Will Clark World

A Soup Opera: The Final Day of ONE LIFE TO LIVE #oltl

As a young boy growing up in a small town in Wisconsin, there were unlimited pleasures of having an entire forest at my fingertips in which to play around in. Great pine forests, blackberry bushes, fields and the Wisconsin River practically in my backyard.

But at one point, I'd have to eat and so I'd spend time with my sister when she was home from school (I was much younger than her), my mom and our housekeeper, Mrs. K. All of them loved soap operas, and because I loved them too, I ended up watching quite abit of them growing up.

My sister was a DARK SHADOWS, GENERAL HOSPITAL and RYAN'S HOPE fan, my mom and her mom and Mrs. K loved ALL MY CHILDREN. I would heat up a bowl of Campbell's soup, have lunch, watch the soaps and, when they were done, I'd spend lots of time making movie theatres out of lego pieces.

We really weren't rich or anything, but my mom had a nervous condition (which would later be diagnosed as agoraphobia) and liked to have another adult around especially with two boys (my brother and myself) who were constantly battling. Actually when he was out of the house, it was a pretty peaceful place.

Mrs. K made delicious dinners for the family - meatloafs, pot roasts, chicken, fresh veggies, homemade dumplings and the best mashed potatoes I've ever had. She wouldn't actually sit down and watch the soaps, she would be behind me doing the ironing and we would occasionally make comments about a story or a character. I'd load my soup with crackers and drink all the juice first. Then I'd pile all the contents on to a cracker and eat the whole thing in one gulp.

My gramma, my mom's mom, was an ALL MY CHILDREN fan but soured on the show when the character of Charlie Brent sassed his parents one too many times. I kinda loved her for that. She wouldn't take that from actual grandchildren and she wouldn't watch a show where a fictional kid sassed his fictional parents. When people say they're going to boycott a show because they don't like the direction the show has taken, I believe them because my gramma did it.

The women in my life growing up were strong and had great imaginations. I never thought of the soap opera genre as a woman's domain. My father worked for himself and wasn't around during the day so there'd be no way he could watch these shows, and my brother was a nut job so that he wasn't interested in the shows didn't seem odd to me. And still, later, when I'd talk about soaps to my friends, they'd look at me like I was from Mars because apparently boys didn't watch soaps. Well, this boy did a lot of thing that, to rural Wisconsinites, boys weren't supposed to do (like like other boys!)

DARK SHADOWS is long long gone and RYAN'S HOPE went off the air decades ago. Mrs. K passed away in 1991 and my dear gramma in 2004. In September, I bid goodbye to ALL MY CHILDREN. And today, I bid goodbye to ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

And while GENERAL HOSPITAL is still on the air and will feature some ONE LIFE TO LIVE alums, it's not a show I've watched for a decade.

So today is really the end of an era, an era that's lasted as long as I have been alive.. and it's kind of trippy.

I imagine Mrs. K ironing over one shoulder and my gramma tsk tsking Jack Manning's sass over the other.

And today I will sip a can of Chicken Noodle, just for old times sake.

 

 

One Life to Live - Tune in Tomorrow #OLTL #AgnesNixon #ABC

This is a treat - to find Viki's love letter to the soaps on You Tube already - thanks to whomever did this. For those of us who watched today's penultimate episode, we will forever know that despite the occasional story gaffes, it's clear the writers love love love these characters - and they (not the network that employed them) know what's in our hearts as soap viewers.

 

For those of who are not viewers of the iconic show set to air it's finale tomorrow, Friday January 13th (how soon this arrived, it seemed so far in the future all those months ago), a soap inside the soap, Fraternity Row, a show that had been a major storyline 20 some years ago, got canceled a few weeks ago and the show used it to express its views about the end of soaps. It was savvy, clever and heartwarming - but mostly it was a nod to us, the soap watching public that the writers 'got' what we were/are going through. And yeah, they poked some fun at us too, how could they not? soaps are, after all, ridiculous at times but it's part and parcel of the reason why we love them.

 

In today's clip, the matriarch of the show is interviewed on a fake daytime talk show preceding the final installment of Fraternity Row. Cleverly, the writers used her position as head of the New York Times style newspaper in town to give the show(s) the send off it deserves - with some grace and humor and quite a bit of self reference - but thankfully filled with warmth, not derision.

