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OLTL Seminar
January 28, 1998
Summary
The One Life to Live seminar was held at the Museum of Television
and Radio in New York City. The panelists were Frank Valentini
(Supervising Producer/ Director), Claire and Matthew Labine (Head
Writers), Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord Carpenter), Robin Strasser
(Dorian Lord), Robert S. Woods (Bo Buchanan), James DePaiva (Max Holden,
also director), and Kassie Wesley DePaiva (Blair Daimler). The
panelists arrived at 7:00 PM, and were seated in the first row
of the theatre.
The first part of the seminar was a screening of some past scenes
of One Life to Live. They showed a scene of Viki and Joe Riley when
Viki first met Clint. There was also a scene of Viki, Clint, Jenny,
and Dorian with Viki becoming Niki Smith for a short time. There
was a scene from 1993 of Viki and Dorian down in Victor's secret
room, and another scene from that year was Marty Saybrooke in the
hospital with Shelia Price after the rape. From 1992, they showed
Andrew adding a panel for his brother to the AIDS quilt. An older
scene from 1979 featured Karen Wolek. They showed Bo's wedding to
Didi in 1985, where Bo got shot and was announced dead. There was also
Luna's death scene in 1995, and Todd's undeading and arrival home to
Blair and Patrick on the penthouse floor in 1996.
After watching the screening, Ron Simon, the moderator from the
museum, introduced the panelists. He then proceeded to ask questions.
He asked the Labines what makes OLTL so special? Claire talked
about how they connected with the characters of Viki and Dorian, and
how there was so much history, they were overwhelmed. They said that
GH was a different situation, it was a more contained canvas. But
they basically learned the history by talking to the actors. And it
has taken them almost a year to get around the history.
He then asked Frank Valentini about the production side. He said
that they carry out the vision of the writers. They will decide
if an idea is just too expensive, or if they don't have enough
room to do it.
Then he asked Erika how she described her character. She told us
how Robin and she went together to talk to the Labines, even before
they had started writing. They talked for a couple of hours. They
said that one of them would remember something that the other had
totally forgotten about, etc. Claire Labine said that it was
"insanely entertaining". Erika said that she took over the role
of Viki in 1971, so she basically knew the story before that, but
didn't know everything. But in general, it was difficult to remember
everything.
Robin joked how she was the third and fifth Dorian. She is drawn
back to the murder of Victor Lord, and believes there are still many
layers to be told. They actually joke about how history was re-written,
because originally Dorian (played by another actress) witheld his
medication, and he died. But then it was rewritten that Viki's alter,
Tori did the deed. Robin joked that he was someone who deserved to
be killed, so she wanted Dorian to be the killer, and they took that away
from Dorian!
Kassie talked about how she used to watch OLTL. She felt it was so
solid, and appreciated the focus on family and core actors, and admired
them. She feels blessed to be there. There was a Cassie on the show,
and she never knew anyone else with that name outside her family.
Plus, she met her husband there! This show is defintely for her!
James talked about the difference between the East and West coasts,
since he has worked on both. He commented that he only worked a little
on the other shows. He feels that in New York they come in all
elements, and that there is a more human quality in the performer.
He also said that soaps get a higher level of respect in New York.
In Los Angeles, he feels more people are settling, they are there for
a short time, and have a different mindset. In New York, there are
more actor actors as opposed to pretty faces. James also mentioned
that he used to sneak out of work to watch OLTL!
Next the moderator asked about the studio and location, in contrast
with AW, which is "exiled in Brooklyn". James said it has an
incredible facade, it's imposing, it's nothing like anywhere else.
Claire says it's a real building, and has a glorious location. Robin
mentions that they should say one negative thing so that ABC doesn't
take it away from them. So she comments that the make-up and dressing
rooms are in the basement. Erika commented that they are near the
headquarters, which is great, so they're near the ABC cafeteria.
Bob Woods arrived a little late because he was finishing up taping.
They tell him that they showed Bo's wedding to Didi. He tells the
audience, "that was a fake shooting", and comments about how he
came-to in the ambulance ride. He talks about the Buchanans. When
they first came to Llanview, they were from Texas, and they came
with their thick accents, big hats, and big boots. They were all
three close friends. He comments how six years ago, then they
didn't work together as much. They became people living in the same
town with the same last name.
The moderator asks about new ideas. Claire says they started the
cohesion of the Buchanan men. They went into Dorian's past, and now
they will do the application of that. Dorian and Viki will square
off in an entertaining conflict. Max will be being extremely bad.
Blair will be involved in the story with her cousins and aunt, good
fun. And Bo will be in so much trouble, which is always great!
