By Ruben Nepales
OUR interviews over the years with Fil-Am actor Alec Mapa, whether by e-mail or in person, have always been laugh riots. At the pre-show reception of the recent Filipino American Library’s “Jazzmopolitan: A Celebration of Music” at the Aratani Theatre in LA’s Little Tokyo, we were just shooting the breeze with the star of “Ugly Betty,” many TV shows, films and stage productions when our colleague, Peter Gonzaga, turned on his video camera and mike. The resulting video clip is just a sample of the sassy wit of Alec, whom my wife Janet and I admired since we first saw him in his acclaimed monologue, “I Remember Mapa.”
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Alec came on time to the event which raised funds for the laudable Filipino American Library (FAL), which is located in the historic Filipinotown of LA. The actor, who is committed to various charities and foundations, was going to be awarded FAL’s Role Model Award.
Well, many hours and several glasses of wine later, and after terrific performances by Becca Godinez, Mon David, Charmaine Clamor, Three of a Kind, Tateng Katindig, Michael and Rene Paulo, Alec finally got to go onstage and accept his award. Alec’s hair has gone askew and despite having the tough task of delivering an acceptance speech after those excellent musical numbers, he still managed to entertain the crowd and keep the momentum. Toward the end, he invoked his favorite anecdote about how his mother, now deceased, motivated him when he was just starting in show business and was not making headway. “What’s stopping you?” Alec’s mother asked him. That made him pause. Nothing has stopped Alec since then.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Very funny — what a hoot Alec is!