Okay, here goes, but first let me say this will be a long post. If you don't want to listen, just scroll, it's perfectly okay. Just know that "our Salem crew" was absolutely wonderful today. I'll try to keep things in chronological order, but I know I won't be able to. Here goes...
Present today was Patrika Darbo, Stacy Haiduk, Carson Boatman, Jordi Vilasuso, Eric Martsolf, Erik Fellowes, Dan Feuerrigel, Kyle Lowder, Mike Manning (plus Mike's mom, sister, and brother's wife). I noticed wedding rings on Carson, Jordi, Eric, and Mike.
I sat with Eric. I didn't want to come off as a weirdo so I left two seats between us. I didn't know anyone so my attitude was pretty much "I'm just gonna be me." I can hold my own. No one else was making any smalltalk so I started things rolling. Eric was verrrrry friendly and very polite. I asked what a typical work week was like for the actors...is it a five-day-a-week thing or what? He said they tape 6 months in advance and that they don't know until Tuesdays if they'll be working at all in a given week. Could be every day, could be off most of the week, they just never know. Then he joked, "Imagine trying to make a dental appointment?" I told him that there's a bunch of us who pay attention to every little detail in Salem and mentioned certain things about the sets, etc. I remember telling him about the scene the other day with Abe and TR and how the hallway set looked like it was glued to another set but was falling apart. He said, "...if something like that gets picked up in a scene, that's the fault of the camera people." He laughed when I told him I recall seeing right through a lampshade in the Kiriakis Mansion and there was no bulb. I also told him I like him with Chloe or Nicole, not Kristen cuz she's a crazy killer. He thought that was humorous. I told him that we wanted to see the Salem women wear yoga pants and slippers, not parading around in high heels all the time. He said depending on which actor Nicole is working with, sometimes she won't wear shoes (she's pretty tall). Stacy Haiduk and I walked to the ladies room together yakking...I told her I loved her in the role and asked her to do a quick Susan impression. She did!!!! She said, "Barbi, you're mean, mean, mean....but you're really not" which is even what she wrote on my paper. She said the Susan teeth hurt. She peed in the stall next to me. She's a twig. Very tall, verrrry thin, we've all seen her tatts, her black sequin dress had a verrry high slit, her hair was mostly in a low side braid. I asked her what it's like to do the bedroom scenes with Eric. She said it was a lot of fun and lot of laughter. That wasn't really what I was after but okay. Jordi Vilasuso is absolutely stunning in person. His eyes are intense. I wasn't much of a Jordi/Dario fan, but now, I am. Jumping around here, sorry. Carson. I can't believe I ever said he needed to go. This young guy is awesome. He is adorrrrrable. Newlywed, not even a year. He sings quite well. I told him more than once that he's playing Johnny extremely well and that we all love him. I asked what it's like to wear those yellow eyes -- he said it's just a little blurry. Dan Feurr - however you spell it - EJ. Very quiet, not really talkative, barely a hint of an Australian accent. He wore a sloppy t-shirt, a cap on his head, and flipflops which showed his (sorry to say) dirty feet. Told him he played EJ very well, we enjoy him, he was happy to hear that. Patrika Darbo is an absolute freakin' riot and a half. She is teeny not only in height but body. The only thing big about her is her face. I asked her what was up with that horrible wig that looked like wool. Get this, she said it was her hair!!! Her hair with cans of hairspray! Then when she appeared as a redhead, that, too, was spray. Her hair is very pretty. Longer than her shoulders. She wore a pretty black sequin two-piece set and looked lovely. She is bubbly and funny and the life of the party. Mike Manning has a very wonderful friendly, outgoing personality. He pretty much emcee'd the auction they had (more on that later or in another longwinded post). All the guys are quite thin, by the way. They're all tall and leggy. But I digress. Back to business. Erik Fellowes looked sooooo familiar but I honestly could not place him. He was friendly, too, but he was a substitute for someone who couldn't make it at the last minute. Kyle Lowder, also very nice, but I didn't have much interaction with him. His eyes are gorgeous pools of blueness. Who am I forgetting? Anyway, so each celeb was at their own table with the 8-9 VIPs who paid to be there. The guys did an introductory dance (Gangnam Style, you know that song) Eric Martsolf definitely knows he's a hunk and doesn't mind showing it off. I recorded it. So they all came out wearing sleeveless tuxedo-t-shirts (you know those shirts), they did their choreographed dance, then they took off the shirts, everyone autographed them, then they were up for sale for $50. I bought one. No clue who had on the Size Medium but who cares!! After the guys did their dance, Patrika and Stacy came out and did a cute little duet which was even cuter cuz they were both wearing black sequined outfits. The song they sang was, "Sisters." Very cute. There were some Days things up for auction that I would have loved to have had but there are people out there who seriously didn't mind spending a boatload of money. Example, beer glasses that say Brady Pub. Bidding opened at $100 each. It would have been nice to have, but, nah, not wasting money like that. Someone bid $325 for one glass. One. Glass. There was a neat beach towel that said MELASWEN and was autographed. I did bid $250 but knew someone would immediately outbid me and they did. That went for like $650. People were crazy. Carson Boatman came out wearing a long-sleeve gray sweatshirt with the Days opening words and everyone's autographs. Some woman paid $750. I kid you not. There was a very special Deidre Hall doll, book, a candy dish from her office, a few framed pix of Marlena and John on their wedding day, etc. that went for about $1000 if I'm remembering correctly. Insane. After the auctions, the celebs each sat at a table and you could have them autograph stuff. They were all approachable and available all day long, but this was a good way to kind of say goodbye and get them to sign things and take some other pictures. To save time, I had a few group shots taken with them in addition to the pix taken during the day. So all in all, yeah, it was wonderful seeing them, talking with them, and getting to know their real-life personalities a bit. They are all unbelievably handsome and pretty and nice. The best part is that they were nice. If I think of anything else, I'll fill you in. It's late, I'm tired, this is it for now. It's so sweet of all of you to want to know about it. I wish each and every single one of you could have been there with me. Truly. I neeeeeed to figure out how to post pix. The regular cut-and-paste didn't work on here but I'll keep trying to get some up.
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