Next they started taking questions from the audience. Someone asked
if they learn anything from their characters, and is it hard to walk
away from their characters at the end of the day? Erika says it's
very easy to walk away, she has a 45 minute drive home, so by the
time she gets home, it is out of her mind. It's her job, not her
life. The days when there are emotional scenes, she'll be very tired.
Robin says she "uses it up at the office". The opening up of Dorian
is an incredible storyline. She talks about how it made her open
up herself, so the real emotional stuff was hard to leave at home.
She says the moral of the storyline is that if you don't deal with your
issues, they will rule you at anytime.
Bob says that he got to use what he had done on the show at home with
regard to the menopause storyline. He had everyone laughing. He says
he didn't use the stuff in the script because, 1. he's not Bo, and
2. if his wife found out he was using dialogue...!!!
James said that the first three years were hard. He was doing a lot
of appearances as Max Holden. He had no friends, and his wife at the
time wasn't living in NY. He was always reading scripts, and it
was overwhelming. In the beginning, Max was bigger than life, and
he was real quiet. Then later, Max started getting smaller, and he
started getting bigger.
Someone asked James about directing. He loves it, and gets life and
energy out of watching them work.
Another person asked about why there is never a woman of size on a
soap? Claire said "I don't know". She said that Bill Bell has done
it. But there is a wall of resistance. She once wanted to do a story
about a tall girl's frustrations in dating, and got nowhere with the
network.
Next someone asked about when they change producers, and when they
do recasts. They specificall mentioned the many Kevin's. Erika
responded that "Kevin is a very difficult child", and the whole
audience laughed. She said you just take what the other actor gives
you. That's Kevin now, and he's my son, and I love him. She also
commented how recasts are much more frequent on soaps.
Someone asked if any of them go online. None of them do. Kassie and
James commented that the OLTL fans are known to be bad in that regard.
James said that he read something that was false, responded to
correct it, just to have people say that he was lying.
They were also asked about writing. Claire and Matt said they do
look for script-writers. They mentioned that for soaps you need a
specific set of skills, and that it takes an incredible amount of
stamina. The physical demands are brutal. They also talked about
how young writers are just not trusted anymore as head writers. A
writer can be talented at stories, but soaps need more than one
story at a time. James talked about how one writer (I believe he
was speaking of Michael Malone), about six years ago (the same timeframe
that Bob spoke about), had no knowledge of how the format worked.
He'd find one good story, use it on short-term actors,
and waste the rest of the show's talent.
Robin was asked about her wardrobe. She compliments the wardrobe
and make-up people. She then joked about the polka-dot
dress that was in one of the scenes we saw. Everyone got a good
laugh at that one. She says that they donated that one, and one
of Erika's to an AIDS fundraiser, and got over $4000.
Frank was asked about production. He's been there for 12 years, and
production is never-ending. They only have Thanksgiving week and
Christmas week off. They tape three weeks ahead of time. Kassie
and James were there until 12:30 am the day before. The Labines said
they outline the script about 4 weeks before taping.
Someone asked when do they have time to work-out, etc.? They say
they have some time during the day, plus during lunchtime.
Another question was about how after all this time is put into couples
like Antonio and Andy, and Patrick and Marty, and then why do they
leave? Claire said that they just chose to leave.
They were also asked about how much input they have into their
storylines. Basically, they don't have a lot of input. Erika- says
she very rarely went to the writers, but sometimes she has asked to
change certain things. Kassie talked about how it was difficult to
do the death of Brendan. When Maxine Levinson told her the baby was
going to die in the story, she started crying. It was very difficult.
If it had been up to her, the baby would have lived, and been healthy
today.
Claire mentioned that she was criticized for writing too many Irish
Catholic characters, but she just tends to write what she knows. There
was discussion as to why there were no Asian characters on soaps.
The Labines said that they don't know, but it would require a lot
of research, which makes it very hard. Kassie commented how Blair used
to be Amerasian. James also talked about how it's hard to have so
many groups because the cast becomes very large.
Another question was about sex scenes, how are they, and is there
ever too much chemistry? They all started laughing and looked at
Kassie and James. So, yes sometimes that happens. But really it's at
the discretion of the actors, it's very technical, and people are
very self-conscious. There are a lot of crew members on the set
watching.
The moderator ended by saluting OLTL on it's 30 year anniversary.
As for me, I had a great time at the seminar. I loved the screening
in the beginning, and it was great to see the actors in person. They
all looked great, and were a lot of fun to watch. They all seemed
very friendly to each other, and Kassie and James are a great couple.
I was lucky enough to talk to Kassie for about two seconds after the
show, and to get her autograph. I had wanted to tell her about this
site, but I didn't even get a chance to do that. I did take a couple
of pictures, so as soon as they are developed, I'll post them here.
Overall, I think a good time was had by all.
Kathleen
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