Day of Days
Saturday, November 12, 2022
X-Box Plaza at L.A. Live
Los Angeles, CA
It's been a few years since "Days of Our Lives" has conducted its "Day of Days" fan event . I've only attended once before, mostly because of conflicting schedules. That time was five years ago, at Universal Citywalk. This time was in Downtown LA, close to my office, so I decided to take advantage of my parking space and my free time to attend. None of my friends are regular watchers of DOOL anymore, so I just attend by myself and soak in the whole atmosphere. So this probably won't interest anyone that regularly reads my blog, and is mostly for my own memory diary.
I arrived at my office building about an hour before the start time of the event, and walked over to the plaza. They had already started letting people into the area, which had been fenced off from other people at L.A. Live. Admission was free, but we did have a security check. Then they stamped one of my hands for re-entry and gave me a lanyard with a card for the event.
 |
| An hourglass! So cool! Please ignore my horribly dry skin. |
Each person was given a DOOL canvas bag which contained a box-like envelope, a DOOL water bottle, a DOOL visor, and a DOOL face mask. There were boxes of individual donuts available to pick up, which were labeled as coming from "Sweet Bits Bakery", a business owned by one of the show's characters. Nice touch!
While waiting for the event to start, I sat on one of the chairs facing the stage, where they showed a schedule of the signings. The schedule included station numbers for each group of actors, and there were already some people lined up to talk to their favorites. At the other time I went to this event, I really didn't have any idea what to do, so this schedule was very helpful for me to figure out my priorities. I figured that I could save the ones I had already met as my lowest priority if I happened to have time. Not all of those people were at this event, although most of the cast was there.
The schedule was so packed with cast members that there were two sessions: AM and PM. I texted my friends to let them know that I would meet them later rather than sooner.
There were signs around that had rules, which included the actors not signing our personal items, and recommending masks and keeping a safe distance to protect the actors. Most people followed the safety recommendations, except for the mask thing. That part was kind of awkward because each setup had 2 tables of 2 actors each. Once you finished talking with the first two actors and getting a photo (most took off their masks), you would go to the next table and probably still have your mask off because you're also juggling your phone/ camera and the card the actors just signed for you.
I saw that the station for Drake Hogestyn (John Black), Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans), Martha Madison (Belle Brady), and Brandon Beemer (Shawn Brady) was starting to fill up fastest, so I got in line there.
The event started, and the MC of the day, Tony, announced each actor's name as they came across the stage. I was happy that Tony was the MC that day because I watch a weekly recap show that he hosts with a few other people every Sunday, called "Dishin' Days". The actors already know him because they occasionally do interviews on the show and Tony finally got a chance to act on Days in their "Beyond Salem" spinoff on Peacock, so they are familiar with him already and it wasn't awkward at all.
 |
| Billy Flynn planting a smooch on Tony |
 |
| Remington Hoffman with Tony |
 |
| Stephen Nichols with Tony |
I was behind a woman who was there with her mom and baby, so when we got to the front, Deidre and Drake were completely enamored with the baby and held him for photos and everything. I was, like, "Why did I follow a baby?!" then realized that it was actually kind of a relief because I didn't know what to say anyway. I talked to a guy in line whom grew up watching DOOL with his mom, and was going to put her on Facetime when he got to the table. I was going to help him with photos, but got so caught up in the moment that I forgot all about it. He had help from the assistants, though, thank goodness, because I felt bad. I just pretty much told everyone I loved them and thanked them, unless there was something specific I wanted to mention. Deidre and Drake did not ignore me, though, and were very nice, trying to get my name spelled correctly.
When I met Martha and Brandon, I let them know that Belle and Shawn are my favorite couple on DOOL, no matter who has been playing their part, but I do love the two of them. I also said that it hurts whenever they're apart because I like the couple so much, and Martha reminded me that the conflicts are what keep them on the show. I do know that, but I also like to see them be happy together for more than a couple of weeks at a time. Somehow I was able to say all of that and not get lost looking at Brandon's gorgeous face. My goodness gracious. Like a perfectly chiseled work of art. But I digress.
On the way to the next line, I saw Tony walking around, and asked to take a selfie with him. For that one we could get right next to each other and take our time, so I felt more comfortable with taking the selfie. I told Tony that I watch every week but don't post any comments because I feel like my input would be boring, and he told me that it's probably not, so I should post. I did look for the others that do the show, but they were inside the theater conducting some interviews and taking photos.
 |
| With MC Tony |
The next station was to meet Linsey Godfrey (Sarah Horton), Paul Telfer (Xander Cooke), Kyle Lowder (Rex Brady), and Bryan Dattilo (Lucas Horton). Linsey and Paul were clearly having a fantastic time and were perfectly lovely to meet.
When I got to the other table, I yelled enthusiastically, "KATE'S BOYS!" and laughed. I don't know if they laughed, but they were a couple of jokers and laughed at whatever the other one said.
I didn't have time to get in line for the other two stations, so I walked back to my office to sit down and rest during the lunch break. I had some snacks, so I ate those and my Sweet Bits Donut for lunch. Having my office nearby was also nice because I didn't need to search for a restroom, although I guess I could have used one wherever I ate lunch if I had done that.
