You see, April Boy Regino has been a singer for seven years now, with seven hit albums to his name, embarking on a local career after working as an entertainer in Japan for seven years. At age 7, he and his family (eight brothers and sisters) started living in a shack along the railroad tracks on 7th Avenue in Grace Park, Caloocan City.
But still, according to April Boy (now starring in Bariso Films’ Super Idol, directed by Willy Milan), "9 is my lucky number because I was born on April 9 (an Aries)."
True to his name, April Boy has maintained his boyish looks all these years, refusing to reveal his age even if his life depended on it, saying that he’d rather that his fans, mostly kids, consider him as one of them, as a "boy," an eternal boy. Funfare surmises, though, that he must be into his thrilling 30s, but does it matter? It’s how young you look that counts, after all, and not how old you are.
Neither would April Boy disclose his civil status for again, does it matter (especially if you’re good at what people expect you to be –in April Boy’s case – in singing, no matter if "elite" people dismiss him as baduy)?
April Boy Regino is a phenomenon we don’t see often in local showbiz, similar to the (late) Eddie Peregrina phenomenon in the late ’60s and early ’70s. April Boy is a unique success story. That shack near the railroad tracks (you know, a "home along da riles") is still there, shaking like the other shacks when the train chugs back and forth, but April Boy doesn’t live there anymore, it’s a relative who has remained there. But every now and then, even now that he is a "superstar ng masa," he still goes there, shooting the breeze, so to speak, with former neighbors most of whom have seen him sell goodies (kakanin, etc.) on those tracks, singing Tom Jones songs while balancing a bilao on his head.
"My parents now live in Payatas," said April Boy who is now happily ensconced in a three-storey house in Marikina City which he shares with, according to him, four maids, two drivers and two alalays (factotums). That "mansion" (as his fans refer to it) stands as a symbol of April Boy’s phenomenal success. "At first," added April Boy, "dalawang palapag lang ’yan and then I added another storey. I want my parents to stay with me kaya lang mas gusto nila sa Payatas (not within the disaster area) because they have a store there; they feel more at-home there."
Besides that Marikina City "mansion," April Boy has also invested his earnings in business (the April Boy Entertainment Center at EDSA Central) and real estate, setting a good example for other showbiz stars who squander their earnings as though there were no tomorrows.
Today, April Boy is hottest property of Ivory Records, collecting a fat sum from royalties to his albums, doing concerts both here and abroad, starring in commercials and, that’s it, doing movies.
Last year, his starrer Di Ko Kayang Tanggapin (also directed by Milan) opened first week of January and was a hit (well, not in the FPJ tradition but in the stature of an April Boy Regino).
In his new movie, Super Idol that is, April Boy plays a superman (gifted with a magic sword by Pandoy, played with glee – I’m sure! – by Joey de Leon) who saves a barrio from zombies and other evil forces. His co-stars are the long-missed Carmina Villarroel who is cast as a social worker along Manilyn Reynes and Precious Valencia; Aljon Jimenez as Maestro Lazarus (the evil master); and Vice-Presidential Son Mikey Macapagal-Arroyo (as April Boy’s bosom buddy).
"My idol is Sharon Cuneta," said April Boy. "Mahusay siyang singer, magandang mag-alaga ng career at ng sarili."
He so admires Sharon that he actually wrote a song dedicated to her, entitled Sana’y Laging Magkapiling, intended for Sharon to record, a dream that has turned into a frustration for April Boy.
"I wrote that song when I was in Japan," recalled April Boy. "When I came back, gusto ko sanang ilapit kay Sharon para i-record niya, but nothing happened. So I recorded it myself and it became a big hit."
He has realized his dream of having his picture taken with Sharon, all right, something he found impossible because of the cordon sanitaire around Sharon, and he even sang a duet (of his hit song Di Ko Kayang Tangga—pin) with his idol when he guested on Sharon’s show’s birthday special.
Come to think of it, has success gone to his head?
Removing his ubiquitous cap, April Boy asked, "Maliit pa rin naman ang ulo ko, di ba?"