| "Reflections by Jill" - A Weekly Commentary on One Life to Live | |
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REFLECTIONS BY JILL….This week I’m going to take a break from complaining about the Santis…from talking about how sick I am of seeing either Tico or Sonia in every scene with everyone in Llanview…from talking about how naïve Jessica is behaving and how I want to shake Natalie and have her wave good-bye to Paul as she leaves him in the dust. I guess you get the picture. I did love the “Love Shack Boys” doing their little striptease and we’ll talk more about them next week, but this week I’m going to load you up with all the details of the One Life To Live Fan Club Luncheon which took place in New York City last Saturday.
I was thrilled to be in attendance, especially since I missed last year’s event and speaking for myself and a lot of people I spoke to, it was a great day, not to be “dampened” by all the rain and awful humidity in New York.
The Roosevelt Hotel was chock full of fans…tons of people like myself who have that one opportunity every year to meet up with their wonderful Internet buddies that they see on line every day. One of the most enjoyable parts of these events is putting the faces to the names of people who you only communicate with using your fingers.
The day started out with everyone milling around a large room where they were able to participate in a raffle. Lots of memorabilia from the show was auctioned off later after lunch. There were all sorts of items available…clothing that the actors had worn on the show, lots of photos (there were a couple of poster-size photos of Michael Easton that were to die for and I wonder if the girls who won those were followed home), even one of Viki’s beautiful gowns which I believe was from the Clint era.
Then everyone headed into the ballroom for lunch and that’s when the real fun began. I was lucky enough to have a pretty well situated table that was near the front of the room and very close to the doors leading to the “green room” where the actors hung out and had their lunch before they were introduced. They had guards outside that room so we couldn’t get in and the actors couldn’t get out…yet…lol. Here’s where my day got its BIG jump-start. I was sitting at the table talking with my friends and I caught sight of a woman through the corner of my eye. She seemed like someone who was working at the luncheon or a press person and I didn’t really pay attention to her. All of a sudden she pulled up a chair and sat right next to me. I figured she just wanted to get off her feet for a few minutes…I could relate to that. She said HI…I glanced over and said hi, looked away for a second and she said in my ear, “I just wanted to come out here and visit with everyone. Why should I be stuck in that boring room when I can be out here with you guys?” When I glanced back at her again I did a double take…it was none other than ROBIN STRASSER just coming by to shoot the breeze with the fans. Imagine my shock…then the other girls at the table noticed her and they were shocked, too. We loved it. She sat with us for a few minutes and she was great. She just chatted about this and that, the show, charity events. And let me tell you, she was beautiful. I don’t think it registered with me right away who she was because she didn’t really look like Dorian. She’s really tiny and looks so much younger and softer than they make her look as Dorian on the show…and she had on a very pretty un-Dorian-like dress. We totally enjoyed her and then she stopped at another table to chat before they dragged her back to the green room. She totally enjoys interacting with the fans and everyone loved her.
After lunch the actors were finally introduced. Kassie DePaiva (Blair) was introduced first and she came out to a roaring cheer. Then she brought out the rest of the cast members who were in attendance…Dan Gauthier (Kevin), Kristin Alderson (Starr), Eddie Alderson (Matthew), Robin Strasser (Dorian), Melissa Gallo (Adriana), Matthew Metzger (Duke), Jay Wilkinson (Riley), Melissa Archer (Natalie), Renee Goldsberry (Evangeline), Bree Williamson (Jessica), David Tom (Paul), John Paul Lavoisier (Rex), Catherine Hickland (Lindsay) and Trevor St. John (Todd). As they filed onto the stage the screaming and applause was very loud, but the last one onto the stage was Trevor and the place went even wilder. There can remain no question about how well loved he is and how much the fans love his version of Todd. Latecomers included Robert S. Woods (Bo) who I was thrilled to see, Timothy Stickney (RJ) who got on stage and truthfully admitted that he was late because he’s lucky enough to have a satellite and was watching “all weekend football,” Patricia Maucieri (Carlotta) and Kamar de los Reyes (Antonio) who arrived after the luncheon for the autograph session. Oh, don’t worry, I did not forget. One of the high points was the slightly late arrival from the back of the room of Nathaniel Marston (Michael), crutches and all. To say he was well received would be the biggest understatement. I thought the crowd went wild over Trevor, but I literally had to hold my ears when they exploded over Nathaniel’s arrival. It’s always a pleasure to see when an actor seems to really enjoy his fans and Marston sure does fill that bill. He is well loved and it is mutual. Nathaniel told us that he’d be on the crutches for about another month and then he’d be as good as new. None of the members of the Santi family attended…I don’t know what to say about that. Oh yes, there was great disappointment that Kathy Brier did not attend. Nathaniel told us that she was ill. There was huge disappointment that Ilene Kristin wasn’t there. I don’t know the real reason and I won’t speculate…we all have strong feelings about her and missed her a lot. I really missed seeing Tuc Watkins…he would have been great. And no ladies…to my great despair as well as that of the entire room, Michael Easton did not show up.
