My Review of the Luncheon

The morning of May 30th, 1998 started with excitement and anticipation. I was looking forward to the Official Days of our Lives Fan Club Luncheon. It was the event that would conclude my California vacation with my family.

It took less than an hour to get to the Universal Hilton from our hotel. My mom, sister, and I arrived around 10:30 AM, which was about an hour early. There were a lot of people around the hallway when we walked around. I first noticed that there was a line of people along the wall. As I looked to the left, I realized that Diedre Hall (Marlena) and Jensen Ackles (Eric) were sitting at a table signing autographs. We decided check in instead of getting in the line. Little did we know that Diedre Hall wasn’t staying for the luncheon. Maybe we’ll meet her next year.

We stopped at a registration table to turn in our tickets and get a hand stamp. Soon after we got in a line to buy pictures of cast members. I ended up getting two pictures - one of Bryan Datillo (Lucas) and one of Stephanie Cameron (Jennifer).

We walked around a bit more before entering the ballroom. There were a lot of women fans in the room (and barely any men). When we got to our table (17), salads, a program/picture book, and a souvenir Days coaster awaited us. We were served the remainder of the meal (the main course and chocolate cake) and then the excitement began.

James Reynolds (Abe) was introduced as the master of ceremonies. He thanked everyone for coming. A short while after, Days clips from the past year were shown. It was a very cool, organized, and entertaining montage. All of the women cheered when their favorite characters were shown, especially when the male characters were shirtless in the scenes.

When that was finished, many of the stars were introduced. Josh Taylor (Roman) and Suzanne Rogers (Maggie) raffled away Days related prizes. Unfortunately, I didn’t win anything.

Following the prize giveaways, Joseph Mascolo (Stefano) came out. He was accompanied by music and darkness. All of the cast members that came were introduced by Joseph. In addition to those that were already mentioned, the actors that arrived were: Frank Parker (Shawn), Peggy McCay (Caroline), Louise Sorel (Vivian), Ivan G’Vera (Ivan), Steve Wilder (Jack), Christie Clark (Carrie), Ali Sweeney (Sami), Renee Jones (Lexie), Roark Critchlow (Mike), Kristian Alfonso (Hope), Peter Reckell (Bo), Collin O’Donnell (Shawn-D), Tanya Boyd (Celeste), Austin Peck (Austin), Lauren Koslow (Kate), Victor Alfieri (Franco), Krista Allen (Billie), Arianne Zucker (Nicole), Kevin Spirtas (Craig), Julianne Morris (Swamp Girl), Lisa Linde (Nurse Ali), Adam Caine (Edmund), and Patsy Pease (Kimberly).

Some of the actors talked to the audience (as a group), while others drank various beverages. One amusing thing that I noticed was that Jensen and Austin were throwing food back and forth, trying to catch it in each others’ mouths. Bryan soon started to do this with an audience member.

Next came the question and answer time. Jensen, Bryan, Austin, and Roark took microphones to the audience to receive questions for other cast members. A lot of them were for Ali. I regret not asking one of them for a hug; that would have been interesting.

"Salem Trivia" followed the question and answer session. There seemed to be numerous questions because people kept shouting out wrong answers. Although, one time, the audience was correct, and the actors had the wrong answer. An audience member ended up getting a prize (either an autographed Days shirt or script) for saying the incorrect answer because of this. I’m sure people were angry about that.

Finally, the autograph session began. The actors had to go to different autograph tables around the room before we could get in their lines. We ended up going to Peter, Kristian, and Collin’s table. I took a picture with Collin, who seemed very nice, but a bit uncomfortable. We didn’t get any pictures with Peter or Kristian because we were rushed along. The three even left really early.

We went to Bryan and Steve’s table next. I asked Bryan if he remembered us from the Daydream Tour in Tucson, but he didn’t. We got a picture with him and an autograph though. I asked Steve if he remembered us from the Daydream Tour too. He said that he honestly didn’t, because he meets so many fans, that they all mush together like a rainbow. I also told him that I was sorry that he was leaving the show. He told me that he has received offers for night-time shows. Ali’s table came next. Just as we were getting her autograph, one of the staff members said that no more personal photos with Ali could be taken. I was disappointed about that. The woman before us had gotten a picture with her, but we couldn’t.

We saw James after that. He didn’t even have his own table. We got autographs and pictures with him. In my opinion, he is the most friendly of the cast so far. He took more time with each fan, and the line for him was not long at all.

It was getting close to 3:30 by now (when the luncheon ended), but we wanted to meet more of the cast. We got into Jensen and Victor’s line. They started to truncate this line, so luckily we were in it. Victor started to make his way down the line to take pictures and sign autographs. I asked him why they were leaving so early (since it wasn’t 3:30 yet). Victor replied that they’re (the staff) making them leave by 3:30. It seemed like the actors didn’t even want to leave until all of the fans got to meet them. When we got up to the table where Jensen was sitting, the staff announced that they had to depart from the luncheon. We didn’t even get to meet him yet! As Jensen was leaving, I called out, "Hey Jensen!" He turned around and I asked him if we could have a quick picture with him. He agreed. He even told one of the staff to wait a minute so he could be in the picture. That was very sweet of him.

We walked to the other side of the room to see the remaining cast members before they left. We went in Renee’s line and got her autograph and picture. I was going to go in Kevin and Arianne’s line since it was really short, but then they started to leave too. After this, I realized that the luncheon was over.

My experience wasn’t over yet though. As we waited for my dad to pick us up, I saw a man walking by himself. I immediately recognized him as Joseph. I kept whispering to my mom, "There’s Joseph Mascolo, Stefano!" I politely asked him, "Excuse me, Mr. Mascolo, can we have a picture with you?" He obliged and we took about 5 pictures with him. We walked further down the hallway, towards an eating area. I noticed that Lauren was sitting with her family. We waited until they were leaving to ask to take a picture with her. Then Roark came walking down the corridor, surrounded by fans. We asked to take a picture with him, and he of course said yes. We took a few with him. When the flash didn’t go off (which is supposed to be automatic), Roark decided to press a few buttons on our camera to try to fix it. The flash never went off, so I hope those pictures turned out. While my sister and I were posing with him, he noticed our blue toenail polish. He commented, "Blue toenail polish; I like!" I said to myself, wow, someone finally noticed! Tanya and her husband also walked by, so we asked to take a picture with her. She posed with her husband instead. I think she misunderstood. After this, we went outside to where Lauren and Roark were waiting for their cars from valet parking. Here’s an interesting tidbit - Lauren drives a Mercedes.

Overall, the luncheon was an enjoyable experience. I definitely want to go to next years’. Hopefully, I’ll be able to meet some of the cast that I didn’t get to meet this time. I just hope that there is significant amount of autograph time at the next one. All of the Days actors seemed very nice; one of them even commented that we should never underestimate their appreciation for the fans.