OLTL Location Shoot
The OLTL directors informed TVguide.com that an upstate New York waterfall will stand in for Argentina’s Iquazo Falls when Sarah takes a Tina Lord-esque tumble in July. The talented directing team, which boasts some of the savviest and most resourceful directing techniques given their budget and small studio space, are tirelessly filming OLTL’s overwhelming 40th anniversary celebration.

Michael Easton Bares His Dark Soul
Courtesy of Michael Logan, TVguide.com
For how much longer can One Life to Live hang on to its top male star? On June 27–28 Michael Easton — who plays crimefighter John McBain — will officially launch a new career when he appears at the Wizard World fan convention in Chicago with his first graphic novel, Soul Stealer (DMF Comics). (Check out the cover here.) It won't hit bookstores until July 1, but early copies are circulating in Hollywood, and Easton has already had meetings with producers eager to put Soul Stealer in your multiplex.

"I've been thinking strongly about moving to the other side of the business," Easton says. "It's getting to the point where, as a grown man, I'm finding it strange to put on a costume and makeup every day."

Five years in the making, Soul Stealer is no ordinary comic book. The lavish 148-page epic—about a 3,000-year-old, love-tortured superhero who has the power to bring back souls from heaven or hell—has haunting artwork by comics giant Christopher Shy (Pathfinder) and a rave intro by hot horror author Peter Straub (The Talisman). Easton has teamed with Straub on yet another graphic novel, DC/Vertigo's upcoming The Green Woman.

Is he nervous about entering this weird new world? You bet. "Comics fans are just like soap fans—very loyal but easy to alienate if they don't find you honest and genuine," Easton notes. "Soul Stealer is pretty dark. I hope people like it, and that they don't go, 'Wow, that writer's really twisted and messed up.'"

Dark it is. But I also found Easton's novel thrilling, poetic and poignant, the kind of deeply felt work that triggers all sorts of uninvited emotions in the reader and gives fascinating insight into one of the few daytime stars with real mystique. I urge you to check it out. — Michael Logan

Fath and Lavoisier’s backstage romance!
TV Guide.ca exclusively reported and confirmed that Farah Fath (Gigi) and John-Paul Lavoisier (Rex) are dating in real life.

Nipped Tuck: Tweaked OLTL Tale Adds "Original" Jess
Courtesy of TVguide.com

There's already a hitch in those fantastic One Life to Live 40th anniversary plans I revealed earlier this week. Fan fave Jessica Tuck, who was supposed to be seen in a Heaven sequence as her late, great character Megan, had to bow out of the gig yesterday due to a scheduling conflict. (Souces say the conflict is High School Musical 3, but I have no confirmation of that).

This is not just a big disappointment for us Tuck-anistas, it's a big headache for the show because her appearance was no mere cameo. OLTL head writer Ron Carlivati had wanted Megan to serve as a celestial guide for her mama Viki (Erika Slezak), who will visit the Great Beyond after dying in a car crash — a major two-day plot twist (airing July 21-22) that riffs on one of the soap's most famous stories from the 1980s. 

The scenes shoot this coming Monday. The clock is ticking. What to do? Carlivati, who is quite the brain-stormer, quickly picked a different dead Megan to be Viki's guide — that would be Megan's namesake (and Viki's granddaughter), baby Megan, who died by miscarriage in 1999 when her mom, Jessica, was the victim of a hit-and-run. 

Back then, Jessica was played by another fan sensation, the much-missed Erin Torpey — and that's who's gonna come back to the show and play baby Megan in Heaven! Granted, it's a little weird, but it's certainly a creative way to solve a casting crisis! — Michael Logan

One Life Celebrates No. 40 with Blasts from the Past
Courtesy of TVguide.com
Long before Passions came along, One Life to Live was daytime's wildest soap — especially back in the Reagan era, when Viki (Erika Slezak) had an out-of-body experience during brain surgery and wound up on a space ship to heaven. To celebrate the ABC soap's 40th anniversary next month, OLTL head writer Ron Carlivati will revisit that celestial 1987 plot by having Viki die — just momentarily, of course! — in a car crash. 

"This time, heaven will be a very modern high-rise — Viki will go up the elevator floor by floor, encountering all sorts of dead characters along the way," said Carlivati. Among the former stars making angelic returns are Phil Carey (Asa), Mark Derwin (Ben), Stephen Markle (Mel) and Jessica Tuck (Megan). OLTL's legendary creator, Agnes Nixon, will also appear in heaven.

That's not all. Carlivati will redo the famous '80s plot where Tina (Andrea Evans) survived a plunge over the Iguazú Falls in Argentina, only this time, creepy Carlo (Thom Christopher) will force Tina to watch in horror as he sends her daughter Sarah (Justis Bolding) over a waterfall in Mendorra. Fan favorite John Loprieno will return as Tina's ex-hubby, Cord.

And remember the time Clint (Clint Ritchie) was knocked unconscious and time-traveled to the Wild West? Carlivati will riff on that plot, too. "Bo (Robert S. Woods) and Rex (John-Paul Lavoisier) are hit by lightning and wake up in 1968 — the same year OLTL hit the air," Carlivati says. The kicker: Bo has become his pop, Asa, and Rex has become the young Bo.

All three homages air July 21–22, but the Bo-Rex twist will play out for several weeks, maybe with dire consequences. Says Carlivati: "If they can't find their way back to the future, Rex will be drafted and sent to Vietnam." — Michael Logan 

IN MEMORIAM
Courtesy of SOD

Lee Patterson (ex-Joe Riley) died Feb. 14, 2007 , at the age of 77 in Texas . " Lee was the warmest, sweetest, funniest gentleman I've ever met in my life," smiles Erika Slezak. "We had the most wonderful sailing weekends on his boat. He would vanish off the face of the earth, and then call about three years later and say, 'Hey! It's Scoop!' He called himself Scoop Riley because he was a newspaper man. I'm very sad, because he was a wonderful, wonderful man."

New CD for DePaiva

I Want to Love You

Kassie releases her new cd, I Want To Love You nationwide on May 22, 2007.

 It is a collection of catchy bluegrass tunes, recorded in New York with producer David Nichtern. In her role as Blair on OLTL, DePaiva has already previewed the songs on the show.

Includes photo album of exclusive Kassie shots only available with the album!
"I Want to Love You" is available for purchase through Amazon.com