The General Hospital Lucheon and Stephen Nichols Event

July 25, 1999

~Recapped by nicholsevansfan…

We had a pretty good table! …A couple of rows back from the stage.

The stars come in. Everyone was there except for Genie, Ingo, John York, Tony Geary, Anna Lee and Kristina….Maurice showed up….but late. He got thunderous applause and a good amount of the attention. Mary Beth was wearing a GORGEOUS, long black summer strap dress with kind of a square brown trimmed neckline. REALLY pretty- and she had a sweater tied around her neck. Her hair has grown, it’s a little fuller in the back than it was, but it’s still short. Stephen was wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans and a black casual vest=-) He looks a little more buffed up…SAWWOOOON.

They had the stars sit in alphabetical order on stage and Stephen ended up somewhere in the back so we didn’t have a very good view of him. Mary Beth was front and center, in between Stuart Damon (who had to leave early) and Nancy Grahn.

The Q&A Session:

Brad Maule was the emcee for the day- usually John York does the honors. Mary Beth stood up to answer her question (she was right by the edge of the stage) and Brad Maule told her to watch out for the edge of the stage (LOL -alluding to her fall from the parapet). Mary Beth smiled. Mary Beth’s question was, “When is Katherine going to get back at Stefan”? I don’t remember exactly how she answered it, but I remember something about finding a taller building to throw him off. Stephen’s question was about the play he is doing called “The Big Knife”. He said the movie wasn’t good and the first production of it in NY as a play was panned, but he really wants to make this a quality production.. He described the play, and it sounds really good!

Sarah Brown was asked who Carly truly loves. She hedged a bit, tried to appease Brad Maule by saying maybe Tony was, but in the end, she said, “The only person Carly truly loves is herself”. Billy Warlock (much more handsome in person, and you could tell everyone in the cast really liked him a lot), was hysterical on stage, physically showing how Jason gets to run up the stairs to play Hero Superdad while AJ is just griping ‘he’s mine, he’s mine’, and never even sees the kid… LOL. Both he and Steve Burton brought up the fact that Michael doesn’t look like any of the Quartermaines. Mary Beth said he kinda might look like Bobbie with the red hair. Then Steve Burton said he looks like Opie and everyone laughed, especially the onliners in attendance. Wally Kurth was asked why Ned was a deadbeat dad (we never see him with his daughter… LOL). He said Brooklyn was visiting for a week soon. Wendy Riche came up and apologized for the fact that they hadn’t really written in contact b/w Ned and his daughter. Real Andrews (Taggert) spoke about doing the Ironman to benefit cancer research in honor of his brother who has cancer. The stars are really helping him out with studio tours, etc., to raise money. You could tell he was really moved. They raised over $10,000 already. Stephen T. Kay (Reggie, GH) is directing a film called ‘Get Carter’ with Sylvester Stallone.

After the Q &A session, they spread the stars to tables around the room. Mary Beth and Constance Towers sat together. (There were two stars per table). We went to see her first, and Mary Beth was probably the only star kind enough to bring a free picture to sign for the fans. She didn’t have a lot of them, but it was a BRAND NEW picture- GORGEOUS!! Stephen was in the back of the room, with the little girl who plays Maxie next to him. She was asked what she likes to do when she isn’t working or in school. She said she likes going on this *one man* sailboat for sailing. Stephen told her to say “*one woman* sailboat, or *one person sailboat*… LOL… ever the feminist (Gotta love a guy like that!!!). I was saving my questions for his event afterwards, so I just got a picture taken with him=-) Alison asked Mary Beth about airtime for Kat, and reported back to us that Mary Beth had said she was even more frustrated than we were at the lack of airtime for her and that yes, she would be getting more soon!! So, I went back to Mary Beth’s line to find out the scoop on that. Mary Beth said her story was going to be heating up soon. I asked with whom? And she said Nikolas, and that there were going to be some new *twists* …and in passing said *it’s terrible*. I didn’t know what she meant by terrible…if terrible as in bad story, or terrible as in bad twist, or terrible as in a BIG twist. EEKS. Ok…MY impression was that Kat is going to be either pregnant or faking her pregnancy. (And I asked Mary Beth at Stephen’s event later and she kind of twisted her face like I either hit the nail on the head or I was close, or hey, for all I know, she could of been saying where did that idea come from??… LOL… but she didn’t give anything away).