When I returned to the plaza, the Day Players had already started their brief set. The Day Players is made up of guys from the show: Brandon Barash (Stefan DiMera), Eric Martsolf (Brady Black), Wally Kurth (Justin Kiriakis), and Carson Boatman (Johnny DiMera), along with another guitarist. They sang their version of "Let It Go" from Frozen, which was hilarious, and Journey's "Faithfully". I enjoyed their performance, and contemplated going to see them the next night, but it was in West Hollywood and I just didn't want to deal with a Standing Room Only show after a day of mostly standing.
Here's a little bit of them singing George Michael's "Faith":
I then saw that the line was starting to get long already to meet Abigail Klein (Stephanie Johnson), Robert Scott Wilson (Alex Kiriakis), Billy Flynn (Chad DiMera), and Greg Rikaart (Leo Stark). I thought that I was near the end of the line, but it was in a different place than the end of the line for the morning session. Although I had seen Billy the last time I attended, it was just a quick picture of him and I didn't actually get to meet him, so this was my MUST meet of the day. But then that group was taking its sweet time to get to the tables, and we all wondered if we would even get to see more than just this group. They finally got to the table, and the people that were at the front of the line took a lot of time talking, which was a little annoying to the rest of us watching the clock and wanting to meet people, too. I did get up there and told Robert that I get confused sometimes because he was very recently cast as a different character, but his current one is so different that I'm good with it once he starts talking. Robert kept messing up the spelling of my name and Abigail had to repeat what I said a couple of times. He apologized and I giggled.
I told Billy that he crushed my soul when he was mourning his wife Abby's death, and I cried so much that I was physically hurting. Yeah, like I almost couldn't breathe, it was that devastating. I told him that he was outstanding in those scenes, and he thanked me. I'm glad that I was able to say all of that and not get hypnotized by his blue blue blue blue blue eyes, because they're really blue and beautiful. I told Greg that he always makes me laugh, and that I loved that he and Billy had drawn on each other's cards. Just like how I would expect their characters to act.
I did have some time to get in another line, so I decided I'd best go meet Marybeth Evans (Kayla Johnson), Stephen Nichols (Steve Johnson), George Delhoyo (Orpheus), and Victoria Konefal (Ciara Brady Weston). When I got in line, Victoria had left for a few minutes, so I was worried that I wouldn't get to meet her, even though it was weird to see her at a table NOT with character Ben, whom was busy being character Alex now, and therefore sitting at a different table with some other woman. This is what happens when you ride off in a boat into the sunset!
While we were in line, Tony came over to give away some Rokus. He wouldn't give any to the quiet people. I guess he didn't hear me yelling from behind my mask because some people were just way louder. That annoyed me. Not that I need a Roku but it was the principle of the matter. The lady I had been talking to got one and she did nothing but raise her hand. Later, some woman came up to the woman in line in front of me (the one who got the Roku by raising her hand), and proceeded to talk to the woman's baby for a while. I asked if they were together because I wanted to know if she was going to also talk to the actors. They had already closed the line at this point, and we had all been standing in line and it looked like she was cutting. She said no, she just wanted to see the baby. It was kinda weird because she obviously wasn't besties with the baby's mother, but they were friendly. I got kidnapper vibes, but maybe that's because I was in line to see Orpheus. She did stay for a bit to get photos of the actors (she wasn't in them), and I was annoyed for the other people in line who maybe wanted to get photos from their places in line.
Anyway, I was happy to meet supercouple and best friends Marybeth and Stephen, because they got together very early on in my DOOL fandom.
George was involved in trying to sign a bunch of cards, and then apologized and talked to me for a bit. Victoria, though. She heard me tell George my name, and asked me if I had heard the song "Cheri Cheri Lady" by Modern Talking. She said that I should listen to it because they sing my name and it will become my happy song whenever I hear it. She made sure that our photo came out OK, and also posed with some folks whom had missed her earlier when she needed to step out for a bit.
The other lines were closed, so I didn't get to meet anyone else, and I was too late to get a cool Brady's Pub apron that they were distributing. I did get photos of people when I could get a good shot, though. I also got some water from the Peacock portable water station and filled up my DOOL water bottle.
 |
| Stacy Haiduk and Tina Huang |
 |
| Dan Feuerriegel and Camila Banus |
 |
| Leann Hunley & Thaao Penghlis |
They then had everyone sit on stage, and they were joined by others who hadn't done the autograph sessions: James Reynolds (Abe Carver), Jackee Harry (Paulina Price), and Judi Evans (Bonnie Lockhart). Tony reminded the audience that the actors want to keep their jobs and wouldn't be giving any spoilers, but some people still asked spoiler questions to waste our time. I guess it is a tradition that Drake and Deidre kiss during this panel, so that happened.
They then showed a preview, and we all got sad for a few minutes due to some beloved characters getting deathly ill, but then all went bananas, because not only is Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady) coming back, but so is Peter Reckell (Bo Brady, back from the dead). Bo and Hope were the reason I got addicted to DOOL, so I was very, very happy. 
As we exited, we could pick up photo cards from the actors that we may have missed. I was lucky enough to get signed ones. (So that's what George was doing!).
Here's the haul of photos I was able to get:
A lot of fans liked this venue more than the other one because it was more organized and in one spot. I'm not sure if it will stay there because it will probably be bigger next year if there are no virus issues. But this event had more cast members than any of the previous ones, and it was very well organized. Thanks, Peacock!
I had a great time and hope that I can go next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment