started in the ’60s, na she said ay kararating niya mula Japan where she mostly spent her growing up years dahil ang kanyang ama raw ay nagpe-perform sa isang teatro roon.

Kaya bata pa ay ’di raw big deal sa kanya ang makakita ng mga nakahubad. Sa backstage kasi ng teatrong pinagtatrabahuhan ng kanyang ama, as a singer, labas-masok ang mga performer for their costume changes. At tulad ng inaasahan, dahil nagmamadali, talagang hubaran to the max among them ang nangyayari all around.

Back in the country, she enrolled sa St. Scholastica’s College. One thing in common she has with Mother Lily Monteverde ng Regal Entertainment, Inc. ay they are products of the same school.

No wonder that in her Teatrino show, ilang madre, whom she properly acknowledged, were present.

She was 23 years old when she finally made it as a theater performer via a play, Gypsy.

Here, she played daw mother ni Pinky de Leon, who, at that time ???

Vividly, she described how Roxas Blvd. in Manila looked in the ’70s. Then daw, live bands were all over the strip and were abundantly distributed. She was a singer in one of those bands.

Sa dulo raw ng Roxas Blvd. ay nandun naman ang mga naglalakihang club, tulad ng Eduardo’s where ang featured singers ay the likes nina Pilita Corrales, Carmen Pateña, at Carmen Soriano. Nakapag-perform din daw siya sa Eduardo’s.

At that time rin daw, ang ABS-CBN was located in the area. And that’s where she had the chance na makapag-perform daw. One of her shows was Champoy.

Sa Ermita, Manila, sa nabanggit na lugar naman daw was where the literati congregated. Sa ilang hangouts sa area, nakasalamuha raw niya ang mga tulad nina Ben Cab, a well-known painter, at Alfred Yuson, whose literary masterpieces ay ’di matatawaran.

Mitch compared showbiz then and now.

Guesting daw in a live noontime show one time to promote a performance, nagulat daw siya when sa room assigned siya ay she had for a roommate a young star na ewan kung ilan ang member ng entourage na dala.

Back when she was still the ‘‘sikat’’ na Mitch Valdez, she came to her show alone. At umaalis din na nag-iisa.

How time changed nga naman. And so are the people involved in it.

Tanong lang: How come that Mitch Valdez didn’t touch on her love life?

Sayang. Doubly more revealing siguro.

Mitch did reveal, though, that at 62, finally natutuhan na niya ang mag-e-mail.

Well, sayang din that her Teatrino stint was scheduled for two days only.

Ganun man, congrats Mitch! Congrats din kay June Rufino, Viva Group of Companies executive and the talent manager ni Edu.