General Hospital Happenings© 1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010
Warning:  This page may contain spoilers.



Christian Alexander Exits

Alexander, who has been playing the role of Kiefer Bauer, Kristina's abusive boyfriend,
will be leaving GH this spring as his storyline comes on a end.


Dominic Zamprogna:
Road To Stardom

 

 

Four-time Best Actress Emmy Award winner Michael Learned is joining the cast of GH for a short-term story arc. She won three Emmy Awards playing the role of Olivia Walton in the television series about a Depression era family, "The Waltons", and another Emmy for her next foray into series TV, "Nurse" (1981).  Learned will play cancer patient, "Shirley Smith", and will be interacting with Robin, Patrick, Lisa and the rest of the hospital staff. According to SOD, her character is said to have "great will, vitality, and spirit.  Expect her debut in April.

Hmmmm...could this be the long rumored euthanasia story which we first posted about back on June 5th?  See this old Rumorville posting.


 
BLAZE is BACK!

 Skye Quartermaine returns to General Hospital on March 31st. 

Guza, in an interview with TV Guide explains, “It’s hard to write GH without the Quartermaines.  Every time we drift away from the family, even though we’ve diluted them a bit over the years, it just feels wrong. So we’re looking to build them up again...We’ll be doing some really fun stuff with Luke, Skye and Luke’s wife Tracy [Jane Elliott]. And Alice [Bergen Williams], the Q’s maid, is going to play a big part in this, as well.”

Regarding Maya, who makes her entrance the same day, Guza shares that,  “When you’re a member of the Ward family in Port Charles, it comes with a whole [load] of expectations. This is an extremely high-achieving family, so Maya’s hitting the ground with a lot of pressure on her. Her drive is to be a doctor, so anything—or anybody—who gets in her way is going to be a problem.”  Guza hints that her pairing with Ethan is not necessarily a done deal as previously reported.  He suggests that she might just as easily paired with Lucky, who, “will be romantically [disentangled] very soon.”

Maya’s younger half-sister, Zoe Richardson, yet uncast, is expected to show up in Port Charles in April . “She’s a bored, 17-year-old wild child who doesn’t care about the Ward legacy, because she’s technically not a Ward.  She sees that Maya has a good thing going living with the Quartermaines. She shows up to get her piece, too.”   Guza did affirm that Zoe will become a love interest for Michael Corinthos. 

One item of disappointment to Cassadine fans, contradicting what he has said before, what this site has reported, and what show spokespersons have been quoted as saying in recent soap magazines, Guza stated that,  “Valentin’s arrival is not imminent.  This is right up there with those rumors that Genie Francis and Vanessa Marcil are coming."  So says the source of those rumors himself. RME. 

 Meanwhile, Matt Borlenghi, who has been slated for the Valentin role, is busy filming a new movie
which is expected to take about a month and a half to shoot.

Oh well, all good things come to those who wait.  Maybe.




Introducing Maya Ward!

Annie Ilonzeh makes her Port Charles debut on March 31st, as the grandaughter of Bradley Ward (Edward's late son with Mary Mae Ward, niece of the late Justus Ward, Edward's grandson).  Word is that Maya, who has ambitions to become a doctor, will (reluctantly) get involved with Ethan Lovett.



Lindze Letherman reprises her role as Georgie Scorpio for a few episodes beginning March 26th.


Bradley Cole (most recently of Guiding Light), begins airing as Kiefer's father,
Warren Bauer. at the end of March for a temporary stint.

Lisa Waltz will portray the role of
Melissa Bauer, Kiefer's mother.


