Drake Hogestyn Eden Riegel is exiting All My Children soon, having only signed a short-term contract to reprise her Emmy-winning role, Bianca Montgomery, when she returned last fall. The popular actress is moving back to Los Angeles (AMC films in New York) and will likely be hitting the audition circuit again. Jeffrey Carlson, who plays transgender candidate Zarf/Zoe, will also be exiting the soap on April 26. Carlson is headed to the theatre. He will star in Hamlet in Washington, D.C.
Another fan favourite, Tamara Tunie, who has played attorney Jessica Griffin for more than 20 years, is officially off As the World Turns. She hasn't been seen much in the past year, partly due to her busy prime-time schedule. Tunie has juggled her daytime job with her other television gigs for years now. She plays Dr. Melinda Warner on the hit crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and has appeared on several episodes of 24 as Alberta Green fans are happy for Tunie's success, they miss their Jessica and were hoping for a big story line - any story line - for her soon. Unfortunately, that won't be the case, and fans will have to get their Tunie fix on SVU.
Former Miss Teen USA Shelley Hennig has been cast as Steve and Kayla's daughter, Stephanie, on Days of Our Lives. She began airing on April 20. The show decided to bring the character back just a few short months after writing out the redheaded race-car driver formerly played by Shayna Rose. Let's hope Stephanie is back in Salem to help her mom fight against the no-good EJ DiMera. Then again, this is a soap, so maybe she will fall in love with the enemy.
American Idol is the hottest show in America right now, so it makes sense that other shows would want to capitalise on its popularity. The Bold and the Beautiful has turned to a former contestant to mix things up with forbidden love - and songbirds Phoebe (Mackenzie Mauzy) and Rick (Kyle Lowder). Constantine Maroulis, a top-12 'AI' finalist from last year, has been cast as a music producer and will be featured on the soap this summer. Maroulis has acted before in the Broadway production of The Wedding Singer. Music artists have greatly benefited from appearances on soaps, seeing a nice spike in their record sales afterward, so surely this exposure will help jump-start Maroulis' solo career.
FAN EVENTS: Drake Hogestyn (John, Days) is hosting a fan gathering, 'John Black's Last Mission', at Guys North on 12655 Ventura Blvd., in Studio City, California, on Saturday, June 2, from 12 noon to 4 p.m. The event costs US$65, and you can make your cheque payable to the Drake Hogestyn Fan Club, and mail it to Priscilla Reyes, 102 E. 232nd Street, Carson, CA 90745-4829.
Stars from ATWT, Guiding Light, One Life to Live and AMC will participate inthe annual celebrity softball event on Saturday, June 30, at Midwood High School field on Avenue K and East 16th Street in Brooklyn, NY. Gates open at 11 a.m. For tickets, send a US$20 check or money order to: Shorefront Friends for Hospice Inc., c/o Jodi Waxman, 61 Bay 35th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11214.
