California dreamin’ with ‘Eat Bulaga’

VIC SOTTO plays “Pinoy Henyo” with Fil-Am student.

SAN FRANCISCO, California—The concert’s timing wasn’t accidental, said Malou Choa-Fagar, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Television and Production Exponents Inc. (Tape Inc.), producer of the GMA 7 noontime show “Eat Bulaga.”

The cast and some crew members (collectively known as Dabarkads, slang for barkada or gang) held a one-night concert dubbed “EB Loves San Francisco” at the Cow Palace in Daly City recently.

TITO and Vic and the rest of the gang strut their stuff onstage.

Not the entire cast was present: Joey de Leon, Jimmy Santos, and Ryan Agoncillo had problems with their travel papers. Pia Guanio is pregnant.

Cow Palace, where such luminaries as Prince, Dolly Parton, The Rolling Stones, and Rod Stewart have performed, was booked for “Bulaga” in time for the long Holy Week holiday, explained Fagar.

After the concert, the main hosts proceeded to Los Angeles, then Las Vegas and New York.

During their week-long stay, Tito and Vic Sotto and Anjo Yllana tried out the golf courses in Palo Alto and San Francisco.

PAULEEN Luna meets Bay Area fans in Concord’s Seafood City.

DABARKADS in California express their enthusiasm and support with handmade posters.

Anjo said he liked San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park course better. “That’s where the President’s Cup and other big tournaments are held,” Tito said.

The trio also played in Los Angeles’ Trump National Golf Club. “We can’t do without golf,” Vic said.

It was basically the same touring production that the team brought to Singapore last year, with a few tweaks here and there. The performers found they were freer with their spiels in the United States, whereas in Singapore, Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola had to cut down on the off-color jokes.

FIL-AMS welcome ‘Bulaga’ hosts in Concord.

“To see our kababayans’ happy faces makes every trip worthwhile,” said Vic.

Vic sprang a pleasant surprise on the audience with a rendition of Adele’s “Someone Like You,” a new addition to his repertoire—written by Filipino politician /lawyer Adel Tamano, he jested.

That shifted the onstage repartee to the Corona impeachment hearings (Tito is a senator-judge).  Some audience members made known their opinions, so Tito assured them that the Senate was proceeding with the case very carefully.

Tito told Inquirer that the concert’s goal was to give Filipino-Americans a piece of home. “It’s always inspiring [for us]. We feel like the beginners that we were 30 years ago.”

Tony Tuviera, Tape big boss, pointed out: “Fans based abroad know Tito, Vic, and Joey well. Many of them left the Philippines when ‘Eat Bulaga’ was already on air.”

THOUSANDS make a beeline for Cow Palace in Daly City.

During a “meet-and-greet” the day before the show, at the Seafood City Supermarket in Concord, newer hosts Allan K, Paolo Ballesteros, and Jose and Wally (who stood in for Tito and Vic) were mobbed.

“The fans know them,” said Tuviera. “They’re also familiar with Paolo’s Shamcey Mwah-Mwah Tsup-Tsup character and the games ‘Pinoy Henyo’ and ‘All for Juan, Juan for All.’ This means they watch the show regularly on GMA Pinoy TV.”

Fagar added: “The concert was conceptualized to be different from the TV show. It’s meant to showcase the cast members’ talents in singing (Julia Clarete), stand-up comedy (Allan, Jose and Wally) and dancing (Ruby Rodriguez and Pauleen Luna).”

“EB Loves San Francisco” was aired on GMA Pinoy TV on Easter Sunday.

Photos Courtesy Of Shadow Inc.