Miss Saigon finds Mr. Saigon

Miss Saigon Ima Castro has found her Mr. Saigon. Currently the toast of Manchester, England for her role as Kim in Miss Saigon, Ima Castro has announced her engagement to her co-star David Shannon.

Ima met David while performing Miss Saigon in Manchester and their love blossomed onstage as they worked together at the Bristol Hippodrome every night.

Said Ima in a report where she and David were featured in the front page of Bristol’s Weekend Post, "David joined the company and I heard he liked me and was interested. At first, I didn’t know what to do, but then I found he was really gentle and sweet and we started seeing each other. We didn’t tell people straight away because we didn’t want them talking about us but now that it’s out in the open, I’m really happy because I can express my feelings and if I want to hold his hand, I can."

Meanwhile, in the same article, David declared, "It’s really lovely. We did talk about whether it would be difficult working together but it’s not. In fact, it makes the show ten times easier. The biggest problem is we’re not meant to be in love at the beginning so we can’t be comfortable with each other. "

Miss Saigon is such a big hit in England that the musical is being staged numerous times a week. That means that the couple rarely get time off and if they do, because of their different schedules, they can’t take breaks together. But Ima said in the same article, "It’s fine. I just have a really big kiss with someone else onstage!"

Ima and David (who originally is from Dublin, Ireland) are now based in London but are considering flying to the Philippines, with David even considering a career here in Manila. He said, "I’ve done theater in London for nine or 10 years. I’d be quite happy to move to the Philippines and live there and have a really nice life. I’ve always loved the culture."

To Ima, the sunlight, and David, the moon… Congratulations!

Martin’s Harvest

The first half of 2003 has been astounding for Martin Nievera. He made a total of eight performances at the Big Dome to a sold-out SRO crowd. He shared the stage with ex-wife Pops Fernandez last February in a reunion concert that toppled previous records at the Araneta Coliseum. He also shared the stage with Regine Velasquez in a homecoming show with no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in attendance during the first night. Before that, Martin and Regine went to five cities in the US to perform for Filipino communities. Each show earned critical and commercial raves which prompted Martin to go back, this time with Pops in a series of shows last October.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Martin’s biggest achievement so far was his month-long concert series at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas, dubbed as the live entertainment capital of the world. Shuffling to and from the US, Europe and other countries for quite some time, Martin knew that international recognition was just waiting to happen. And when it finally did, even Martin was surprised with the huge media campaign it created. He was on the cover of Showbiz Weekly, a widely-circulated entertainment magazine in Las Vegas and had a huge billboard along the Strip, the most famous street in downtown Las Vegas. The local press from Review Journal, Fox News and What’s On magazine also had a sampling of what he had to offer in an exclusive media conference.

Back on local shores, Martin once again conquered Onstage Greenbelt (he has been at it for three straight years now and holds the record of the longest running solo concert series in Philippine entertainment history in the said venue) with his recently concluded concert series billed as Martin Nievera: Onstage Again, which had six performances at Onstage Greenbelt last September.

Onstage is a premiere concert venue at the heart of Makati City, the country’s financial and commercial district. It is where the hip and affluent thrive and where the most exciting events happen.

For this solo stint, Martin performed new concepts and shared lots of laughter with his audiences, who had a grand time listening to Martin as he shared his Las Vegas experience and performed some of the songs he did during his international outing.

Also launched last September was Martin’s website for starsurfs.com, a web portal dedicated to celebrities. To know more about Martin, all you have to do is log on to martinnievera.com.ph and you will immediately be transported to the world of Martin Nievera. You can even chat with him, which you can’t do by just watching him on television, or even during his live concerts.

With the wonders of satellite backed by the latest in technology and human resources, starsurfs.com is a website provider that maintains the highest standards of excellence, efficiency and innovation for its clients and all Internet users.

Always a step ahead from other dot coms, starsurfs.com will introduce fresh ideas and exciting gimmicks to all those who will log in.

On a macro level, starsurfs.com aspires to promote the rich-socio-cultural aspect of the Philippines and of its people. It also aims to allow all Filipinos around the world to be in touch with what’s happening to their favorite Pinoy stars. Other celebrities who will soon be having their websites in starsurfs.com are Pops Fernandez, Ogie Alcasid and many more!