platinum level fangirling

okay, so i’ve now been to a couple of different general hospital fan conventions, and i gotta say: the official fan club weekend’s main event is truly the best out of all of them.  it’s so much more relaxed.  the actors are free to chat and take pictures and give autographs without being micromanaged, and fans aren’t nickel-and-dimed or charged an outrageous amount of money for a great experience.  plus, the fan club has been running this annual event for over 40 years and the organizers have developed longstanding relationships with past and present cast members, which has resulted in really successful events.

this year’s main cast event was no exception.  apparently i’d secured my top-tier ticket early enough that i scored a seat at table #1, which put me right at the front of the action.  whee!

platinum status, baby.

even lunch was better this year.

bradford anderson (“spinelli”) came out to start the show, introducing rena sofer (“lois”) as she came up to show off some items she was auctioning off to benefit a local animal rescue.

the event starts off with a quick panel and q&a session, and bradford introduced each actor as they entered the room and took a seat up on the stage.

the great thing about this event is that so many of the actors attend, which makes it easy for everyone to spread out so that the lines to meet them aren’t terribly long.  they finished up the q&a, led the actors out of the room so that they could move tables and chairs around and then the fun began.

i’ve been a fan of rebecca herbst (“elizabeth”) for years - even before she started on this show.  we chatted a bit about her role on “brotherly love” with the lawrence brothers and she was as friendly and lovely as i’d imagined she’d be.

jacqueline grace lopez played “blaze” - unfortunately, she was written off of the show shortly after this weekend.  she was also really sweet and fun to chat with - and she’s part filipina!  when i walked up to her, she said “you look familiar! do we know each other?” which was really funny because this was the first time i was meeting her, so i just said “well…we’re probably cousins or something.”. heh.

i really liked getting to meet gregory harrison (“gregory chase”).  his character had also just been written off, but to be fair, to me he’ll always be “trapper john, m.d.”. he thought that was pretty funny (although i’m sure i wasn’t super original).

i’d met josh kelly (“cody”) before, but it was really fun to meet the special guest he’d brought with him.  he and chloe lanier (formerly “nelle”) are dating, and they make a really cute couple.  apparently they’ve known each other for awhile but didn’t start their relationship until after she’d left the show.

adam huss was a delight to chat with.  he’s the current “nikolas,” who only pops up occasionally onscreen.  he talked about how he’d researched the character and watched hours of footage from when tyler christopher played him.  he felt that it was really important to get to know the character, which i thought was really respectful. anyway, i’m hoping the show brings him back on a more regular basis because there’s still a lot of nikolas’ story to be told.

alley mills (“heather”) got a kick out of how our outfits complemented each other.  and while i don’t love her character, i couldn’t help but fangirl a little because i mean…that’s kevin arnold’s mom from the wonder years! i loved that show.

so i’m not one of those weirdos who can’t separate an actor from the character they play, really.  and yet i still hesitated to go up to jeff kober (“cyrus”)…he does such a great job of being creepy as hell and i was a little intimidated, okay?  but i went over to him anyway, and he was very friendly and very much not like his onscreen persona at all.

this is giovanni mazza (“gio”).  he’s one of the newest cast members on the show and he was so incredibly friendly and happy to be there to meet fans, and he was full of energy and enthusiasm.  he’s a classically trained violinist whose character is still somewhat of a mystery, and i’m hoping that he gets a decent storyline soon.  he said he was going to be at graceland in the fall for the “official” show convention and said “you should come!  it’ll be fun!” 

i also loved meeting robert gossett (“marshall”).  he’s louis gossett jr.’s cousin and has won two emmy awards for his role on the show.  he was funny and friendly and took a little good natured ribbing when a bunch of us called him “hat daddy,” which is a nickname fans have been using for his character on twitter.  he, too, has been written off of the show since this weekend.

rick hearst (“ric”) hadn’t yet been seen onscreen, so it was great to have him join the fun.  

i managed to catch scarlett fernandez (“charlotte”) for a quick selfie, and she’s just adorable.  she originated the role of charlotte in 2016, so the audience has literally watched her grow up.

tabyana ali (“trina”) remembered me from the few times we’ve met, and i just love her bubbly personality.  and she said “i just have to tell you, you’re so beautiful” which of course means we’re best friends now, amirite?

evan hofer (“dex”) also remembered me from the day before, and i’d brought him a crocheted elephant that i crafted after he told us all that he collects them.  his mom was there too, and she said “oh, that’s definitely going to live in his dressing room!”

outside of the ballroom, there was a table set up with official show merchandise.  there’s a cosmetic company that’s part of one of the storylines on the show called “deception,” and it was interesting to learn that there are real products available for sale.  currently, they sell makeup as well as a red light therapy device called the “deceptor,” which is also featured on the show.

later on, i attended an event with maura west (“ava”) and cynthia watros (“nina”).  they’re both so lovely.

after that, i headed into another event with michael easton (“finn,”) who’d also just left the show, and josh swickard (“chase”).  they brought in jophielle love (“violet”) for part of their q&a panel, and it was easy to see that they’d all developed a real family bond off-camera.

and my last event of the weekend was with dominic zamprogna (“dante”).  he’s really down-to-earth and personable and just seems like a fun guy to hang out with.  i forget what exactly we were chatting about here, but i did learn that like a lot of other cast members, he lives pretty close to me - pasadena!

and that was it for fan club weekend 2024.  here’s my collection of wristbands from all of the events i got to attend:

and now i know to secure my ticket the minute the announcement goes out for the next one!