BB Gandanghari and John Lapus star in Beauty and the Sweet

POPS FERNANDEZ has taken over the production company of her mom, Dulce S. Lukban, in producing classy, top quality shows and her first big project is “Beauty and the Sweet”, a musical comedy starring BB Gandanghari and John ‘Sweet’ Lapus. “The idea for this started as a small project,” says Pops. “Kasi everytime kasama ko sina BB and Sweet, tawa ko nang tawa sa kanilang dalawa and their opposing views. Si BB, sanay sa New York, sosyal. Si Sweet naman, may pagka-jologs. So pag pinagsama mo sila, yung banter nila, yung exchange nila ng lines, talagang tatawa ka. So why not gawaan sila ng show? This will be written by Joel Mercado and directed by Phillip Lazaro. Hindi lang ito comedy but they’re also doing a lot of production numbers, pareho silang sing and dance dito.”

“Nalaman ko na nga lang, ito palang si BB is already rehearsing on his own,” says Sweet. “He’ll do an air dance na nakabitin siya sa ere habang sumasayaw na paikot-ikot sa isang tela. Obvious bang gusto akong talbugan. Sabi ko, humanda siya, habang nakabitin siya sa ere, kukuha ko ng gunting at puputulin ko yung tela.”

BB was last seen in the play, “Halik ng Tarantula”. Now, he’s doing a musical show. What’s really his career plan?

“Sa estado ng buhay ko ngayon, feeling ko, parang ngayon lang ako nagdadalaga so my doors are open and I’m ready to do everything. Nag-enjoy ako sa ‘Tarantula’ kahit nakakapagod, but as we all know, dito sa atin, theatre acting cannot be our bread and butter. And after acting there, now I want to explore doing comedy and music on stage. I just want to show I can be a versatile actor in various media, whether it’s film, TV or stage.”

Doesn’t he feel insecure that Sweet, a veteran comedian and live performer, can easily eclipse him on stage? “No, what he can do, tatapatan ko, I will do better. Besides, may script naman, so I trust na hindi nila ko pababayaan ni Direk Philip Lazaro na basta masapawan ako. Marami akong pasabog na gagawin.”

Will Pops be a special guest in the show? “No, producer lang ang peg ko rito. If it becomes a hit, who knows? We’ll take it on tour to various cities around the country.”

Sponsored by Cesar Montano’s Bellisimo Restorante, Maristella Jewelry and Adworks, you can reserve your tickets now by calling Music Museum at 721-6726 or 0918-563-3781.