For a non-fan, the first six minutes are easy to skip over .. Viki's monologue starts about six and a half minutes in. The closeups of various characters are ones directly related to what Viki is saying - particularly when the camera does a closeup of Blair who was first played by an Asian woman (I hope Mia Korf gets some sort of check from ABC given all the humor they've mined from that - and by the way, it never seems to get old).

Tomorrow I'm planning on spending the day not just commisserating over the loss of a lifelong friend, but celebrating all the wonderful hours and hours of enjoyment I've gotten out of the show - from characters that I've come to know and appreciate over time.

I plucked this off of You Tube.. the sound is slightly out of sync but it's not terrible...

 

Rainbow's End for ONE LIFE TO LIVE #oltl #abc #agnesnixon

For us soap opera fans, tomorrow, Friday January 13th is a very unlucky day - just like April 14th was not so hot either and not just because it was the anniversary of the Titanic - although you could say that April 14th was the iceberg that sank the ABC lineup - when the network canceled two of it's long running serials.

 

Tomorrow will be the final day of ONE LIFE TO LIVE and if you have been following the show, whether as a fan or out of curiousity why grown up gay men would spend time on this sort of show, then you will be, like me, glued to the TV at 2pm. No facebooking or calls accepted although it is possible that I will be doing what I've been doing all week - doing a live commentary during the show on Twitter.

 

As I've written before, the show, and ALL MY CHILDREN have been lifelong companions and while it was hard to say goodbye to AMC in September, it'll be even harder to say goodbye to ONE LIFE.

The past four years of the show, while a roller coaster of quality, have been a pretty great ride overall. Sometimes it was a show that I loved, and sometimes it was a show that I loved to hate. But in the end, it has become a show I just plain ol' loved, warts and all.

So, here's to you show, you rocked my world for 43 years. From Carla, a black woman who could pass as white, to Judith Light's Karen admitting she was a whore on the witness stand to Viki in Heaven, the AIDS Quilt story, Marty's rape, Oliver Fish coming out of the closet and the tale of two Todds, that was one nutty town in Pennsylvania.

Today we had a guest appearance by show creator Agnes Nixon and one of the most beautiful love letters to soaps I've ever heard (hopefully video of it will pop up soon) and tomorrow, fans are hoping for one last listen to the Peobo Bryson theme song that was so popular in the 90s.

And if you think I'M a fan, just check out this video - a rap ode to the show's legacy - it pretty much covers most if not all of the major events of the history. You could almost prelude this video with "Previously on ONE LIFE TO LIVE".

 

 

Final Week for Fan Fave "One Life to Live" #OLTL #abc

As most of you know, I have been a huge soap opera fan since I was a kid. Mostly I was weened on ALL MY CHILDREN and GENERAL HOSPITAL with a little DARK SHADOWS and RYANS HOPE thrown in for good measure. My grandmother and mom and sister watched these shows and there was just something about them that resonated with me.

I think partially what appealed to me especially on ALL MY CHILDREN, was that the shows devoted time to current political topics (like Vietnam, abortion and, later on, gay rights). Given that it was the 70s and many shows, like ALL IN THE FAMILY, MASH and even RHODA (who else on television ever got divorced?)  featured what could be considered political content (which I don't think any prime time show does these days. It's like we've gone backward somehow).

ONE LIFE TO LIVE was always the red headed step child nestled in between the two other more popular ABC soaps and, during the summer when I was young and I'd spend hours drawing cartoons or playing, the TV would be on and I'd catch the show by default. It was more of a rest and lunch stop while on the way from Erica Kane to Luke and Laura.

But in the mid 80s, something happened. I had the show on one afternoon while studying (I love to have the shows on while I'm working, it's great 'background noise') and suddenly the matriarch of the show, Viki, went into a coma and woke up in what could best be described as a set that resembled a spaceship. It turned out that Viki was hovering between life and death and she was on her way to Heaven. That would have been trippy enough but the show brought back a dozen characters portrayed by their original actors to visit with her. I recognized some from my years of casual viewing but what impressed me the most was the sheer ingenuity to put to gather all these former cast members in one place during one week.

