First photo of Cruise as Stacee Jaxx

funfare update

Curtain-raiser:

• TV5 will soon go international on the same scale as ABS-CBN’s TFC (The Filipino Channel) and GMA 7’s Pinoy TV…as early as next month or August? A Funfare Update DPA said that TV executives from around the world who attended the recent 60th Annual Cable Show in Chicago “were impressed” by TV5’s aggressive plans that include “a massive recession-friendly marketing campaign” being laid out to lure cable subscribers. A TV5 office is reportedly set to open soon in San Francisco and to mount a roadshow in the US topbilled by Willie Revillame in December. And here’s the rub: TV5 is recruiting a top cable executive from another network and the exec is “tempted.” Is the offer, hmmmm, Just Right?

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As Funfare Update reported a few issues ago, shooting of the movie version of the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages has started, produced by New Line Cinema with Tom Cruise as the male lead Stacee Jaxx, the same role played by Fil-Aussie actor MiG Ayesa in the national tour. Cruise congratulated MiG when he watched the musical during its L.A. staging.

“His character has elements of Axl Rose, Keith Richards and Bret Michaels,” Adam Shankman, the movie’s director, was quoted as saying. “We did a huge amount of research on what people were going through in this period. I knew a lot of these people because my dad was a music business manager.”

According to a New Line Cinema press bulletin, it was Cruise, a fan of Shankman’s version of Hairspray with John Travolta, who first approached Shankman with the idea of doing a movie musical together. Shankman’s problem was that he couldn’t think of what musical would work with Cruise, until he saw Cruise dance with wife Katie Holmes as she sang Whatever Lola Wants at a charity event last year and “pull off his comedy shtick as obnoxious producer Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder and on MTV.” Shankman was convinced he might be right for the Rock of Ages front man.

Just as Shankman adjusted Hairspray when it went from stage to screen, so, too, has Rock of Ages undergone a makeover. “It is the exact same spirit. But the tone on Broadway was campier, which makes it difficult to connect to the characters. We raise the emotional stakes. We had to give it some weight,” added Shankman .

That includes changing Jaxx from less of a predatory snake (as MiG Ayesa must have portrayed him) to more of a lost boy. “We made him what these guys are, man children,” Shankman says. “Someone no one says no to. More of an innocent who does something wrong and doesn’t know it.”

While Cruise gets to belt out classics of the era such as Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive, Scorpions’ Rock You Like a Hurricane and joins in a group performance of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, he also tackles a fair share of fancy footwork choreographed by Mia Michaels of TV’s So You Think You Can Dance.

Said Shankman, “Does Tom dance? Let me put it this way. He is dancing so much, we are all exhausted and laying down on the floor. He is dancing us into the ground. I’ve never seen someone who wants to rehearse more.”

Christian is Phl Indonesian Ambassador for Indonesian Language

Christian Bautista with (inset) Indonesian Ambassador to Phl Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo

Christian Bautista was appointed Ambassador for Indonesian Language in the Philippines during the Indonesian Education Expo at the Rizal Sports Complex last May 15, by Indonesia’s Ambassador to the Philippines Dr. Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo.

This piece of good news was relayed to Funfare Update by Carlo Orosa, Christian’s manager.

“Christian was considered because aside from holding a college degree in Landscape Architecture in UP Diliman and his celebrity status in the Philippines and Indonesia, as a young achiever he serves as a good role model to today’s youth. Furthermore, his love for the Bahasa Indonesian language and his familiarity with its culture puts him in the best position to represent Indonesia,” Carlo quoted Dr. Ir Paristiyanti Nurwardani, Indonesia’s Education Attache, as saying.

Attended by mostly the Indonesian community living in the Philippines, Christian read this heartfelt speech in Bahasa Indonesian language as a response:

“Saya berharap saya bisa menjadi jembatan untuk membuka pintu-pintu baru dan hubungan-hubungan dengan Indonesia dan Philipina. Bahasa kita sama. Saya tertarik mempelajari bahasa Anda meskipun bahasa saya belum baik. Saya ingin meningkatkannya lagi. (English translation: I hope I can be a bridge to open new doors and relationships with Indonesia and the Philippines. Our language is similar and we are from the same race and we have the same traits. I am interested to learn your language although my Bahasa is not yet good. I want to improve it more and more.)”

After the ceremonies, Christian sang the popular Indonesian song Kenangan Terindah. This year, Nation Pictures, Indonesia, is set to release in Asia Christian’s first full-length international film, Simfoni Luar Biasa (A Special Symphony).

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