I also went in to lines to meet Tava Smiley (Chloe- ADORABLE!! SO sweet! Really liked her), Stephen Kay- who plays Reggie and is Mary Beth’s real life cousin-in-law. I told him I liked his scenes with Katherine and he said so did he=-), John Ingle (Edward Q- really nice), Billy Warlock AJ- (nice), and the new Nik…. (Coltin Shore) who was shy.

Mary Beth came out of the GH luncheon around 3 pm because she had a grandmother visiting and several relatives were celebrating their birthdays. She had told her husband she was leaving at 3 pm, but stayed a while to eat a sandwich and to be at the beginning of Stephen’s event. Mary Beth sat down with us in this little cafe right outside where Stephen’s event was going to be held!! Let me tell ya, that was AWESOME! She was just casual and so friendly and nice, and even more beautiful up close if you can believe that. Someone mentioned the picture of her with her family at the opening of Tarzan and she told us she got the tickets from Disney since they own ABC. And though her older kids are already wanting to do their own *thing* on weekends now, they all had so much fun at the movie premiere and still talk about it. There was a concert by Phil Collins afterward and they were taken by limo, which was arranged for her without her knowing=-) We asked about the progress on her house and she said they were moving back I think. She said it was on the same property, just had to fix a lot of things like plumbing, so they went ahead and did the major repairs and then did remodeling, and that it was going on for about a year now. We told her how we are in The Crystal Tree, and that Franni sends us online newsletters. We also told her we wanted to see her on the show more, and she said she wanted to work more and that there was some stuff coming up with Nikolas. She asked us all where we live. I mentioned I didn’t live far from the Aliso School and she told us we should all go down to visit it. She also said she wanted to do a good quality home and gardening show. Also, she mentioned her High School reunion just happened and she didn’t go. She said she was mostly involved in drama department there and talked to us about her drama teacher, who was a big influence on her (I think he passed on), and she is still good friends with two friends from high school- they live very nearby her. So she didn’t feel the need to go back for the reunion. We were just so impressed by her; she was totally at ease and comfortable talking to us, and vice-versa!! We went into the room for Stephen’s event with Mary Beth. She stepped out briefly and Stephen came in about five minutes later. Then Mary Beth came back in and they hugged. Ok, let me preface this by saying I had a seat STRAIGHT SMACK in front of them. I couldn’t have been any closer than I was!! I loved, loved, loved, my seat…. LOL.

They sat down and Mary Beth puts her head on his shoulder, and he puts his arm around her. I say, “Ok, just hold that pose.” (I was going to get that picture… LOL). And they did =-)!!! I felt a huge sense of relief as we discussed the show. They really listened and were so receptive to opinions about the show. They also freely discussed what they wanted to see improved on the show and in their storylines. We all felt like, WOW!! It’s not just us!!! They seemed to really welcome our opinions and absorbed them, took them in and agreed. We discussed the writing style, continuity, back story, etc., for their characters. We were having a back and forth discussion and it was just the best!!

Mary Beth was asked if she heard the rumor about going back to Days. She said she just had one conversation- said hi to Ken Corday, and that the rumors that get started are bizarre. She still has a year on her GH contract. Stephen also told Mary Beth all about his vacation to Sweden (a small town of like 22 people, and 200 people came out for Lisa’s family reunion!). He said it was just an amazing time, and they also stopped by in London for four days. It sounds like he just got back from the vacation. They asked each other how many days they were taping that week, and which days. Alison told Stephen and Mary Beth (separately) at the GH event that it was Steve and Kayla’s 11th wedding anniversary that day (gotta love AL!! WOOOO HOOO LOL). They both liked hearing that. In fact, later at Stephen’s event, someone mentioned to them something about the rumors of them going to Days, and they BOTH said out loud to everyone in the room, “Hey did you all know its Steve and Kayla’s 11th wedding anniversary today?? ” Mary Beth had to leave, but she and Stephen posed for pictures in front of the room for us. I think this was all before the event officially started (most people were already in the room though), and before Rosemary Rossi arrived to cover the event for Soaps In Depth, so they were speaking freely.

After Mary Beth left, there was a Q&A session with Stephen. At the beginning of the event, when we picked up our name tags and seating arrangements at the entrance, there were cards where we could jot down questions for Stephen to answer. He read from those cards.