For the week that Viki spent on the spaceship to Heaven, I was glued to my set. There were VCRs then but I didn't have one (I was a college student after all) and there were no repeats (like on SoapNet or on You Tube) so if you didn't catch it when it aired, you didn't catch it. And this was not something that I could miss.

From then on I was hooked on the show - despite lapses in creative judgment to send the cast back in time to the old west, despite the story of the underground city Eterna - I couldn't get enough. In the early 90s, the show caught fire as three frat boys raped a woman at a party. The story spun out many characters still on the show 20 years later. Still later, the show took on homophobia and used the AIDS quilt to showcase an issue that, even in the early/mid 90s, mainstream America was still skittish about.

In more recent years the show turned it's eye towards serial killer stories killing off scores of characters for shock value (it worked only in alienating viewers) and, more recently, the show has become the campiest show on daytime with more of an eye for comedy. Thankfully the show has never lost it's heart and though there have been many more lapses in creative judgment (twin daughters by two different fathers? uhm WHAT?) there have also been many more memorable moments with an ensemble that can, at times, be on fire.

And now, today at 2pm EST we begin the final lap, the final five shows of the 43 year old soap. Last Friday Viki was shot and there are rumors and hints that she's spending the week in Heaven again (although with budget cuts and the show ending, fans are expecting one or two of Viki's dead relatives at most).

Unfortunately since the production staff crafted the network finale to dovetail into an online version which is no longer going to happen, fans are lamenting that Friday will be less of a moment of closure and more of a set up for a continuation that will probably (almost certainly) never happen.

I will probably never understand why ABC spent decades building up their daytime lineup only to spend the past few years dismantling it, but after months of being sad, angry, etc, I have, at the very least, come to some peace about it.

And yeah, I get it. They are only TV shows, and, some would argue, not very good ones at that with their cheap production values.

But I feel sorry for the people that say that don't understand the magic that happens when one sits down in front of the box and experience characters and stories that have decades of history. There's a delicious anticipation over what comes next, over the reveal of a secret or the reunion of two lovers as they look towards the next chapter and the unfolding drama.

Enjoy the week, I know I will!

 

Happy Tuesday Peeps, It's Been One Strange Day/Week So Far

It's a strange week so far and when life is like this, you just have to sort of metaphorically throw your hands up in the air and let God, the universe, whomever, give things a shot. And that's what I'm doing.

And just when I'm sort of at the end of my rope, One Life to Live amps up the crazy which is always hilarious and entertaining. Like today's episode with the return of Tina Lord and her little dog David Vickers (named after Tuc Watkins character by the same name) who is bringing a brand new energy to the show.

All My Children is gone (but the finale rocked in my opinion even though that is a minority viewpoint) but One Life to Live continues to bring the soap bounty. I know it's unlikely, but wouldn't it be great that since the show is doing gangbusters in the ratings (routinely number 1 or 2 in key demos) that the network would just keep the show on air after The Spew tanks in the ratings this autumn (I don't know how well or how bad the first couple days have been but they sure do have a serious PR problem and that's not going away).

Tomorrow night, Wednesday September 28th, I've got the bestest and brightest coming from the Imperial Court as my guests on The Will Clark Show feat. P*rno Bingo and, as a special treat, I'll have singer/actress Bianca Leigh joining us to talk about her new one woman show at the Laurie Beechman on Mondays through mid October. Jeff Witty (Avenue Q) and the wonderfully talented Taylor Mac (The Lily's Revenge) have contributed songs.

I saw the original version at a theatre on the lower east side over a year ago and it was pretty awesome. Theatre Askew, the group that's producing the show, has reworked the material and so if you think you've seen the show, you haven't. Anyway, Bianca will be on the show doing a number and talking more about the revamp. You can also check out a really neat Time Out article on New York gender benders and of course Bianca is one of them.

After a stop at this past Sunday's Broadway Cares Flea Market, I can kinda sorta join that crowd - after posing as a nun at the Sister Act table. I look all pious and stuff, I guess it's just a habit. Har.

I think I just talked myself into a better mood.

As always you can keep up with me via Facebook (which you can see by clicking here). I'm over my Friends limit but you can subscribe to my feeds and you can email me.. so I'm not sure I entirely understand what the difference is.

I'd throw my hands up in the air, but they're already there.

Take care all and be back soon!

