SEEING Ricci Rivero perform gave showbiz impresario Johnny Manahan — known in showbiz circles as “Mr. M” — some very good flashbacks of another athlete turned actor whose showbiz career he nurtured.
“It’s like [a] bookend. The beginning of the career of Joey Marquez, 30, 40 years ago? Now it’s this fellow, Ricci Rivero. You know, after two shows, ‘Uy, si Joey ito a! Walanghiya siya e!’ He’s so confident. And if we had kept it up, he’d be something in showbiz,” said the talent manager to SPIN Life in a wide-ranging conversation with the editors of Summit Media.
Manahan famously directed Marquez in the long-running sitcom Palibhasa Lalake, the comedic stepping stone that turned the PBA star into a full-fledged actor.
“Ricci Rivero, he has it,” said Mr. M.
Rivero was most recently a host in the short-lived weekly variety show in TV5 called Sunday Noontime Live. Manahan was also active as a consultant in that show, which debuted in September last year but aired its last episode on January 17.
“Usually when they pull the plug, that means you’re not making enough money,” said Mr. M about SNL. He had flexed his considerable showbiz power to get stars like Piolo Pascual and Maja Salvador onto the show. “They probably weren’t generating enough sales.”
Manahan said that he's currently "on hiatus" after the ABS-CBN franchise was canceled and Laurenti Dyogi took over Star Magic, the station's talent management agency that Manahan co-founded in the '90s.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
