Reflections by Jill - A Weekly Commentary for OLTL

Next, of course, was the introduction of all the actors. We were hoping to get the same wonderful turnout that we got last year, and except for a few actors that we were sorry didn’t show up, the turnout was great. I’ll give you the list of actors using their characters’ names so that everyone can identify them.

Okay, in order of appearance, we had, Rex, Natalie, Matthew, Starr, Marcie, Blair, Antonio, Cristian, Evangeline, Kevin, Mike Jerome (can’t remember his character’s name, but he’s the young man who won the “I Want To Be A Soap Star” contest), Roxy, Paige, Layla, Nora, Todd, Clint, Kelly, Jessica, Lindsay, Carlotta, Nash and Michael. Carlotta, Nash and Michael made late appearances, but we were happy they showed up. Of course, fans wanted to see John, Viki, Hugh, David, Adriana and Bo, but sorry, not this year. Some fans speculated that Bob Woods was off enjoying his first love, the New York Yankees, and if that’s so, we forgive him because we love him so much.

John Paul Lavoisier (Rex) posed as Master of Ceremonies, introducing the actors and I have to say, he was a riot. He’s adorable and has a fun personality. He’s funny in a very Rex-like way, like when he introduced David Fumero and said, “I get to kiss his girlfriend.” For those who don’t know, David Fumero and Melissa Gallo (Cristian and Adriana) are a real life couple, so it was pretty funny.

Next came my very favorite part of the day, which was the Question and Answer session. All the actors sit up on stage across a long dais and the fans get to ask them questions. Last year fans were disappointed because the questions for the panel were prepared ahead of time so there were no impromptu questions from the fans. That meant that there were no chances for anyone to get up and say anything outrageous. That’s always the biggest crowd pleaser. This year, we reverted back to the old format. Kassie DePaiva and Dan Gauthier went into the audience with mikes to field questions and they did a great job. They are both hysterically funny.

So, I guess I’ll just go down the line and give you the run-down on what most of the Q&A involved.

One fan asked Renee Goldsberry about Evangeline’s relationship with Cristian and she said she was very happy about it. She said it’s nice that Evangeline is excited and happy and about Cristian she said, “He’s not very good looking but he’s a very nice guy.” That got quite a laugh because, duh, Cristian isn’t very hard on the eyes.

A fan asked Kassie if Blair was going to get back together with Todd, or was Spencer going to kill Blair. We all laughed and Kassie, whose sense of humor is wonderful, said that she hoped Spencer wasn’t going to kill Blair because that might mean she would be off the show and she hoped that wouldn’t happen because she does have a mortgage. Kassie always seems to be the most involved in her character and the most analytical about what Blair does. She said that she had a very hard time with the storyline when it dictated that Blair would lose faith in Todd when he was accused of killing Margaret and the baby because it was totally out of character for Blair. And when another fan asked Kassie how Blair thought she could get away with sleeping with Spencer to get back with Todd, Kassie simply joked that Blair uses what works for her.