Ok, these are the Q and A’s I remember (not in order):

A Stefan and Laura fan asked if the current relationship between Laura and Stefan was a turning point for Stefan, Stephen said yes. Someone asked “What storyline?” and Stephen laughed. Someone asked if Stefan and Laura were going to consummate their relationship. He said they hadn’t and Genie was on vacation. Needless to say, I was happy to hear they haven’t *done the deed* on tape yet. He said Stefan, Nik and Kat would be having scenes while Laura was away. One person asked if the *big fan response* to Stefan and Laura (PFFFFFFFFTTTT!!!) made a difference with the writers. He said he wasn’t sure, but he thinks there needs to be a lot more people writing.

Stephen made it clear he wants Stefan’s backstory explored to explain his motivations in the present (why does he hate his mother so much?), etc. I asked him what his ideal storyline was for Stefan. He answered that he always had this theory that Stefan was the actual first born son of Mikkos, that Helena had slept around and produced Stavros in an extramarital affair. That would explain why Stavros was her pride and joy and why Stefan was a threat to her. He said the nurse/nanny who took care of Nikolas when he was a baby, could return to reveal the secret. Everyone in the room liked the idea, of course.

I asked if that isn’t what Jax and Alexis were going to find out on their little escapade? And he said no actually, they were going to find out Stavros was Nik’s *real* father, but the show decided to drop that last minute. Stephen was glad they dropped it; because it would have made the whole secret Stefan had been keeping anti-climactic (I said it would have been pointless and he agreed).

Stephen was asked if they planned to ever reunite Bobbie and Stefan, and he said the writers had actually planned to bring them back together now, but decided not to at the last minute as well (seeing a pattern here??… LOL).

In between all of the questions were funny moments… LOL. Right outside our room was the pool with a – get this- a singing lifeguard, a LOUD singing lifeguard. And Stephen was occasionally interrupted by the guy singing…to which Stephen responded by singing, too… LOL.

Also, someone wrote their question wrong on the card. They wrote: Do you prefer Stefan and Stefan or Stefan and Katherine? (They meant Stefan and Laura or Stefan and Katherine… LOL.) He laughed and sung the 80’s song by Human League “Obsession”, changing the words to “Obsession, I’m my obsession, who do I want me to be to make me sleep with me”. WE ALL LAUGHED. He answered by saying whatever the storyline dictates, if it’s a good story.

He was asked if Katherine and Stefan could get back together. He said the story would have to make sense, but he didn’t see why not.

He sung someone Happy Birthday (twice actually- one person at the GH event and another person at his event)….in his own inimitable way. Someone asked him if he did Weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, and he laughed and told us “speaking of Bar Mitzvahs”, a story about when they were in London watching this really formal ceremony- the changing of the guard- and these men in uniform doing everything really formally, etc. etc. And all of a sudden when the choir started to play, he realized they were playing Fiddler on the Roof!… LOL. He hummed a few bars of the main Fiddler song (“If I were a rich man”). Too funny.

He saw people eating some of the chocolate chip cookies at the back of the room (it was a dessert event- good stuff=-)! And he commented on how much chocolate was in each. Also about food, he said that the only meat he really eats is chicken and turkey, and that his little girl made up a joke about that (because she sees him eat that a lot I guess)…he really lights up when he talks about his kids. His daughter’s joke was: Why did the chicken cross the road? To get away from you!! LOL.

Stephen was asked was what music he listens to on his way to and from work. He said unfortunately just the lines he’s running over and over and boring himself to tears with… LOL. But when he listens to music he likes a wide variety of stuff….Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Soul Coughing, Mozart, Beethoven, and even musicals, because his daughter Dylan loves them.

He also said later GH has the best cast and that’s why they won the Emmys- because of the cast. He cleared up the rumors: No Days return. But he did say that he loved his work as Patch in the character’s heyday.

Someone stopped by at the event to say hi to Stephen- with two of her kids and her husband- and it turned out she was in High School with Stephen- in his art class. He had just seen her at his High School reunion. He was pleasantly surprised to see her. We all posed for pictures with Stephen and later, after he had left, we watched a retrospective of his career. As always the event was a blast! Meeting other fans and seeing Stephen and Mary Beth is always the best, and this year was no exception. I had a really wonderful time. Linda did a wonderful job in organizing the event and it was a real highlight. Truly memorable.

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