They began by giving out awards to the cast members, which the fans had previously voted on by mail. Catherine Hickland took the microphone to emcee this part of the show and she was great. She has a great of humor and since she’s a veteran of the cast she knows all the characters and the history and made everyone laugh so much. They gave out awards like the Emmys…and some of the acceptance speeches were a riot…like Dan and Kamar tying for Best Supporting and since Kamar was not there at the time, Dan got up to accept. As he started to unbutton his shirt he told us, “I’ll be Antonio for you.” Kristin and Eddie Alderson won the awards for Best Young Actor and Actress and they were precious. Well, Eddie is precious…Kristin is growing into the most gorgeous young lady and she was lovely. Catherine remarked that she’s been on the show so long that she remembers how little Kristin actually was when she came on the show and that it made her feel very old that she is so grown up now.
The best part of the event, in my opinion, was the question and answer session that followed. In the past I believe there were prepared questions for the actors to answer but this was a zillion times better. They gave microphones to Kassie and Dan and they went into the audience, at opposite sides of the ballroom and went around to let the fans ask any questions they wanted to. I have to say…Kassie and Dan did an incredible job. They were funny, warm and seemed to be having a great time doing “the job.” The fans loved it and the questions were great. I nearly fell off my chair laughing at some of the actors’ answers as well as some of the fans’ comments. I’ll just give you some examples and you’ll see what I mean.
One of the fans asked John Paul if he was single. He pointed to a table down in front where family and the press were seated and said, “My girlfriend is sitting right there…and she has a gun.” Everyone died laughing, including his very pretty girlfriend. Someone said they wanted to see MORE of Riley and asked Jay if he would do a strip for us. He said it would take thousands of dollars for him to do it and the women started waving money at him. It was too funny. He was very sweet and very humble, which made him very charming and lovable. Someone else asked him if he would be doing a CD or any of his music outside the show and he humbly said he didn’t think he was quite good enough for a CD, but he and Matthew Metzger (formerly of American Idol) were talking about getting together on something. One fan asked Melissa Gallo about Adriana’s future on the show and she said she was very happy with her job, especially since now she had her “new boy.” She pointed to Metzger next to her so we did get that little tidbit of news that Adriana and Duke would be an item. They make a beautiful couple. Metzger was asked about coming to the show as Duke and he seemed totally happy to be there. I heard that he told some fans that Duke was going to be 21 years old…and I believe Dan said that Kevin would have been 18 when Duke was born. More creative writing…lol…but what can you do? Patricia Maucieri was asked about her role on the show and she says interesting things will be happening…here’s another clue…she said that Antonio will always be her son in her heart. Most people figure that Antonio is Tico’s little brother who was supposedly killed in that car with his mother.
Dan was asked how much longer it will be before the whole baby stealing storyline blows up and he said it would be about 6 more months, adding that, “Kevin will be in the dark and stupid like he always is.” I have to say that Dan was a very charming part of the program and it frustrates me to say that realizing how much I like him makes it harder for me to write my scathing comments about Kevin every week…lol…I’ll just have to try harder. One fan asked the entire cast about the bad news regarding Ilene Kristin’s contract and Bob Woods spoke for the group saying that they were all totally upset about her situation and didn’t know what to say about it. They all love her, say she’s great to work with, always gives 150% and obviously, they couldn’t speak out against the show’s decision, but you could tell they would have loved to.
Here’s one I could have lived without. I had heard rumors but didn’t want to believe them…silly me. Bree was asked when Jessica was going to marry Antonio and she coyly said she didn’t know about that, but that Jessica would be getting married soon…she didn’t know the details. We’ve all heard that she’s going to marry Tico…I’ll probably feel too ill to even write about it if and when it happens.
And here’s a news flash for all. Rumors were flying about David Fumero’s return as Cristian and when asked, Melissa Archer seemed to confirm it. What do you know? For the fans that wrote me recently asking about Cristian…this is big news to me and I know it makes a lot of people happy. Can’t wait to see that situation unfold. The crowd erupted in laughter when Kassie commented, “Cristian is coming back as Al.”
