All Things About
Ok, all you Roger Howarth (Todd Manning) fans: There may be a lot of brouhaha surrounding the beloved soap star’s status with “General Hospital” at the moment, but you can breath a sigh of relief when it comes to “One Life to Live”: He’s definitely making an appearance in Llanview, and here are the new photos to prove it!
Trevor St. John’s first acting gig was courtesy of the 1993 film “Benny & Joon.” Although he was only a stand-in for Aidan Quinn’s character, Benjamin “Benny” Pearl,” the actor credits the experience for giving him that certain bug. “The energy and pace of the movie set really caught my interest and was the reason I chose Los Angeles over New York. I’ve wanted to relive that feeling ever since.”
Last week, Soap Opera Network featured a Center Stage interview with “One Life to Live’s” legendary veteran, Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord). She opened up about the future of ‘OLTL,’ working with the fresh, young faces on the show, and what it’s been like to have show creator Agnes Nixon back at the helm. And this week, we’re revealing how she feels about Robin Strasser (Dorian Lord), what it’s like working with Roger Howarth (Todd Manning) versus working with Trevor St. John (Victor Lord), and who she’d like to see return to Llanview!
With six Outstanding Lead Actress Daytime Emmy Awards under her belt — or rather, on her shelf — “One Life to Live’s” Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord) is one woman to be respected. So when she says TOLN’s version of the iconic show she’s been a part of for more than 40 years is going to be stellar, you’d damn well better believe her!
Amongst the news of TOLN setting a premiere date for both “All My Children” and “One Life to Live,” the network also formally announced that Roger Howarth had joined the cast of the online reboot of “OLTL” as his character Todd Manning. Previously, Soap Opera Network had reported the news through official word by representatives for the actor and via “OLTL” co-star Erika Slezak (Victoria Lord Buchanan). Howarth will begin filming at the Stamford, CT studio of the soap on Monday, March 18. He will join the full cast of the soap for four weeks before returning to ABC’s “General Hospital.” It is understood that “OLTL” will complete filming its first batch of episodes (reportedly 40) on Friday, April 12. “AMC” will resume production on Monday, April 15, according to “AMC’s” Debbi Morgan (Angela Hubbard).
Soap Opera Network has learned that during the week of March 18, ABC’s “General Hospital” will be departing the “One Life to Live” characters consisting of Starr Manning (Kristen Alderson), Todd Manning (Roger Howarth) and John McBain (Michael Easton). As previously reported, ABC Daytime and Prospect Park have been in a dispute over the characters and their appearance on “GH” vs “One Life to Live,” which Prospect Park is rebooting for the web along with “All My Children” later this spring. The actors are under contract to ABC, while Prospect Park holds the license rights to the characters.
Despite an earlier report stating otherwise, based on information from Robin Strasser’s (Dorian Lord) telephone hotline, a senior level Prospect Park insider tells Soap Opera Network, “production has NOT been pushed back. This has been long planned to make way for a piece of the storyline that involves new sets and use of certain characters and not others.”
Michael Easton (John McBain) posted an update for fans wanting to know where he currently stands in the dispute between ABC’s “General Hospital” and TOLN’s “One Life to Live.” In a Facebook message, the actor said, “THANK YOU…your kind words of support mean the world to me. No word yet on when we might return to work but the fridge is stocked, the bills are paid, and I get to spend lots of precious time with my little girl.”
According to Robin Strasser (Dorian Lord) via her fan hotline (212-414-5300), “One Life to Live” will now begin filming new episodes for Hulu, Hulu Plus and iTunes on Monday, March 18. Previously, the series was scheduled to commence filming on Monday, March 11. The actress brought the news to light despite being unwell at the time. Early this morning Strasser tweeted, “What a difference a week makes when you’re feeling weak (lol) not sick of word play-just saying.”
The peer votes have been cast, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced the Drama Performer Pre-Nominations for the 40th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards! Five categories have been announced, including Lead Actress and Lead Actor, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, as well as Younger Actress and Younger Actor. Without further adieu, here are the pre-nominees:
On Thursday, February 14, Soap Opera Network was first to report on Roger Howarth returning to “One Life to Live.” In our initial reporting it appeared that the actor would be returning to the soap full-time, but as the day progressed we soon learned that it would only be for four weeks with Howarth scheduled to begin filming on Monday, March 18, at the Stamford, CT studios for the online reboot of the series, per the actors management. Why the initial confusion? It looks as though Roger’s deal to return to “OLTL” was just being signed as Soap Opera Network went to press, per Howarth’s management, so word of his return to “OLTL” was correct, but length was unclear.
As Prospect Park continues casting for the upcoming online rendition of “One Life to Live” under the promise of blending “new themes, fresh stars and youthful energy,” the soap is making some alterations to a previously released casting call for a “charming” new character.