CYNICS might say he is a case of too much too soon, but rising star Ronnie Alonte just shrugs off anything negative thrown his way at this beautiful time in his young career.
“I’m happy that there is a slew of wonderful projects falling on my lap, and one after the other at that. I’m grateful these opportunities are going my way. There will always be those who’d try to pull you down, and there are also many who find pleasure in sowing intrigues when others seem to be busy with work and happy. I admit there are times when I feel overwhelmed with things happening almost at the same time, but I’m certainly not complaining. I have learned to seize every moment and remain focused with what truly matters,” he explained.
Alonte will have his first major solo concert at the Kia Theater on December 17. He beams with a most charming boyish smile at the label especially created for him for the concert: “Kilig King”.
“I admit that I still have so much to learn about music and I still have a long way to go to develop my singing skills. But who’d say no to an opportunity to be featured in a solo concert? Who’d say no to the chance to entertain people, especially during this festive season? Certainly not me,” he said.
For the show, Alonte will be joined by Julia Barretto, Erich Gonzales, Bugoy Cariño and some members of the popular boy group Hashtags. “It will be an evening of fun and friends, of popular songs and a lot of dancing, too. My goal is just to give the audience a solid night of beautiful music so they can go home happy and entertained.”
Alonte also headlines a movie for the upcoming Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). Erik Matti’s Seklusyon is the only horror film in the annual December filmfest and Alonte leads the four-member main cast, which includes Dominic Roque, John Vic de Guzman and JR Versales.
“I guess it’s perfect timing that after the concert, I have a movie to promote—and not any ordinary movie but an Erik Matti movie at that. It’s an honor for me to have been directed by him this early in my career,” Alonte enthused.
With his work schedule already filled up for the holiday season, Alonte told us he will make time to spend Christmas with his family. “It’s the least I can do for them, as they never tire of supporting me and loving me. I’m also thinking of taking a short vacation at the start of the new year, maybe go to a beach for a few days just to recharge.”
There seems to be no stopping Ronnie Alonte now.
MORE OF BIBOY RAMIREZ, PLEASE
IT has been a long, but steady, climb for actor Biboy Ramirez since he was introduced in the teenybopper show Click on GMA many years ago.
Now thirtysomething, Ramirez knows being a credible character actor is what will truly makes him happy. “Acting is my true passion. I might have other business interests but I always come back to acting.”
Ramirez is in the cast of the MMFF entry Oro, about a community of miners that will face the greatest battle of their simple lives when they are infiltrated by an armed group masquerading as environmentalists. Ramirez plays one of the miners caught in the web of greed, deceit and violence in this film directed by festival favorite and Ateneo de Manila University Prof. Alvin Yapan.
“It’s my first time to work with direk Alvin and I’m impressed with how he works as a storyteller. He knows his material very well and is very passionate about truth in sending out his messages and principles through cinema,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez and his coactors traveled to the Bicol province for the principal photography of the movie. “We also shot at the amazing Caramoan beaches and discovered many truths about the mining industry in the region. For a film that’s based on a real-life incident, we tried to stick close to the truth in giving life to the characters we portrayed.”
Yapan also has good words for Ramirez. “When I was casting for the movie, I thought of Biboy immediately since I was intrigued by his quiet, almost pensive, demeanor. I needed an actor who can be introspective and Biboy fits perfectly right. I feel there’s a lot to be discovered about Biboy and his range as an actor. He is also a very nice guy. I would surely want to have more projects with him in the future.”
BOLD, BRAVE, BLOODY AND BEAUTIFUL
PEOPLE are talking about XIV, an exhibit of ace photographer and HIV advocate Niccolo Cosme, which opened at the Pineapple Lab in Makati City recently, coinciding with the worldwide celebration of World AIDS Day.
“This was a concept I wanted to produce but I was waiting for the right timing. Initially an exhibit I wanted to open in New York, but because of certain reasons beyond my control, those plans had to be set aside, so I decided to showcase my works here in the Philippines first,” Cosme explained, adding, “The concept is inspired by the 14 stations of the cross. I wanted to make it more attuned to the times, bolder and braver. I also wanted to humanize HIV by using HIV-positive blood in the pieces. I wanted to see how people will react.”
Cosme described the exhibit a collaboration
because he worked with 14 different artists for the XIV artworks. “I’m fortunate to have artists and experts work with me on this exhibit, from the makeup experts to the models to graphic artists.”
He added that the most challenging phase was casting his subjects. “Getting models to pose nude was quite tedious but all worth it,” he said, adding, “I got mostly ballet dancers, because most of the pieces required a lot of movement that can only be achieved by professional dancers. There were also a few daring souls who heeded the call to go au naturel for the shoot.”
Cosme heads a foundation called The Red Whistle, a community response team to the rising cases of HIV in the Philippines. It was created in 2011 due to the alarming numbers of AIDS- related deaths that continue to plague the nation up to this day. It is a communications group that aims to produce materials to better further the HIV awareness response in the country.
Recently, Red Whistle traveled to three different cities in the Philippines in a month: Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and Palawan. “We brought our #SaveSexy race, where volunteers race to educate as much as people as they can and encourage them to undergo voluntary testing. For the exhibit, we included monologues, where we collected 14 real-life stories of people affected by HIV and curated them into literary pieces, read by selected personalities.
Cosme aims to bring this exhibit to New York in 2017. “I might add a few pieces depending on how things go, but I’ll make sure the works will be showcased in the US next year.”
Bravo, Niccolo.