Edu to IOC Congress

The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) recently appointed Philippine Amateur Judo Association executive vice-president Edu Manzano as official Philippine representative to the International Olympic Committee's prestigious eighth World Sports for All Congress which will be held in Quebec, Canada on May 18-21.

The Congress seeks to strengthen coordination between the Olympic movement and the public authorities in devising and implementing sports policies for people throughout the world.

It is being organized under the IOC patronage and counts on the support of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and General Association of International Sports Federations.

Manzano, vice-mayor of Makati City and an acclaimed film actor, is also an executive board member of the POC and national president of the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines.

tx7920 And now comes James Sherman with -- not just one -- but two young men, healthy, virile, normal guys who pretend to be gay so that they can share an apartment with a couple of girls. This is not to imply by any means that Sherman is in the same class as the classical masters. He has made a name for himself in the American theater with plays like Beau Jest, Jest a Second!, Magic Time, The Escape Artist, among others, but he is still several notches behind somebody like Neil Simon.

Sherman's riotous comedy Mr. 80% is Repertory Philippines' current attraction at the William J. Shaw Theater, Shangri-La Plaza Mall. It is the last offering of the company's 60th theater season.

Director Miguel Faustmann makes the most of what the play has to offer, not the least of which is a saucy plot about a couple of dudes from Kansas City who come to The Big Apple to get a bite of fame and fortune. Comedians Sam and Jan might have been lured by Liza Minelli's siren song about "New York, New York"--"If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."

First, they have to find a room, and this can be a drag (no pun intended) in Manhattan. They answer an ad for a couple of gays to share an apartment with two ladies. A comfortable pad on the Upper West Side is manna from heaven in comparison to the hell of a bench at Central Park or Grand Central Station or the purgatory of a cot at the YMCA.

The girls are no bimbos. They are career women who have stepped out of the boob-tube.