Juday wants to wed
in May to break jinx

"Okay rin sa’kin ang May dahil my parents separated in May," says Juday. "To break the jinx, I want to get married din on that month."

After Star Cinema’s "Kasal Kasali Kasalo," their next film will be with Regal. "Star has no project for them," says Juday’s manager, Alfie Lorenzo. "Sa next filmfest pa raw. Sayang naman dahil mainit sila ngayon, so I accepted the GMA Films offer for Juday to do ‘Ouija’ with Jolina Magdangal and now, this offer from Regal to do a new film with Ryan."

ABS-CBN boss Gabby Lopez called Juday when he learned about this. "I told him wala akong problema sa ABS as I’m doing ‘Ysabella’ with them," says Juday. "It’s with Star Cinema na wala akong project."

"Sayang naman ang income, ‘di ba?" adds Alfie. "Di bale sana kung tuloy-tuloy ang pagbibigay nila ng movie kay Juday, e hindi naman."

Juday and Ryan’s new film will also be a romantic comedy and Mother Lily is optimistic it will a big hit as "Kasal." "The people like their sincerity kasi in their relationship," she says. "Ryan actually signed up for two films with us. Aside from the movie with Juday, he’d do ‘My Kuya’s Wedding’ with Maja Salvador for us, scripted by the writer of ‘Blue Moon.’"

"At last, I can say I’m now a Regal baby," Ryan quips. "I’ve long been a fan of Regal movies so I’m proud to be working now with Mother Lily."

Sheree is happy to be Bayani Agbayani’s leading lady in the RPN-9 sitcom, "Kemis (Ke Misis Umaasa)." "I’m supposed to be launched na by Viva sa ‘Scorpio Nights’ 3' pero hindi natuloy," she says. "Nagkaproblema raw so I said, ayaw yata ni Lord na paghubarin ako ng todo kasi I really want to be known more as a singer."

What happened to her album with E-Real Records? "After it was launched, nag-away-away yung Fil-ams na nagpapatakbo ng company so walang nangyari. Sayang nga. Hindi man lang na-promote nang husto. But I’m now producing my own album and I’m looking for the right label to launch it. Basta hands ako sa production."

Before, she wouldn’t admit that she went steady with Onemig Bondoc. "Kasi ayaw niyang aminin namin sa public. Pero mahigit one year din kami."

Why did they break up? "Maraming ibang nagte-text sa kanya so I got jealous. Hindi mo naman masisisi kasi guwapo kaya mga babae ang humahabol. As of now, rest muna ako sa boys."

Is it true Onemig is getting married soon? "I heard about it, too. And my friends tell me ‘yung babaeng mapapangasawa niya, kamukha ko raw. I wish them the best kung totoo."

In "Kemis," she plays Armi, Bayani’s neighbor. "Kumare niya ko rito at dahil alam kong OFW sa ibang bansa ang misis niya, sine-seduce ko siya. It’s a funny show directed by Ding Bolanos." "Kemis" starts airing this Monday at 8:30 p.m. on RPN-9.

Mother Lily is in love with her new Regal baby, Cong. Chiz Escudero. "I believe he will make a good senator," she says at the dinner she hosted for Chiz. "He worked hard as a congressman and I think it’s time we have a new and younger breed of senators."

Born Francis Joseph Guevara Escudero on October 10, 1969, he studied in UP all his life, from grade school until he finished law in 1993 when he was only 24. He then finished master in international and comparative law at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

Chiz has a lot of fans because of his very helpful radio show on DZMM, "Abogado de Campanilla," that helps a lot of poor people with legal problems. He’s very articulate in both English and Tagalog and you’d be easily impressed by the way he speaks. As representative of Sorsogon’s first district, he authored 34 bills of national application, 31 bills of local application and 15 resolutions while in congress.

"My advocacies and Chiz’ advocacies on public infrastructure and education are the same that’s why I’m supporting him wholeheartedly," adds Mother Lily. "This is a crucial time for our country and it’s a time for transition. I know Chiz, a young man with an honest heart, can do good for our country."

Yda Henares of Gma Artist Centre is very serious about developing their talents so she coordinated with Nanding Josef of the Cultural Center to train their stars in acting. Fifteen stars had a rigid training with Nanding since October and for their graduation, they did a theatre presentation at the GMA Artist Center Workshop last Monday. GMA’s Jenny Donato invited us to watch it and we’re impressed with the way some of their stars acted so persuasively on stage.

The best for us are the Roco Brothers, Felix and Dominic, who did Tony Perez’ acclaimed one-act play about half-brothers who meet each other for the first time, the day after their father died. Bembol Roco will be proud of his sons who did their dramatic scenes so well, especially Felix. But the boys have to be taught to be more relaxed with the press as they seem so shy or guarded in the dinner GMA-7 hosted after the play.

Next is Mike Tan, who did Emily Mann’s "Still Life," about a soldier who killed children in Vietnam and now feels so guilty about it. Mike shared the same piece with Chuck Allie, who came on stage with so many props, including a gun. But honestly, we prefer Mike’s attack on the play as it’s more heartfelt. You can really feel the anguish the man is going through. As for Chuck, he lacks the much needed angst in portraying the same role. Dion Ignacio and Gian Carlos played street kids planning to escape from the syndicate that torments them in "Gamo-Gamo sa East Avenue" by Rolando de la Cruz. Dion has great stage presence but he has to be more careful in delivering lines. But both of them did their crying scene well.

LJ Reyes and Jackie Rice also tackled the same material, "Babaeng Itawis" by Chris Millado, about a young mountain maiden who’s father was killed by 21 soldiers who then raped her. LJ gives a more touching performance but her voice has this tendency to trail off as she ends her lines, making the words unintelligible. Jackie has better voice projection but she rushes the delivery of her lines and doesn’t fully register the grief and rage that the character experiences.

Also impressive is Valerie Concepion as a young social worker who identifies with the people in the squatter community where she volunteers in "Juan Tamban" by Malou Jacob. Valerie shows unusual depth in tackling the role especially in her confrontation scene with her boyfriend, CJ Muere, who cannot understand why she sympathizes so much with the poor.

A disappointment is Ryza Cenon in "Agnes of God." The material is very challenging about a nun who gets pregnant but Ryza does not seem to totally comprehend the gravity of the material. She should have been given a less demanding role.