SO MUCH TO SAY

Much time has passed since my last entry and in all honesty I can only say that I have been preoccupied and even somewhat lazy. But not without good cause and reason as I have had some major events occur which have taken up the valuable time I use to type out Blog entries. Some of these events are of more notoriety than others. Now although I will attempt to list them all, I will clearly not have enough time to touch on all of them the way I usually describe most of my adventures as you’ve all come to expect. So please kick back and relax and ready yourself for the first installment of “John’s Journey in June!”

Many of you music fans may notice the heading of this specific entry and say “Gee that sounds familiar”? Well, I say “right, you are” and that is because I have become accustomed to listening to music while typing and today’s choice artist is “Dave Matthews Band”. The right music can really motivate a person to accomplish a great many things and seeing as how my Blog site has been dry for quite some time, I need some serious motivation, LOL! Since may last posting back in the beginning of May the Daytime Emmy Awards have taken place; a couple of us from the show went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for horseback riding and whitewater rafting; I moved from my Brooklyn apartment into the city itself; CBS and ABC went head to head in a fierce softball match which benefited a great charity (though I got pretty thrashed with injuries); I began the arduous but exciting process of meeting with agents to seek representation (as I only have a personal manager at the moment); this past Saturday, June 25th, Ricky Paull Goldin (Gus) and myself made a personal appearance in a city most likely not really near you (LOL, wink); and finally yesterday, June 27th, was my birthday and what a surprise I received!

For years I have read about the Daytime Emmy Awards and all the glitz and glamour which surrounds it; the beautifully flowing dresses, the fancy limousines, the not so traditional tuxedos, the award show itself and the stellar after-parties. Well, let me just say that after surviving my first Daytime Emmy Award show, it’s all so true. This was a first time encounter for me and I was going to experience it to the max! The weekend itself started with a party at the New York City Mayor’s Mansion (Mayor Bloomberg) Thursday night as a sort of icebreaker/award ceremony for achievement open to all guests and artists from in, out and around town. My girlfriend and I attended this event and were instantly bombarded by the photographers for press pictures. Now I realize that I just answered the question that many of you have on your minds: Is John gay? LOL, no I am only kidding, the questions most people ask: is are you single? I have to laugh at this question but I will tell the truth (it’s hard for actors to tell the truth, we lie for a living). There is someone special in my life and I’m sure that if you are a person who reads the soap magazines you will have already seen a picture of the two of us together.

Anyway, we arrived right after Susan Lucci (Erica; AMC) and let me just say that she looked amazing in person! The Mayor’s Mansion was beautifully located on the upper east side of Manhattan and was simply alive with daytime personalities, industry individuals, political figures, and family/friends. I have to say that besides talking to the “Guiding Light” people it was difficult to meet others because I just didn’t know where they all were from and I certainly didn’t want to walk up to some mogul individual and just say “Hello, my name is John Driscoll and I’m from “Guiding Light,” who are you?” Knowing my luck, it probably would have been the mayor himself! After about an hour more of talking and trying to meet and greet, a large contingent of us went back to the Waldorf Astoria to a Charity function that was put together by Ricky Paull Goldin benefiting one of the hospitals in New York City (forgive me for not remembering which one) and it was just amazing. There were speeches and awards given for achievement; there was singing and dancing; and let us not forget that there was tons of food to be eaten along with fans to meet and enjoy the experience with! It was a great night but the real excitement was still to come the following evening at Radio City.

Friday morning was a bit stressful for me as I was trying to make sure that I had all the parts to my tuxedo in one place as did my girlfriend and her dress (which was dynamite if I do say so myself, LOL). Work that day only went for a half day to give everyone an ample amount of time to get ready. Now, let’s be honest here for a moment and realize that this is not meant to single anyone out….but rather to single out an entire gender, LOL! Why don’t we just admit that the reason for a half day of work was so that the women of the show had enough time to gossip, compare dresses, get hair and makeup wonders done to themselves so that they might have an original look for the evening, have a little cocktail at the studio to take the edge off and finally swoop down into the awaiting limousines to be taken to the “ball” like Cinderella. I’m sure that the statement I just made might receive a bit of criticism so all I ask in your responses is to please be gentle.

As the first group of us arrived at the hotel where the pre-Emmy dinner was to be held, I realized that this is an event bigger than any individual, show or award. It is a tradition that has gone on for years and will go on for years long after my run on the soaps. But right now, in that moment, I was fortunate enough to be a part of it and to cherish and remember everything about the evening at hand. I stepped out of the car and was again immediately greeted by fans and photographers leading into the main foyer of the hotel. Mandy Bruno (Marina) and I posed together for some family photos before continuing up the stairs to the waiting room where hundreds of people were already gathered awaiting to be let into the dinning room. Everyone looked so good, sharp and stunning, but I have to say that you could tell the NY actors from the LA ones. Not to be too critical but the demeanor and wardrobe of the NY actors and representatives was a bit more classical or traditional while the LA actor and representative’s was a bit more “loose” in body language and attire. Hey, whatever, it’s a personal choice you know? Whatever you feel most comfortable in.

Dinner was served and although most people seemed to eat, many individuals chose to move about and mingle with those from around the enormous room. When I say that this room was enormous, I am talking about seating roughly close to one thousand if not more, maybe two. People would pass by and quickly say hello and move on in the normal industry greeting as I like to call it: “Helloooooooo, how are you (insert kisses or handshake)? You look fabulous (clearly quickly analyzing you), have fun tonight (ending conversation) and we will DEFINITELY talk later (yeah right)”. All of this taking a total of maybe ten seconds, so it feels more like an assembly line of greetings. I’ll have to get used to that but as you can tell, I usually have more than ten seconds worth of things to say so maybe I won’t get too accustomed to it.