GOOD MORNING ONE LIFE TO LIVE FANS

it was an incredible night last night at Pieces as One Life to Live star Florencia Lozano and singer Deni Bonet joined me for a fabulous night of fundraising for God's Love We Deliver Was it a great night because I got to kiss both of my guests? (maybe), was it because we raised hundreds of dollars by auctioning off two sets of tickets to Priscilla Queen of the Desert?? (that's a start!) or was it because I had a rip-roaring good time with a bar full of fans, friends, press and supporters of our charity, stars and Will Clark Show regulars? (the answer is: yes).

Favorite quote of the night when asked about her character Tea Delgado and her frenemy relationship with Blair Cramer, Florencia said of herself on the show "I think she's a little gay" which of course elicited rip roaring cheers from the crowd!!  As far as rumors about a Roger Howath return as "realTodd" she thought the idea was fantastic but said "I know nothing. I'd spoil it for you if I knew but they don't tell us anything!" And of course everyone in the place just erupted with applause! :)

More in a day or two as soon as my schedule slows down a bit to post pics from the night... but here's my favorite (so far) after taking a quick peek at the pics this morning... enjoy!!

Meanwhile, check in with the We Love Soaps site for their coverage of the night and I'll be back tonight or over the weekend with the full recap and gallery of images! Have a great Thursday everyone!!

TONIGHT FLORENCIA "TEA DELGADO" JOINS US FOR THE WILL CLARK SHOW

What can I say? She's been pushed out a window. She's pushed the woman out of a window who pushed her out of a window. She's been stuck on a desert island. She's suddenly had a daughter she never talked about -and one that should be about 7 years younger than she is. She's made several people on the witness stand cry, yell and reveal things. She's married the same man a couple times even and each time he's had a different face. She was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor and later died. But then she got better.

And that's just a little bit of the history of one of Daytime's most enduring characters, Tea Delgado, played by none other than the wonderful Florencia Lozano who will be my guest tonight on The Will Clark Show. Plus, we WILL talk about her non soap accomplishments - like debuting a play this past autumn at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre.

Join us for an evening Q and A with Florencia and an opportunity to raise funds for the great work that God's Love We Deliver does for the New York community!

Think Florencia is just Tea Delgado? Think again.. here's her bio..!!

Florencia Lozano’s career spans the realms of television, film and stage. Born in Princeton, NJ and raised in Newton, MA, Florencia has earned her BA from Brown University and her MFA in acting from New York University. She plays the tough as nails attorney ‘Téa Delgado’ on the daytime drama ONE LIFE TO LIVE. Due to Florencia’s dynamic portrayal, this character has become one of daytime television’s most popular characters.

Her television work continues in hit shows such as LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, LIPSTICK JUNGLE, UGLY BETTY , BLUE BLOODS, ROYAL PAINS and the GOSSIP GIRL pilot. Florencia has also appeared in numerous films. She played opposite Halle Berry and Bruce Willis in the film PERFECT STRANGER, and starred in Franc. Reyes’ THE MINISTERS with Harvey Keitel and John Leguizamo. Some of Florencia’s other film credits include BITTERSWEET PLACE, DECEPTION, TRANSBEMAN and VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE.

Her theater work is extensive and includes “Lady Macduff” in Moises Kaufman’s production of Macbeth at Shakespeare in the Park , the world premieres of John Patrick Shanley’s “Where’s My Money” and “Dirty Story” and Bryony Lavery’s “Last Easter” at MCC.

In addition to her acting work, Florencia is also an accomplished playwright. Her play underneathmybed was produced in NYC at the Rattlestick Playwrights’ Theater in the fall of 2010, as was her play BUSTED, by the Rising Phoenix Theater Co. Her play girl in window will be workshopped this year in NYC.

Florencia is an original member of the LAByrinth theatre company as well as having served as their literary manager and associate artistic director for several years.

ART AND THE MASCULINE MALE

Last night "Shouldless" guru Damon L. Jacobs and I went out and about party hopping, like the good homosexuals we are, meeting men and exposing ourselves to a variety of types of art.

First we stopped off at 92 Wythe in Brooklyn at Causey Contemporary Gallery with what could be described as an exhibition of macabre and twisted art by artist Kevin Bourgeois (in his second solo show) that was sorta horrifying & twisted; the kind of capital A Art that asks the tough questions - what decides identity and where does the person end and today's technology begin? In our bloggy, iphone, twitter world, isn't it easy to forget that we're made of flesh and blood and not plastic and chip?

We hopped on the L into the city, enjoying a lively subway dance by a trio of lovely ladies who put on quite a show. It was FELA without the $120 ticket price.

Anyway, Nasty Pig had a reception for artist Scooter LaForge who has designed t shirts with matching underwear and socks. If you don't know the Sexy Pig clothing line, a lot of it is retro sexy circa early 90s but with better material.

For example, where we used to rip off the arms off of a flannel shirt from Andy's Chee Pees, the same muscle revealing shirt is made with neoprene or some other tighter, more durable material and has a sort of upscale yet downtown butch trash feel.

LaForge held court and graciously chatted with us but there were others to meet and greet too (so hopefully we'll get another chance to chat about his art in the future) but I love how his art is a porn retro grunge take on familiar items - t shirts, for example, with a print of a bulging pocket of cigarettes.

It's an aesthetic that permeates the bear/butch daddy community in NYC these days (Wednesday nights DILF party, Rush's Spit and Sugar Daddy partys and the success of Rockbar/bear events) and I have to admit that I think I intuitively understand (and, like many gay men, respond to) it but hard pressed to exactly put it into words what it is I'm responding to.

There's something in the ether that's sexy, primal and erotic but somehow also upscale and not yet really grungy (like Sunday night's Trippin on the Moon - $60 is the price of the ticket. yikes. We're still in a time of 10% unemployment guys!). It''s more like tailored grunge: masculinity overrun but trimmed back a bit; a well groomed beard rather than unbridled, unshorn scruff.

It's still percolating in my noggin what it all means but in the end, the whiff of the new gay male fills one up satisfyinginly so and perhaps it doesn't need to mean more than: it's sexy, it's butch and it's available.

Recognized: photographer Michael Alago, photographer Robert Ordonez,  Kenneth from the 212 and (above) designer/artist Geary Marcello, an old friend of mine from my Los Angeles days who has a new show of his own going up at the leslie Lohman as part of the ART AND AIDS: LOVING LIFE exhibit.

And there were cupcakes, piggy, sugary cupcakes by KRIS ("all caps like a TV station" he told us) who handed them out to anyone who risked expanding their waistline, er.. musculature. (And what good is wearing a tight t shirt unless you actually fill it out? The New Masculinity likes, no demands, thickness and burliness. Yum),

KRIS murmurred something about putting something 'extra' in the cupcake which I'm convinced was an example of the power of suggestion as about an hour later, I did feel all wonky and shit. Now when will Hostess come out with that?

Our night, well, mine anyway, ended at the Rawhide with the Midian party featuring horror icon Joe Zaso who posed for pics and smiled with those piercing eyes of his.

And if you don't think I wanted to turn my head (below) and simply bury my face in Joe's chest, you'd be wrong. :) Sometimes I am too polite for my own good.

The promoter, Justin, puts an awesome party together and is appreciated by a packed crowd that likes to take off their shirts (good news because it's a very sexy middle to older men's crowd. Now I know where all the hot men have gone - they're at Rawhide).

Plus the drinks are cheap, served quickly and the go go guys are always hot. This place has certainly become more and more of a destination in Chelsea.

One of the saddest things I heard all evening was someone all dressed up in high end clothes turn down buying raffle tickets for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation because (as they said) "I don't care about babies with AIDS". I don't really know what to say to that.

I can't imagine what Mr. Couture was doing at the Rawhide with his stuck up attitude - mere feet away from a hot fifty something who wore tight jeans, no shirt and leather suspenders draped conspicuously across his very erect nipples -- which had obviously seen a lot of working-over over the years.

This is, at least in part, a crowd that has weathered AIDS at it's worst and survived - and it's the very crowd that did the living -and did the living through the dying. Are we so postAIDS that we're now above caring about babies with AIDS? 

It got me to thinking - those of us who are running businesses and staying at the forefront of art, business, services, parties - we're in a unique position, where we've struggled (some still struggling but at least alive) without the benefit of direct mentors to guide us.

Those who would have been our mentors are men who either died of AIDS a long time ago or spent the bulk of their adult professional lives building services to keep the rest of us alive (ie prevent us from being infected in the first place or were at the forefront of getting new treatments pushed through).

