Now it can be told: The P20-million offer for the Alden Richards-Maine Mendoza love team, aka AlDub, to do a Valentine concert at Smart Araneta Coliseum has been declined by its handlers, producer Joed Serrano told the press last Friday, Jan. 29.

 

Serrano read the statement after the media inquired about his AlDub offer during a press conference to announce another show, which, apparently, Serrano is mounting in place of an AlDub show.

 

The show would have been an acid test of AlDub’s credibility as live music performers.

 

This new show, cheekily titled “Panahon ng May Tama #ComiKilig,” will be held on Feb. 13 at Smart Araneta Coliseum, featuring top radio personality Papa Jack and comedy artists Gladys “Chuchay” Guevarra, Ate Gay and Boobsie Wonderland.

 

The show’s writer and director, Andrew de Real, promises to deliver “the best in live comedy entertainment.” It’s not an empty boast, considering his reputation as owner of The Library—a long-running club in Malate, Manila, regarded as a pioneering venue of contemporary standup comedy—and currently the creative head of the top-rating GMA 7 show “Sunday Pinasaya.”

 

It was on “Sunday Pinasaya” where the Chuchay-Boobsie comic tandem was born.

 

Ate Gay—formerly part of the Singing Cooks and Waiters, and discovered while jamming onstage at comedy bar Music Box—has become a riotous mash-up singing act.

 

Perhaps the biggest come-on is Papa Jack, arguably the country’s hottest radio personality whose late-night love advice program, “True Love Conversations,” has hordes of listeners.

 

The question is, would Papa Jack’s fans turn out in full force to support his debut gig in a major venue?

 

In any case, the decision of AlDub’s handlers to pass up the Valentine show might be a blessing in disguise for Serrano—since he mentioned that the main reason his offer was declined was lack of time for Richards and Mendoza to prepare for something that they are really not ready for.

 

“Panahon ng May Tama: #ComiKilig,” Feb. 13, Smart Araneta Coliseum; tel. 9115555; visit ticketnet.com.ph

 

 

‘Valentine Playlist’

 

Back in the 1970s and ’80s, one of the most prominent landmarks in Cubao, aside from the Big Dome, was the New Frontier Cinema-Theater—which looked larger than the standard movie house and was the venue of high-profile film premieres with the most popular actors of the day in attendance.

 

For a long time, New Frontier lay dormant, an almost forgotten relic—until it was renovated, reportedly at a cost of P500 million, and recently reopened as the Kia Theatre, now described as a “multipurpose events hall.”

 

The Kia Theatre was the result of a five-year licensing deal that the property’s owner, the Araneta Group, granted to Columbian Autocar Corp., the Philippine distributor of Kia Motors.

 

Several concerts have been held there since its launch, and an upcoming one should draw more people who have yet to see its refurbished facilities.

 

This concert, “Valentine Playlist: The Kia Theatre Session,” will be staged on Feb. 12 featuring South Border with Top Suzara and special guest Kyla.

 

Expect to hear some of your favorite love songs reworked under the highly reputable musical direction of South Border’s main composer and keyboardist-vocalist Jay Durias.

 

Durias has a knack for giving even the most maudlin love tune a sophisticated touch. He is poised to make the audience feel the Valentine mood.

 

“Valentine Playlist: The Kia Theatre Session,” Feb. 12, Kia Theatre; tel. 9115555; visit ticketnet.com.ph