Lots of women asked for hugs and the actors and actresses willingly gave them. One woman asked for a hug from little Eddie Alderson and he went dashing through the audience to give it to her…it was totally adorable. There was even one woman who stood up and said her husband wanted a hug from Renee…he’s a big Evangeline fan…and he got his hug. Although the women tremendously outnumber the men at these events, I was very pleased to see some men scattered around the room. There was even one lovely man who stood up and said he paid for a big trip to New York and traveled in a big storm so that his wife and two young daughters could attend and he came right along with them. What a guy!
You know I loved this question because I am always hysterical over the way Dorian pronounces foreign names and words. One fan asked Robin about the way she properly pronounces all the Spanish names and the name of her house and she proceeded to stand up and give us all a “repeat after me” lesson in pronunciation of her favorite words…as in La-Bou-Laie, Car-LOW-ta and along with Melissa Gallo, A-driana. She had the crowd repeat every syllable after her and it was a riot. School was never so much fun.
Okay…here was the one where I laughed so hard I could hardly breath. One very, very, very devoted Michael fan got up and as Dan held the mike for her, she told us that she had come all the way from South Carolina, was crazy about Michael and Marcie and was reminding Marston of all the things she had sent him. He loved it and kept shaking his head and smiling, remembering the things she had sent and then she said that she knew she was going to take up too much time but she didn’t care…this was her time…and she proceeded to read a long poem that she wrote for Marston, which read like a long passage from a steamy, bodice-ripping romance novel…detailing her devotion to Michael and his romantic side. It was great, had the crowd roaring with laughter and that woman definitely got her money’s worth when she bought her ticket to New York…for sure. One woman just got up, directed her comment to John Paul, said how much she loves Rex and just stood there and growled at him. I told you we had a lot of laughs…I wasn’t kidding.
Renee was asked about Evangeline and John and the woman asking the question said she didn’t like the way Evangeline had dissed RJ. Renee acknowledged that there were a lot of fans that love Evangeline with John and also many that love Natalie with John. As you can imagine, both fan bases went wild…but I think the John/Natalie fans won that scream fest.
And for those who like to know what goes on under the covers…like me…Trevor was asked what Kassie was wearing under the covers in the Las Vegas love scenes. Of course, Trevor very quickly said, “NOTHING!” We all died laughing and Kassie decided to clarify the situation for us and give us a bit of behind the scenes info. She reminded us of all the love scenes where her back is totally naked and we assume that her front is as well. She said that they paste on a big set of, in her words, “fake boobs” over her chest so it appears to us that she’s naked. She said that in reality, when she’s in bed with Trevor and wearing those, if he looks down at them he just dies laughing. She also told us that the “fake boobs” had the nickname “Woodsies” written across them which was done jokingly a long time ago by Hillary B. Smith who named them after Robert S. Woods. Let me just say this…Bob Woods, after all these years, is still our wonderful Bo and is adorable.
I was sorry the question and answer session had to end…it was so much fun. All of the actors were wonderful and very giving of themselves. I couldn’t scribble notes fast enough so that I could remember everything I wanted to tell you about the day.
Following the luncheon there was a 2-hour session in some rooms off the lobby of the hotel where the actors stayed for autographs and took photos with the fans. Some wonderful photos were taken at the luncheon, which my good friends, Janice and Betsy took and ran them over to the one-hour photo place. I was wondering how the hotel management felt about a zillion excited soap opera fans lining up in droves through their lobby to get to meet their favorite stars. It was quite a sight and people tirelessly waited on line to get to speak to the actors who were all very gracious and giving of their time.
I just want to say that all in all it was a truly great day. I loved seeing everyone…all my Internet friends whom I love and hardly ever get to see…seeing the actors which is always a major treat…even getting to meet a few of you wonderful readers who loyally read my column every week. It was a pleasure and I didn’t want the day to end. For anyone who has never attended this function, start saving your pennies for next year. I definitely know how big a deal it can be to make a trip to New York. It’s not a cheap trip and the luncheon ticket is not a spit in the bucket either…but it’s such an enjoyable day and every fan of the show should get to experience it. I hope to see and meet a lot more of you next year.
See ya next week...
Jill Berry
FAN
FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS
Allison writes: “To me Evangeline is coming off as NO MORE than a pathetic woman in heat...I find Evangeline and John very forced and her treatment of RJ was terrible. She CHEATED on him then blamed him for the breakup. Everything is about her and how PERFECT she is. She is also trying to get a baby back to an unstable mother when the baby isn’t even hers. I don’t even think she likes John…she just likes winning. John still has Natalie on his mind.”
