LINDA AND SALLY DO GH!!!

Well, the Bethesda event, that is.  On Saturday, I went to the Greg Vaughan event, and Sally from the Ranch joined me for the Ted King and Becky Herbst events; Sunday it was Rick Hearst.  This was really my virgin event, aside from meeting Tyler Christopher and Stephen Nichols at a local store opening years ago.   I was a little leery since this was shortly after Katrina wrote a very astute column about actors being real people and not who we think they are.   I am happy to say though, that the entire experience was really wonderful and I would definitely do it again. 

To begin with, we were seated at tables and I lucked out by getting seating for Table No. 1 at each event.  The stars approached our table first for photos and picture signing, after they chatted a bit and answered questions from the audience.  Greg Vaughan came out in jeans and was an absolute joy.  He had a very nice, warm rapport with the audience.  In answer to several questions we learned that he was thrilled to be working with Genie Francis, they had a photo shoot last week which included him, Genie, Tony Geary, Julie Ann Berman and Tyler Nicholas.  Genie was very nervous her first day back, and arranged to meet with many national newspapers and magazines in order to field all the questions at one time.   Greg wouldn’t divulge any spoilers, but said there would be some bloodshed coming up and some exciting stuff.  I asked why he and Laura were the only two patients in the rehab/hospital he was in and that it looked more like the Marriott.  He answered that it was strictly budgetary constraints. He was very grateful to his fans for their campaigns to get him more airtime and he said it really worked – TPTB listened.  He and Kirsten Storms have a lot of fun with her bitchy Maxie character.  He indicated that Soapnet would be having a 25^th anniversary Luke and Laura show, and that new footage had been added.  I was the very giddy recipient of a hug and two kisses, and a very nice compliment. I can now see why Greg is so popular.  He’s pretty darn cute, too.  His new wife was with him, but we didn’t see her. 

Next up was Ted King, who wore a really nice leather jacket and was friendly, humorous, classy and a little more reserved – a lot like Lorenzo.  Go figure!  He started out by reading a poem by Wadsworth entitled the “Happy Warrior”, which he felt expressed his feelings towards his character and life in general.  He mentioned that he and Robin Christopher had filmed the scene of the impending birth of the baby.  His script called for him to look in between Robin’s blanket- covered legs to see if she was dilated.  Jill Phelps was an onlooker and just a little shocked at how graphic the scene was, but that was how it was written.  When I asked if he enjoyed working with the “vets’, he praised Tony Geary and said that Tristan Rogers was very serious and professional.  He, also, was very grateful to his fans for campaigning on his behalf.  He has done quite a bit of shooting lately so we will be seeing a lot of Lorenzo.  When he was at our table I noticed that he was politely shaking hands.  I informed him that Greg had hugged and kissed everyone, so he gave me hug.  He said he liked my outfit.  He was quite charming and handsome.  Mmmm. P. S. Robin will be using her own baby to play her onscreen offspring. 

This was Becky’s first solo event and Debby O’Connor, who organizes these events and was very nice (spoke to her quite a bit), said that she was quite nervous.  We gave her a rousing welcome and she seemed very relaxed.  Her hubby Michael was with her, but he stayed in the rear of the room.  He has completed two years of law school, and tooka break to get a real estate license.  They had missed their plane and had to take a later one.  She accidentally left her weddings rings at home, and she and Michael ran out to Nordstrom to get a cheap substitute since she felt weird without them.  She looked beautiful!  Her skin is gorgeous and she mentioned that she doesn’t use any expensive products – mostly drugstore products or gift items that friends pass along to her.  She asked the audience who we wanted her paired with, and most said Jason, surprisingly enough.  She and Steve Burton are very good friends (spouses, too) so they were comfortable doing their big love scene.  They didn’t improvise, but utilized their own caresses. She has often thought of having her own clothing line since she makes her own dresses, but doesn’t really have the time.  I told her that we were all so glad she finally had a front burner storyline and wondered if she had ever thought of going elsewhere when her airtime was sparse.  She was actually happy during those times so she could be with her family. When asked about the fantasy scene at Jake’s, she said Jason Thompson was rather nervous, but it was fun. They are moving to a new house this week and she is very excited about it.  Cameron is now being played by her good friend’s baby, who knows her well and is comfortable with her.  Becky was very gracious and lovely.

 Last but not least, was Rick Hearst.  He was casually but very nicely attired, not as tall as I thought he would be, very dynamic, talkative, articulate, intelligent and just a great guy.  And, of course, great to look at!  He is quite the chatterbox and he said he would absolutely love to tell all, but he just can’t.  He has resigned himself to the fact that Ric is and always will be a villain, and he does a great job analyzing the complexity of his character.  He is a thinking man, for sure.  After reassurance by someone else in the know there, and from Rick’s point of view, Ric Lansing will be around for a long time, since, as he put it, the anti-heroes need a real villain to play off, and he is related to the key character (Sonny, who else?) on the show.  He said he occasionally has to “comment” to the writers about certain lines (he asks them to give it some thought) and inevitably knows what his character should be saying.  He deservedly has earned the right to edit.  When asked if he ever refuses to do something, he reminded us that this is his job.  In our everyday lives, we can’t really do that without getting fired, so why should he?  Nancy Lee Grahn gives him a certain look whenever they do scenes depicting even more despicable actions.  The future of Ric and Alexis looks somewhat grim.  Rick and Steve Burton improvised a little in the scene on Friday where Jason beat Ric to a pulp.  They felt that the cue line for Jason to go nuts wasn’t quite harsh enough and added another one.  It worked.   I loved his exuberance, down-to-earth personality and use of some choice four letter words.   I gratefully received two kisses and a hug!  Rick is also very family-oriented and supports one of his son’s interest in acting.    

We met some very nice people and had some interesting conversations over the weekend.  It was especially nice to meet EOS’ own Emerdax at the Rick Hearst event.  She and I bid for a tour of the studio with Rick, and being the newbies, were ambushed right before the end of the silent auction.  Maybe next year? 

                                                                        LINDA