One Life to Live News & Gossip
News for the week of 22-Sep-2008
The spoiler indicated Marty fixing herself up for Todd to notice her as a man notices a pretty woman. But before that spoiler had a chance to come alive on-screen, Marty’s portrayer Susan Haskell asked TPTB to revise the fixing-up part so that Marty notices Todd as a woman notices a handsome, winsome man, as is—no makeup, in her pjs. Since she’s been playing Marty for a long time, prior to the brief recast, TPTB let Haskell have her way.
Brittany Underwood (Langston) and Jason Tam (Markko) like their pairing, but they’d like it even more if they could revert to the bickering pairing of their contentious introduction. Underwood called herself a drama queen, but she and Tam agreed that having the pair butt heads would be interesting, that that’s part of their allure.
Tam said he missed out on a lot of traveling ‘cause of the demands of his soap job. He was able to squeeze in a visit home to Hawaii (bigtime travel to most Mainlanders) for a sibling’s wedding, but that’s not what he meant. He gets off on traveling to destinations he’s never been to before. Maybe next time.
Believe it or not, it’s been a decade since Gigi got some, if you know what I mean. According to portrayer Farah Fath, Gigi remained chaste after losing her virginity to Rex back in high school. Something like that. Something in the scripted revelation—in a scene with Kathy Brier’s Marcie—made Fath want to giggle, but she kept her game face on for the cameras. “She … makes a comment to Marcie about how sex reminds her of scrunchies and *NSYNC, the band. Hilarious!” –Soap Opera Digest, September 23, 2008
John-Paul Lavoisier (Rex) did the unthinkable. He bought an honest-to-goodness 1982 DeLorean car, something he’s wanted to do for so long. But unfortunately, he also had to deal with the pitfalls of owning such a car, such as having to fix a lot of broken things, the speedometer, the defroster, the odometer, you name it. He was able to take it out for a drive to Atlantic City, but that’s been pretty much it. After purchasing the car from a Florida dealer—without checking it out firsthand—Lavoisier’s had to check it into at least two fix-it shops. The last one is based in Long Island, but Lavoisier may not be able to ride the car until it’s fixed – after fall is over. The car’s myriad problems aside, Lavoisier still digs that he was able to purchase his ideal.
Lavoisier and girlfriend Farah Fath (Gigi) have a favorite hobby they love to do together. No, it’s not just that—get your minds out of the gutter! It’s when they sit down to keep up with their recorded OLTL episodes nightly, over some takeout. Every now and then, though, Fath and Lavoisier get hit with an eerie feeling unique to celebrities. Fath described one such occurrence: “As I was about to bite into my cheeseburger, I looked up and saw [Lavoisier’s] face and just got this rush of goosebumps like, ‘Uhhh. That’s weird!’ and he goes, ‘What?’ and I said, ‘It’s weird that you’re on TV right now.’” Every now and then, Fath also is tempted to watch OLTL live, when her boyfriend’s working out at the gym, but refrains from giving in, ‘cause it’s more fun to watch together. –Soap Opera Digest, September 23, 2008
Rex with a beard? It almost happened. Portrayer Lavoisier said he almost got away with it, he had TPTB’s approval, but then they all had to tape a new, updated opening credits—and there went the beard. He shaved the beard part off and left the mustache to see what that looked like, and joked that he looked like a ‘70s adult film actor. When he shaved the rest of it, he joked that he went from a grown-up to a child. Check out Soap Opera Digest’s online website for the video.
Two years ago, Eddie Alderson (Matthew) picked up on the keyboards because he pal’d around with his keyboard-playing buddies growing up. He’s completely self-taught, using YouTubevideos to help him along the way. He’s not sure if he’ll go the route of a formal training. In the meantime, he tinkers with a Casio CTK710 keyboard at home in Pennsylvania and a piano at OLTL’s studios during his spare time, even playing music while co-star BethAnn Bonner (Talia) sings along. His repertoire so far includes: Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” John Lennon’s “Imagine,” Sia’s “Breathe Me,” and Yael Naim’s “New Soul,” as well as some classical masterpieces. Alderson advised aspiring keyboardists to start learning on a keyboard first before applying knowledge to a bigger, full-blown piano, “it’s easier to get the rhythm down” that way. The young actor noted that his Casio keyboard has almost the same model number as the one that was known for bursting into flames sporadically; it’s off by one number, thank God. –Soap Opera Digest, “Daytime’s Got Talent!,” September 23, 2008
I don’t know why the online soap community’s acting like A Martinez’s short-term OLTL deal as Ray was news, when the actor came out and said it was gonna be short-term to begin with in several initial interviews. Remember, the short-term could turn into more later on down the line.
