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by Trish Fodor Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Bianca and Zarf I can't light no more of your
darkness These days I’m falling in love with All My Children all over again. Admittedly, I walked away from my daily viewing when they killed Gillian Andrassy Lavery right after the couple re-reunited. (Grrr…) David Hayward lured back some of my interest but the budding relationship between Erica’s lesbian daughter Bianca and rock star Zarf has me hooked all over again. I’ve always liked Eden Riegel. She’s smart, distinctively attractive and has shown that she can handle some very heavy and controversial material like “coming out”, her horrific rape by Michael Cambias and choosing to love that the baby conceived in the wake of the violence. We all cried with Bianca when she learned that her baby died in an accident, then we felt her joy laced with bitterness after she learned that Babe found out that her child was really Bianca’s Miranda and failed to tell her about it. (Man, that was sudsy!) I was disappointed when Riegel chose to leave AMC but embraced her recent return to the canvas with open arms. I never envisioned her becoming another one of the Fusion babes. (Who, by the way, are dropping like flies these days!) Bianca is too unique a charter to become part of a pack. But what a good vehicle Fusion was to hail Zarf from whatever galaxy “he” came from and bring him right into Bianca’s life. From the day he appeared in all his naked glory, Zarf had me mesmerized, as did his portrayer, Jeffrey Carlson. It’s goes beyond the “out there” transgender rock star that he portrays. It’s more than his fair skin and perfect bone structure. It even supercedes the fact that he looks better in make up than I do. (Aren’t “pretty” men frustrating?) It’s the fact that you can tell this is an actor whose talents were honed on stage and I admit to always being rather stage struck. I recently got to spend a wonderful weekend in New York City with my sister-in-law and her 17 year-old daughter. (You haven’t lived until you’ve chased an “independent” teenager around Manhattan!) Not in the position to be big spenders, we were fortunate enough to win the ticket lottery to get a great deal on second row tickets to RENT. What an amazing experience that was! My parents were always into the arts and very good about taking my brother and I to see traveling productions of Broadway shows as well as the ballet and symphony. My grandfather was a music instructor and my grandmother played violin so they came into their love of music and theater quite naturally. The very first show they took me to, from the first moment the lights went down and the curtain opened, my mouth dropped and my eyes were wide in fascination. Nothing equals the anticipation and excitement of a live performance. I’ve seen many shows since then and others on Broadway but every single time the lights dim I revert back to that little girl entranced by the actors in front of me. RENT was no different. The raw energy, passion and conviction of each and every performer for their character as they brought them to life was nothing short of intoxicating. (Oh, and as my niece excitedly PM’d her friends during intermission, “Roger actually spit on us – twice!”) Ah, a sacred shower from the stage god. Getting back to Jeffrey Carlson. I was curious as to his background so, naturally I did a little research, which proved my suspicions to be correct. A native of California, Carlson migrated to New York City where he graduated from the Juilliard School in 2001. He went on to compile a list of impressive stage performances including Thief River, Romeo and Juliet (Yes, he was Romeo. Imagine that!), Sodom and Gomorrah and The Goat. He also had parts in Tartuffe and The Miracle Worker, Manuscript and Candida just to name a few. I won’t bother regurgitating Jeffrey’s resume but you can find out more on his web site located at: http://www.jeffrey-carlson.com/index2.html All My Children did a brilliant job casting the character of Zarf but, then again, daytime - New York based soaps in particular - seem to routinely pluck talent from the stage and vice versa. (One of the men in our RENT cast was on OLTL.) Many of the talented daytime stars will be appearing live on stage in ABC Daytime’s Salute to Broadway Cares, a benefit for the fight against AIDS in New York City on February 25, 2007. (Link below) http://www.broadwaycares.org/events/ABCDaytime2007.cfm Although I didn’t attend the event last year, several of my friends did and found it to be well worth the time and money. If you want to see some of your favorite soap actors and actresses performing for a wonderful cause, that’s the place to be. (I normally don’t plug things in the column but, hey, if it’s promoting talent and charity, I’m all about it.) So, what’s in store for Zarf and Bianca? That promises to be a fascinating revelation. Recently Zarf asked Bianca what she wanted to know about him and she replied, “What you’re hiding.” Zarf’s reply to that question was (of course) a series of cryptic responses all flirting with around the one thing that makes them so much alike. After sharing a kiss, you could see Zarf’s eyes pleading with her to make “the connection”. I practically screamed the fact at the screen. Bianca, you felt something. You’re a lesbian. He’s a she! I can’t wait for that realization to hit her and to find out how far how far the transformation goes. Is he a she who wants to BE a she? Is he a she who is actually in the process of becoming a she? Does he/she even know what they want? And they’re clearly setting Zarf up as a “person of interest” in the Fusion murders. What will Bianca do if he’s arrested? Will Zack come forward with his dreams? Will Bianca be there for Zarf? Will she keep his/her secret? Where does Maggie fit into all of this? I am sooo ready to spend a little quality time in Pine Valley to learn the answers to these questions and countless more. Think I’ll pop in some Elton John and kick back. Until next time, enjoy the show and the music! Trish Don't let the sun go down on
me
Music by Elton John
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