Romnick and Harlene’s ‘quickie’ marriage in Vegas; Gabby sings!

Curtain-raisers:

• Now I believe that Luis/Lucky Manzano and Nancy Castigleone have broken up not just temporarily but for good. Nancy is said to be the new girlfriend of the son of a popular lawyer who hosts his own radio show while Luis is courting a non-showbiz girl.

• The marriage of Viva Films executive June Torrejon-Rufino and TV director Randy Rufino has finally been annulled by the court. Friends of June are teasing her with "spirit-lifting" messages such as, "Should we say ‘condolence’ to you or ‘congratulations’?" June can now drop Rufino from her name and be known simply for her maiden surname. Hello, Miss Torrejon!

• Kristine Hermosa was hospitalized for symptoms of Hepatitis A and not for something "delicate" like what rumor-mongers are spreading. She should be out of the hospital by this time and on to speedy recovery.

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I flew back home on PAL flight 103 very early (3:45) Thursday morning from L.A. where I interviewed Vin Diesel, Hollywood’s newest action sensation who’s topbilled in his first solo starrer (after the surprise car-racing hit flick Fast and Furious), his co-stars Asia Argento (daughter of a popular directory in Italy) and Michael Roof, and director Rob Cohen (who also megged, among other ground-breaking films, Fast and Furious and a Bruce Lee movie shot in Hong Kong).

At the L.A. airport, I chanced upon Romnick Sarmenta and his wife Harlene Bautista, rushing to the check-in counter with two huge Balikbayan boxes. At the waiting lounge, I asked Romnick and Harlene if it was true that they got married for the third time in the States and they laughed and laughed.

"Actually," said Romnick, "when Harlene and I were in Las Vegas, we saw the joint where ‘drive-through’ marriages are done, kaya nakatuwaan naming subukan. It wasn’t a serious marriage, of course, as people familiar with Las Vegas know. It was only for thrills."

Mhel Lago, executive producer of ML Dream Production which mounted the Men of Summer fashion show in L.A. last July 13, also set the record straight about Romnick’s participation in the show which starred Jay Manalo and Brando Legaspi, plus American male models.

"Romnick was a last-minute inclusion," said Mhel, who sent off Romnick and Harlene, along with Rhyan Deles (director of the show). "Since Romnick was in L.A. taking a vacation, we decided to include him in the show. He and Harlene purposely went to L.A. for vacation and not for the show."

Nearly three hours after the PR 103 flight landed at the new Centennial Airport, Romnick and Harlene rushed to Commonwealth, Quezon City, because the house of Harlene (and Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert’s) brother Hero was on fire. When I saw the newscast that afternoon, I noticed that Romnick was still wearing the same denim pants he wore on the flight from L.A.

Gabby now a singer

I learned from Rhyan Deles that Gabby Concepcion is taking his singing seriously. Don’t laugh now but Gabby is in-demand out there as a, yes, singer, sometimes commanding as high as $4,000 per show.

"He has improved a lot as a singer," said Rhyan who is a good friend of Gabby’s and has directed several shows headlined by Gabby. "His repertoire includes the latest hits from Manila, including those by Side A."

In short, Gabby now sings "in tune," unlike before when he would sing off-key, much to the amusement of the audience who didn’t mind so much his singing and was interested only in watching him sing "live."

"He’s doing all right dito sa States," said Rhyan. (Gabby is based in San Francisco with his new love.) "I doubt if he’s still interested in going back to the Philippines to resume his showbiz career."

How’s that again, please?

Something funny happened at a recent Asian-American film festival held somewhere in America.

Maybe trying to be "nationalistic," the star (actually, a "supporting" star) of one of the Filipino films exhibited during the event delivered a very brief speech in pure Tagalog, much to the amusement of especially the Filipinos in the audience. You see, more than one half of the audience was made up of non-Filipinos and the actor could have easily delivered his very brief speech in English.

"He didn’t know it but behind his back, pinagtawanan siya ng mga Pinoy," said the Funfare DPA who was present in that event. "Ang arte-arte niya."

When the director spoke after the actor, she translated his very short speech, saying, "What he wanted to say was ‘good evening to all of you and thanks for coming’." Ay naku, He could have said so in English.

What turned Filipinos off was when the actor seemed to float (and walk) through the crowd, ignoring even people whom he knew back in Manila.

Sneered the DPA, "Nakarating lang ng New York, biglang nagka-amnesia."

So who’s that actor (actually, a "supporting" actor) again? Sorry but I suddenly developed "amnesia."