Melissa Gallo Fumero (Adriana) makes her way back to Rex, October 2, and deals summarily with Gigi as well.
Florencia Lozano (Tea) will also make her way back (when last she left, it was 2002, and Todd left her stranded on a deserted island) in December.
Marlena De Lacroix turned in a rave review of Peter Bartlett (Nigel) and the rest of the cast of the musical satire, What’s That Smell? The Music of Jacob Sterling, after enjoying a live preview of it at the Atlantic Theater Company’s Atlantic Stage 2 on 330 West 16th Street in Manhattan. The musical satirizes other musical comedies and references plenty of current pop culture, including Sarah Palin, John McCain’s Republican running mate for the vice presidency. Much of De Lacroix’s enjoyment came from the pitch-perfect comedic timing and brilliance of character actor extraordinaire Bartlett as late-night cable talk show host Leonard Swagg and David Pittu as Swagg’s late-night talk show guest, Jacob Sterling, an ego-inflated songwriter/lyricist hoping to make it big on Broadway. She compared Barlett’s “sweetly fawning host” Swagg to Nigel, and Pittu’s Sterling to Asa. “Just to watch Bartlett standing off on the side, reacting, making quips and dancing to Jacob’s ridiculous songs is pure joy. Just like Nigel on OLTL, Leonard is a thoroughly original character and Bartlett always steers clear of being stereotypically over the top. He’s a fine actor – he knows exactly what he’s doing. Character actors are a vanishing breed on soap operas. Bartlett hasn’t survived fifteen years of being on OLTL for nothing.” Catch Bartlett in the winning musical starting on September 28th. Info: (212) 279-4200. And keep checking De Lacroix’s blog site for an interview with the actor.
Gossip for the week of 22-Sep-2008
SoapTown USA/CRAZE columnist Jeremy in Chicago dropped some intriguing possible spumor speculations in his September 16th update, like, maybe Langston and Markko are both connected biologically by virtue of their parents coming from Colombia. Jeremy noticed that Markko mentioned his father having been Colombian, and Langston’s mom was too. And what if they’re all related to the Vega/Santis, as well as Tea who’s coming on board soon?
Jeremy in Chicago also noticed that what was shown in an OLTL preview and what actually aired differed remarkably in the kissing scene between Todd and Marty. In the preview, it looks like Todd initiated the kiss. But in the actual on-air scene, the kiss looks mutual. While Jeremy understood the possible reasoning behind the revision—the story of a rapist falling for his victim, who doesn’t know he’s her rapist because she has amnesia…is very controversial for fans—he still felt it was off. In his opinion, “you are knowingly breaking the audience’s suspension of disbelief. It just completely drew me out of the show and made me kind of roll my eyes. I mean, which kiss is it? Is Marty sitting while Todd is leaning down to kiss her? Or is she standing and leaning in towards him at the same time? There is a BIG difference there, and I think the show should have stuck with their misguided choice to have Todd initiate the kiss. Once something airs, just freaking stick with it. If the problem stemmed from directors making different choices, then the responsibility of continuity falls directly on the shoulders of the Executive Producer. Someone screwed this up. It’s not the end of the world, but it sure is jarring.”
But what if this is leading to the big surprise reveal that that’s not Todd Trevor St. John is playing but Walker Lawrence? What if Todd is still Roger Howarth’s version and he’ll return to reveal it? It would open up a romance between Walker and Marty with the full approval of the fans, since Walker’s not a rapist. I posed this question to Jeremy in Chicago, but he doubted this rumor would come to pass.
Susan Haskell may be done with Marty, and this wacky story is OLTL’s way of heralding out Trevor St. John who may want to be done with Todd, so he can make his mark in movies. I’m hearing Todd will sink to a new low and fake his own death, thus precipitating Tea’s arrival in December. He faked Viki’s DID, so why the hell not, right?
Here’s my guess as to using A Martinez as Ray for the very short-term: Stunt casting to bring in more youngsters and keep the focus on the younger characters, like Langston, Ray’s daughter Lola, Markko, etc. His veteran status and recognition as a big name were manipulations designed to lure fans in OLTL’s direction, nothing more, nothing less.
Forbes March (ex-Nash) takes on the role of DOOL’s recast Eric Brady?
OLTL’s revised opening credits are in the can. No big deal, just an update, same general look.
One Life to Live News & Gossip, Copyright © 2008 Carol Banks Weber. Published by SoapZone.com / Jeff Jungblut. No part of this page may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed on this page are those of the author and may not be representative of SoapZone.com or its advertisers. Don't steal scoops.