And now, what does it mean to be a gay man of a certain age in our community? Are the muscles and tats signs that we made ourselves impervious to harm along the way?

We're not the first ones to get here of course, but the first to get around without AIDS hanging over our heads as an immediate threat.

And as we no longer worry too much about having a 28, er 29, er 30, er 32 (blush) waistline, we instead find a different way to celebrate masculinity and musculature as it pertains to the sexy upwardly mobile gay who finds himself no longer a club kid but not yet ready for Palm Springs retirement (financially, emotionally or any other way); it's a time that tests not only the art we create, but the art of how we have and will live our gay lives.

A TRUE CLIFFHANGER: ONE LIFE TO LIVE CANCELLED?

Even as I type this the cast of the daytime drama ONE LIFE TO LIVE is gathering for a mandatory staff meeting and internet buzz is running rampant. Last year at this time ABC similarly gathered the cast of ALL MY CHILDREN and told them that the show was moving to Los Angeles (to save money) and they had two weeks to decide whether to move with the show or not. As OLTL's ratings have kept them hovering around an anemic 2.0 (that's about two million viewers - a far cry from the 25 million viewers shows like ALL MY CHILDREN attracted in the 80's) for some time, fans have simply been waiting for the axe to fall. With Disney dismantling Soap Net in favor of programming aimed at tween boys, the writing seems on the wall. But is it really the end? Stay tuned.

Created in 1968 by All My Children's Agnes Nixon, ONE LIFE TO LIVE has been and has always remained the most socially conscious soap on the daytime schedule. From a black character passing as white in the early days of the show to last years controversial coming out story for ordinary cop, Oliver Fish, the show has tackled and done well by injecting realism into sometimes otherwise fanstastic stories such as characters visiting Heaven and traveling back in time.

While ratings never soared, 2009 generated buzzworthy stories (especially in the LGBT community for the coming out story). Unfortunately continued dismal ratings were cited as the reason that the gay couple and many other popular characters were dropped this past spring. Since then, the show has retreated to some familiar characters that are puported to be fan favorites but are constantly derided on the snark fest television commentary site Television Without Pity).

With budgets soaring and new characters failing (Evil Eli and skanky shirtless Ford) it might be that the network is simply ready to kill the show once and for all. Perhaps it's just a matter of genre exhaustion - at least on the networks (online 'indie' soaps are thriving although no one seems to know yet how to make money on teh internets)

Whatever the outcome (and speculation ranges from out and out cancellatin to a more modest schedule of four days a week with a repeat of a classic episode on Friday to shortening the show back to a half hour), the grim reality for soap lovers is that the days of the network daytime drama are coming to an end.

You can catch more news about ONE LIFE TO LIVE and the online soaps by checking out Damon and Roger over at We Love Soaps.

NIGHT ON THE TOWN WITH WILL CLARK AT WHITE'S LIES AND AFTERPARTY

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the premiere and opening night party of WHITE'S LIES now playing at New World Stages on W. 50th Street here in Manhattan.

The show was marvelous, a fast paced comedy of errors sharply written and beautifully acted.

Lead Tuc Watkins (One Life to Live, Desperate Housewives) is flawless in his comedic timing as a Joe White, a man determined to bed every pretty girl in Manhattan until he meets the one girl he can’t have – the daughter (played by Christy Calson Romano) of an ex-girlfriend (Andrea Grano) who agrees to fulfill his dying mother’s (hilariously played by Betty Buckley)  last wish for a grandchild. It’s a comedy of errors, naturally. In one particularly brilliant sequence Tuc does a double simultaneous monologue, one to his mother and one to his girlfriend reminiscent of the early work of Steve Martin, wherein he’s lying outright to one and telling the truth to the other but making it sound as though he’s not. And what’s even more incredible is that Watkins makes it look easy. The plot is convoluted but incredibly funny and just awesome.

The rest of the cast is spectacular too - Peter Scolari (Bosom Buddies, Newhart) plays Watkins' partner at their law firm, a nervous man hung up on 80s sitcoms, unlucky in love and in life; Rena Strober, a delight as multiple paramours cast aside after sex and Jimmy Ray Bennett whose comic brilliance as a junior associate whom even had Buckley cracking up at one point. I’m never one to fuss about performers cracking up onstage and one bit of Bennett’s business gave Buckley the giggles and it spread around the stage to the other actors until the entire audience was chuckling and then applauding how wonderfully joyful the cast members were. This is, by the way, the magic and brilliance of live theatre.

