Real-life No Other Woman scenes

The scene that I like best in the super-hit No Other Woman (that has catapulted Derek Ramsay as Star Cinema’s reigning Box-Office Actor) is the one in which Derek is torn between his wife (played by Cristine Reyes who’s effective in her under-acting) and his mistress (Anne Curtis who acts in-character from beginning to end) at a restaurant. Direk Ruel Bayani handled that scene so well, making it memorable, especially when the two women, not quite familiar with each other, find themselves in front of the mirror in the Ladies’ Room. No hysterics, no hair-pulling confrontation, only a quiet exchange of subtly meaningful glances.

Don’t look now but that scene reminds me of real-life situations in which the three people involved acted in entirely different manner. 

Scene 1: An elite party at a five-star hotel. Mr. Politician brought his No. 2 (a beauty-queen-actress) along because his wife (a theater actress) had begged off because of an appointment in the province. While the party was in progress, guess who would materialize at the entrance — yes, the wife! The mistress acted in time to head off an embarrassing situation. She excused herself to go to the Ladies’ Room “to retouch” and made a hasty exit straight home. It turned out that the wife had cancelled the previous appointment.

A very cinematic scene, wasn’t it? That’s what Anne’s character in No Other Woman does. Instead of rejoining Derek at the table, she promptly disappears to give way to Cristine, only to re-emerge and meet Derek and Cristine near the exit with a “planted” escort. 

Scene 2: An actor (who has successfully ventured into politics) and his singer-mistress were having a romantic candle-lit dinner when, again, guess who would walk in, spoiling for a fight -- his singer-actress wife. Not a second was wasted. The furious wife asked her husband, “Siya o ako?” Of course, he chose his wife, and off they went home leaving the mistress to finish the dinner by her lonesome. The couple’s marriage is intact and the husband never went astray again.

But when a lady producer found herself in the same situation, she raged like a lioness and nearly engaged the “other woman” in a face-clawing, hair-pulling spectacle hadn’t the husband intervened.

Scene 3: Suspecting that her non-showbiz husband was philandering, a singer-actress hired a detective to trail him. Her hunch was proven right when the detective located the house of the husband’s mistress. Acting posthaste, the wife secretly followed her husband. She knocked at the door of the mistress’ apartment and, true enough, she found him inside. The couple broke up immediately after that.

By the way, another thing that I like about No Other Woman is the witty dialogue, especially in the scene between Cristine and Carmi Martin (as Cristine’s fighter of a mom). Urging the reluctant Cristine to fight for her right, Carmi (who’s looking “new” and “reinvented”) admonished her, “Ang mundo ay parang Quiapo, maraming snatcher! I-pack-up mo na si Lucy Torres. Ilabas mo na si Gretchen Barretto. Naalala ko yung sinabi nya sa Magkaribal. You want war? I’ll give you war. Anak, ako na ang bahala sa red stilettos mo!”

Martin one-night only in Atlantic City

Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City’s premiere hotel and casino resort based in New Jersey, is bringing back Concert King Martin Nievera (photo) in a one-night only engagement on Nov. 20 (Sunday).

Martin Nievera Goes Green, which will also benefit the charity projects of the De La Salle Alumni Association of Metro New York, will be held at the casino’s spectacular showroom called Xanadu, which has hosted some of the biggest names in the concert circuit including the Earth, Wind & Fire, George Carlin, Poison Ivy and The Monkees.

“Tickets are selling like hotcakes,” said Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre, “which means that Martin is still a crowd-drawer here.”

Martin, who has just released another hit album Himig ng Damdamin, is going to the US East Coast after his back-to-back All For 1 concert with the Side A Band at Smart Araneta Coliseum on Nov. 11 which marks Viva’s 30th anniversary. 

Joining Martin as special guest at Trump Taj Mahal is Broadway and West End artist MiG Ayesa (photo) in his first performance after leaving the Broadway megahit musical Rock of Ages. MiG is bound for Manila next year for the Philippine production of

Martin with youngest son Santino

Rock of Ages. He will reprise his role as rock star Stacee Jaxx, the same character Tom Cruise is essaying in the musical’s film version to be released next year.

“MiG is currently promoting More Than Ever, a follow-up to his self-titled debut album,” said Edmund.

As an added bonus, Atlantic City’s favorite Fil-Am illusionist Anthony Salazar (photo) who regularly performs in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia, will front-act the show. The Atlantic City Weekly described Anthony as “stunningly amazing and hilariously funny,” as he combines magic and comedy, with audience participation that keeps the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Drs. Ramon and Ching Legarda, who help promote the show through their Group Ole Production, said the Taj Mahal executives are promoting Martin to its VIP clients and high-rollers as the “greatest balladeer in the Philippines and Asia.”

“Taj Mahal knows that Martin has performed around the world and has become a familiar name in Las Vegas,” said Dr. Ching. “Taj Mahal is very much impressed with his talent and versatility as a performer. With hot-selling concerts and albums, he remains on top of his game after all these years.”

Dr. Ramon said Martin is preparing for a grand concert for his 30th anniversary in showbiz next year which may also include a US and world tours.

(Note: Tickets to Martin Goes Green are priced at $38, $58, $78 and $98 [VIP]. For particulars, visit www.groupole.com) 

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