Dear Allison: Although I have enjoyed John and Evangeline together more lately than I did before, I don’t think they are destined to be together...but who knows? They are serving a purpose for each other…and I’m not quite sure from one day to the next what exactly that is. I don’t think that Evangeline is pathetic. I think she’s a very self-confident, together woman who goes after what she wants and in my opinion, as well as the opinion of lots of female fans, no one could blame her for wanting a guy like John. Evangeline is not trying to get a baby back for a woman who is not even his mother…she doesn’t know that Kelly is not Ace’s mother…everyone is keeping that from her at this point and she has asked Kelly more times than I can remember if she’s keeping any information from her regarding the case. It’s not her fault…she just sees Kelly as a woman who should have custody of her baby. I do agree that John definitely has Natalie on his mind, but for him, for now, he’s not capable of dealing with the feelings he’s always had for Natalie. I think his relationship with Evangeline is uncomplicated and all he can handle right now.
Clara writes: “Jill, you crack me up this week. Your comments about Bo & Nora are so dead on…and really, I'm with you about the recast of Governor Brooks. I'd take Ben back ANY day! Man, I miss Mark D. so much. Did you happen to catch him last week on Wild Card? Also, I have to say it I do not like Van and John. I see nothing thrilling about their sex scenes. Are we to be impressed because she is calling all the shots with John and she’s busy telling everyone how great and perfect she is when it comes to sports and courtroom antics? Please. Oh, I guess this IS today’s woman. I’d like to see this triangle that will happen between Nat/John/Van. Nat and John have an emotional connection that is way beyond sex.”
Dear Clara: It sure is clear that a lot of people don’t like John and Evangeline and lots of people are looking forward to seeing a triangle between John, Evangeline and Natalie. I hope Natalie remembers she’s a human being with a brain before too long so she can hold up her part of that triangle. If she keeps hanging out with Paul she might need Evangeline as a defense lawyer before too long. I would agree about John and Natalie having a connection that goes beyond sex…after all, they’ve never done more than come close to having any…lol. And regarding Mark Derwin…I miss him too…every day that we have to watch useless boring creatures moving into Llanview.
Jerry writes: “Just like the show, you ignore the fact that Kevin and Joey are not really Buchanans. I wrote to you over 2 weeks ago about that fact and just like the writer's of OLTL you ignore the fact about Kevin and Joey, too. This just shows me that you have not been watching the show as long as I have, since the beginning when it was about the Lords and Craigs. Do you remember the Craigs? Dr. Jim and Anna Craig? How about the Vernon's? Now they’re gone and we have the Santis. Here are some more facts that I know about the show that you seem to think that I am wrong about. Dr. Larry Wolek was once married to Viki's sister Meredith who died on her way to surgery. Erika Slezak did not originate the role of Victoria Lord. I can't remember the ladies name but at one time, she played the role of Daisy Courtland on All My Children. Well, I guess that I have let you in enough on the old facts and have probably wasted my time on writing the facts to you.”
Dear Jerry: First, I’d like to say one thing…please chill out! It’s nice that you wrote me a couple of weeks ago, however I receive way too many emails every week to answer them all right away. If I did, people would just get bored and fall asleep from the length of my articles…maybe some already do. I don’t know what it is, but for some strange reason you seem to think that I ignore facts and know nothing about the history of One Life To Live. Sorry to disappoint you, Jerry, but I’ve been watching since I was a kid when the show started. Just like I can’t answer every single letter every week, I can’t discuss every bit of the show’s history, which would indeed be a bore to most people. FYI, I not only remember the Craigs, Anna and Jim, but I vividly remember Jim’s crazy daughter Cathy. Everyone knows that Joey and Kevin are not Asa’s grandsons by blood. I didn’t think it was worth bringing up again because Ace’s situation, in my opinion, has much less to do with him being accepted as a Buchanan than the fact that he doesn’t belong with either Kevin or Kelly. Him being a Buchanan or not is the least important part of the storyline. Regarding Larry Wolek, I’ve mentioned him, his marriage to Meredith and their son, Danny, many times when I talked about wanting Larry back on the show. Oh, and since you don’t remember the name of the original Viki, I’ll remind you…it was Gillian Spencer. Thanks for the history lesson…you reminded me how much I HAVEN’T forgotten.
Pat writes: “ I'm with you. I sure don't want to see any more of the Governor. Once was more than enough. I'm also way past getting sick of the Santi family. Other than being beautiful people they are expressionless. They seem just plain mean and no one needs that!”
Dear Pat: It seems that there is an overwhelming dislike for the Santi storyline. I couldn’t agree more. They are boring and overbearing and totally unnecessary. And as most people know, I cannot stand characters that are just plain mean.
© Copyright by Katherine Thurston, 2004