Once dinner was finished we all were escorted down the stairs to the beginning of the two and a half block red carpet walk to Radio City Music Hall. At this point it is usually best to try and do this with another person if not a group of people. There is always safety in numbers and also if you are not as recognizable as an individual, maybe a combination of characters will cause more of a stir for fans as well as for the reporters along the carpet. Mandy Bruno, Stephanie Gatschet (Tammy), Scott Bailey (Sandy) and I banded together, braved the carpet and actually had an absolute ball!

I have to laugh because one of the first things I did realizing that I’d have to be extroverted to get any attention or press time was to jump on the police guard rails that separated us from the fans, a gap which was at least ten yards on both sides, and started to shout to the crowd. I have to say that you all (the fans) are awesome. I found out that some of the people had been waiting there for hours just to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor. I watched some celebrities waltz by a group of fans that obviously would’ve been happy for a look or a nod of recognition, maybe even a quick picture, but for some reason kept right on walking. That struck me as just being a really awful thing to do. Anyways, so I’m up on the guard-rail, pinpointing people in the crowd, shouting questions to them, telling them I can’t hear them, asking them to scream louder and just interacting with them. Later on down the line, after a few interviews and pictures of our little group together, Scott and I had the brilliant idea of jumping the rails and running over to the crowd to sign autographs, take pictures with people like I love to do, talk with them quickly and even snag a kiss or two, LOL! It was amazing, just to see everyone so happy and laughing and enjoying themselves. I think there must have been a larger smile on my face because this was a first for me and I wasn’t going to spare any detail. When Scott and I returned to the line, Mandy and Stephanie simply smiled and said “show-offs”. WHAT??? We actually had a film crew follow us down the line and film us chatting and taking pictures because WE WERE THE ONLY ONES WHO DID THAT!

As the red carpet came to an end we all entered the Music Hall and were herded into the auditorium for the start of the show. Oh, and by the way, how many of you saw Crystal Hunt (Lizzie) and her dog in matching dresses? How cute was that? Alright, back to the show, so Crystal and I sat next to each other along with her parents while Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan) and his mom (so sweet) sat right behind us. Tom had a huge contingent of family and friends with him in the audience. All of “Guiding Light” was seated roughly together, give or take a few rows.
I would have loved to see Grant Aleksander (Phillip) win, but I do also know Christian Le Blanc (Michael; Y&R) who did win and he is a truly talented soap actor, so that was a tough one. Regardless of who won and who did not, the whole thought of sitting in the audience and being on camera for the whole nation to see you (yes, mom and dad back in VA) was pretty cool. I received a few text messages during the show from friends who saw me and said that they were proud of me. That is always appreciated so thanks guys and gals (you know who you are)! I did manage to snag a few pictures of Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell for all you fans of their shows.

After the award show, everyone filed out to either walk the two blocks to the Waldorf or hop in their limousines to the after party. At this point, I have to mention that my girlfriend was meeting up with me and she had an absolutely horrible day! She left her things at a girlfriend’s place down in the Lower West Village on Thursday where she had gotten ready for the Mayor’s event in hopes of saving time by coming back Friday to get ready again for the after Emmy party. Well, to her dismay and that of her friends, the place had been broken into and her things were strewn all over the floor. Cameras were stolen along with phones, laptops and even my girl’s wallet/purse. All her cards and cash gone for the night and no way to pay the stylist who had come to do her hair and makeup; so I took care of all of it and made sure we got to the after-party and assured her we would get it all back. Clearly, with this brief history of the situation, you can understand that she was in no mood for BS of any sorts or to really party but she managed to continue and see the night through.

Everyone at this point looked much more loose and at ease (possibly due to alcohol, LOL) as the mingling continued. CBS was the host of this year’s Award Ceremony and clearly went above and beyond as far as the decorations and entertainment was concerned. The catering was splendid. I do believe the chocolate fountain had the most visitors of any presentation; hey you can’t go wrong with chocolate, I guess! We did have one little scare though that evening. Tom’s grandfather passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. I am happy to report that he is doing fine and was soon released. The whole evening continued on with laughter and dancing and merriment long after my girlfriend and I left, and I have to say that it was just mind blowing. I can say that I have achieved another personal goal and survived yet another crazy adventure in the realm of soap entertainment.

Alright, well I believe that I have been long winded enough and there is still so much to discuss….but not now. The next installment of John’s Journey in June will tackle our trip to Tennessee and include a close call rescue on the mighty river, how I went horseback riding, then quickly moving to my relocation from Brooklyn into Manhattan and the joy that was. I hope that ya’ll enjoy the blog, and I promise to get the next one out sooner. Until then, I wish you all the best and please feel free to ask questions about this one and past ones. Let me know your thoughts about the Emmy awards. Whatever it is that’s on your mind, please feel free to share it!

And now comes the part of the Blog where I pull a post from my site from a fan or just a passerby (somewhat of a new tradition). This one comes from Nikki and stopped me in my tracks. Nikki, thank you so much for this post, I can not think of a higher compliment to receive and so again I say congratulations to you and your husband on your baby bundle of joy:

Thanks for your great performances on Guiding Light! I don't get to watch during the day, so I tivo it and watch at 3 in the morning when I am up with my new son Cooper (2 months old this past Sunday). We actually found the name while searching the census list of top 500 names, but when my husband asked, "What about Cooper if its a boy?," I couldn't help but think that your character's name would be the perfect fit for my then baby-to-be : ) Anyway, thanks for keeping things interesting on the show. You are doing a great job in drawing back younger viewers like myself. Keep up the great work! –Nikki

All the best, -John-