FINALLY!
 General Hospital's long overdue new opening credits sequence will debut on February 23rd,
which will coincide with the show's 12,000th episode. 
This fall, General Hospital will become the longest running daytime drama
still on the air once As the World Turns broadcasts its final episode this year.
~~~

 


Donald Agnelli, Carolyn Hennesy's (Diane Miller) husband, will portray a biker at Jake's on March 5th. 


On March 3rd, Jennifer Lyons airs as Jennifer Biles. 

 
Has Sonny's judgement day arrived?
 Dakin Matthews plays Judge Carroll on February 24th.

 
John Burke comes to General Hospital, as Everett Dawson, on February 24th.




 Dahlia Salem (ex-Sofia, AW) has been cast in the recurring role of Federal Prosecutor
Claire Walsh. She first airs on February 24th.



Just a Great Guy

Brandon Barash has been named the National Celebrity Ambassador of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  The actor – who lost a childhood friend to the disease – will spend the next year dedicating his time to the organization.  Brandon is known for giving his time to the MDA in the past as well as being involved with various other charitable organizations.  One way he hopes to raise money for the organization is through the sale of his photography prints and a new photo book he has already published.  In addition,  he will attend various MDA events, including starring in public service announcements and giving news media interviews.

     




Gavin Houston has a New Beat
Gavin (ex-Remy Boudreau of Guiding Light) is joining GH and the Port Charles Police Force in the recurring role of Sly Houston, beginning January 13th.


Conceptual Artist Carter on
James Franco’s General Hospital Appearance:
“It was my idea”

Franco confirmed in an article for the Wall Street Journal that his General Hospital gig is, in fact, an experiment in performance art, a partnerhship with his friend, the New York-based artist, Carter (just one name, like Franco).

Franco’s General Hospital appearance will be material for his next collaboration with Carter, a more ambitious feature-length film that is currently in the works and will explore similar themes as their previous work together, “Erased.”  

The man behind Franco’s daytime TV appearance answered some questions from WSJ's Speakeasy:

We hear you were the brains behind James Franco’s arc on “General Hospital.” How did that come about? And why “General Hospital,” of all soap operas?

It was my idea to suggest to James to do a soap opera, and that would tie into another film he and I are working on. But a lot of the work was outside me. As far as why the soap opera was “General Hospital” or the development of his character, I didn’t have much influence. I did suggest, however, that he should be an artist. The writers on the show basically took it from there. And in turn, in some roundabout weird way, he’s now playing an artist with one name, as maybe a shadow of me.

Do you think some people will interpret his appearance as satirizing the genre?

Of course people are going to and they already have. But I think people are cynical and lazy and that’s what that’s coming from. It’s incorrect. I don’t want to call it “satire.” That’s rude.

Why do you think that many people, especially those who don’t normally watch soap operas, find his “General Hospital” arc funny?

Having James on “General Hospital” is a challenge to what people expect and anticipate, so they just laugh, which is the easiest response. Sure, there’s humor involved, a lot of humor, but there’s also a challenge.








How will this General Hospital stint be tied to this other film that you’re working on?

I really can’t say much about this next film; we’re working on it now. As for how it ties in, I was on the “General Hospital” set filming for the upcoming film.

Franco had said that in “Erased” he was operating at half-speed. What do you think he meant by that and how does that compare to a soap opera, where actors are notoriously over -acting?

One of the thoughts I had when I suggested he do a soap opera is that acting on a daytime television series is a very hard thing to do. It becomes an almost athletic event –- it’s very fast with a lot of memorization. Same thing with “Erased” -– I often referred to it as an athletic event. We had to film it in one day and James had to play difficult parts pretty quickly. So I can draw parallels between a daytime television show and something more artistic. And it’s obvious that for someone of James’s ilk, it’s not about pay or moving further in his career. It’s about really working on his craft and doing something difficult.

Is there a distinction between the James Franco you know and the “James Franco” on screen?

... As an outsider, I think it’s really fun to watch an actor play themselves in quotes.

Interview excerpted from The Wall Street Journal, Speakeasy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There will be one more step. After all of the Franco episodes [on General Hospital] are aired, my character's storyline will be advanced in a special episode filmed in a "legitimate" New York gallery. One more layer will be added to this already layer -heavy experiment. If all goes according to plan, it will definitely be weird. But is it art?"
--James Franco
A Star, a Soap and the Meaning of Art:
Why an appearance on 'General Hospital' qualifies as performance art.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word is Franco will co-direct the related GH episode this spring.



Brianna Brown replaces Julie Mond

Brianna will debut in the role of Patrick Drake's ex, Dr. Lisa Niles,
on January 6th.   Brown has appeared on  CSI: N.Y. (and Miami), The Closer, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, Smallville and other dramas.  She also had small roles in films such as The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Spiderman 2.

 


A New Casting Call

As mentioned in our Spoilerholic thread, it looks like GH is in the process of
casting a love interest for Michael.  17 year old, "Zoe".



 


 

Update: Borlenghi's appearance has been postponed until early this year, due to some changes in storyline.  Also, his character's identity has been confirmed.  See Coming, in our Spoilers.

Matthew Borlenghi Joins the Cast of General Hospital
Borlenghi is somewhat of a veteran of Daytime, having had previous roles on both All My Children and Days of Our Lives.  Gossip is that he may be filling the rumored role of  "Travis" (now known as Valentin Cassadine).  (See Rumorville of 9/15 for more)



 


 
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