It was certainly a joy to sit next to my WHEN JOEY MARRIED BOBBY co-star Tina McKissick, who is also a master at brilliant comic timing – the two of us clapped and cheered (as did all the other actors, directors and theatre people in the audience) at various bits of business – not only for their inherent comic value, but also because we recognized, and were filled with joy, at the sheer mastery of their craft.

On a completely superficial level, Watkins' struts about stage wearing only underwear for the first part of the show while the play establishes how much of a horndog his character is - and if you like hard ripped bodies, this is reason alone to see the show. Shallow yes but I’m OK with that (and am looking forward to his appearances this summer on One Life To Live. The show does like to parade it’s hot guys in as little as possible as often as possible).

As I got to the theatre I ran into an old acquaintance from my Los Angeles days who, when the box office was having a small snafu finding my tickets, offered to let me sit with him. I couldn't because I had WHEN JOEY MARRIED BOBBY costar Tina McKissick with me but it was nice of him to offer. Later he told me that he's conducting the tour of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF with Harvey Fierstein and it was he whose unused seat he was going to offer me. There was a moment when I thought that I could say something sexy like 'you mean I could have been sitting in Harvey's seat?" but something prevented me which I'm pretty grateful for. :)

S tar sightings included last week's Bingo guest Ilene Kristen along with my WJMB costar Randy Jones and his husband Will Grega along with One Life to Live's grand dame Dorian Lord portrayer Robin Strasser (who, if you don't know, is quite a supporter of the Bide A Wee pet adoption organization).

At the after party, it was a smorgasbord of drinks, photo ops and delicious company including the delightful Lea Delaria (who plays Delphina occasionally on One Life to Live) and who was in the company of Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family).

Naturally I couldn't help but be in awe at DeLaria who is unapologetically herself – she’s succeeded being an out and loud lesbian on her own damn terms – now that’s something to be impressed with – especially as I return to the world of legit acting myself and fret over my past work coming to haunt me (although I still have the WJMB directors voice in my head saying “that opens more doors than it’ll close” and I’m going to needlepoint it into a sampler if I have to until I really really believe it). 

Anyway, because DeLaria makes one so much like a pal immediately, when I overheard her say that she's obsessed with Heinekin - I just had to interject (because I was actually incapable of resisting) "does that mean you're obsessed by Heinys?" and she just turned around, and without missing a beat said "yeah, those too, - and during the first fifteen minutes when Tuc's character is going from one woman to another, that's just like me" A lady after my own heart (except with guys of course).

Then there was me putting my foot in my mouth mistaking Private Practice's Kate Walsh for another actress – WHOOPS but geez if there was ever a more gracious actress in the world, I've not met her. She just laughed at my gaffe and I laughed too because sometimes brain farts are inevitable. And I got a photo with her (although it’s blurry.. maybe it’s because by the end of the party we were both a little blurry).

 A big thank you to Betty Buckley who though weary and clearly ready to be going home stood for one more picture (to which I am etermally grateful). Yeah, I know it's not like I KNOW her now but it is kinda neat to have a picture with her. :) Do I lose my fag card if I admit that I remember her more from Eight is Enough more than CATS?? <blush>

And you know what was one of the biggest highlights of the evening? Meeting Peter Scolari. I've often seen Scolari and his family out and about in my 'hood and resisted that 'fan' thing of approaching and saying how much I appreciated his work on Bosom Buddies.

As a young man, I knew I was different than all the rest of the guys and although their characters on the show weren’t gay, there seemed to be something wonderfully empowering about two men being so secure in who they are that it didn’t throw them to dress in drag. Plus I just loved how subversive the whole concept was.

Well, Tina had to head out to walk her dog and I had to head on home as it was getting late -  although there’s nothing like being dressed up and having the time of your life to make one want to keep going although the night after Cinco de Mayo the mid-town bars were a little dead so my tom catting urge didn’t get fulfilled. It’s kinda nice to realize that there’s still a little Joe White in me too. And you know what, that’s no lie. White or otherwise.