Joe Barbara, Alice Barrett-Mitchell, Linda Dano, Judi Evans, Anna Holbrook, Stephen Schnetzer, and Anna Stuart.
In light of the news that All My Children is potentially being rebooted as a holiday movie on Lifetime, Soap Hub reached out to a few of your favorite Another World alums to see their thoughts about the potential to bring their show back.
AW aired on NBC from May 4, 1964, to June 25, 1999. The show also had two spinoffs: Somerset, which aired from 1970-1976, and Texas, which aired from 1980-1982.
How would you feel about AW being rebooted as a movie? I’d love to see the show rebooted as a movie. My first question would be who’s going to write it? Which “Joe Carlino” would they have in mind… the original one who came on as a renegade and took risks? Or the eventual one who told everyone they needed to follow the rules…?
Where do you see Joe at this stage of his life? At this stage of Joe’s life, he’d be the newly hired Director of the Secret Service.
What do you miss about being in the soap industry? I’ve spent lots of time over the last 25 years in musical theatre, (Broadway, Vegas, etc.) However, there are many things I miss about soaps: The ability to play new material every day (as opposed to theatre), the schedule – having evenings and weekends off, the pizza from Brooklyn, and Johnny Pinto (camera operator). Most of all, I’d truly love to be able to do it all over again with the experience and knowledge about life and about work that I didn’t have in my 20’s.
How would you feel about AW being rebooted as a movie? I don’t think that soaps would work in a film format. The pleasure of soaps is the long-term relationships, the episodic nature of the storytelling. A film would have to narrow the focus of the character canvas, as it were. How do you choose whom to feature and who to ignore? I personally don’t think it’s feasible.
Would you have a good idea on how they could bring Frankie back to the land of the living or would you be ok being seen as a ghost? If someone, somehow, chose to revive AW, I believe it would make most sense to bring Frankie back as a ghost. I actually proposed to the Powers That Be at the time that I was being written off that they allow Frankie to help Cass solve her murder. I thought it could be comedic in a “Topper” way, if you’re old enough to even know what that means! I have always said that I was the one character in soap history who was killed SO dead, that when they brought me back, they couldn’t bring me back as me, but as someone who looked remarkably like me.
What do you miss about being in the soap industry? I miss the familial nature of the work environment. Maybe AW was singular in that we were somewhat isolated out in the middle of Brooklyn, as opposed to in Manhattan. But we definitely felt like a family. And, needless to say, it was nice to have the steady income in a job that I loved so very, very much. It was an answer to a prayer. And talk about family! Our FANS!!! THE BEST!
How would you feel in AW was being rebooted as a movie and do you think it could work? I absolutely think it could work. If the people are bonded in the way that my company of actors, on AW, will probably agree, that when you have that kind of bond with each other, it becomes so real and so effective to the audience when they’re watching it. I always got mail that would say that. People would write to me and say, “ you have no idea what you’re doing [for me] when you talk about the alcoholism and how it affects me because I have that problem. Thank you.” I find all of that meaningful. We were quite serious about everything. So yeah, I think it would work.
I went to the 60th Anniversary Celebration for AW which is just so sweet and so fun for all of us. I think that the fans who came were just joyful about it. There was so many of them and it was so great to reconnect with all of them. They’ve watched from the beginning. I think it’s so rewarding when you all share something. So if you ask me if AW, in some form or another, come back on the air, whether it be a radio show or a soap opera or a movie or whatever it is, I think the audience would come.
Where do you see Felicia at this stage of her life? Old and a little fatter! I am 81, but I don’t feel it. I’ve never really worried about age in my life. I don’t know why really. I just don’t. And I have a lot of friends who keep me young and who tell me I’m crazy if I think I’m old. So I live a life that isn’t about. waiting for the clock to tick. I think it’s how you look at life and how you look at yourself and the choices you make and I think if you can make the right ones you will have a glorious life until it ends, and then I believe of course you go right smack into heaven. I’ve got my whole list of friends, family, everybody that is waiting for me at the gate.
So besides being a little older and a little chubbier what else would Felicia be doing? Would she still be wearing her boas? Of course, of course, I’d have to.
I spoke with Stephen Schnetzer (Cass) and he mentioned that Cass and Felicia would be sitting on a veranda reminiscing about old times over drinks! Oh a bunch of drinks! He and I are such close friends, talk a lot and share stuff. He lives in Florida now. I live out in the country in Connecticut, but that doesn’t stop us from seeing each other. If he comes into town, he’ll come to my house. We’re very, very close friends. Thank God he’s been such a such a force in my life and I like to believe I’m a force in his. You talk about AW and we all light up because we had probably the most fun of anything we’ve ever done. We were a real family. We really helped each other, laughed a lot and cried a lot. [Some of us at] Christmas, we’ll hang out or we go to the theater together. You don’t [always] have that kind of togetherness, a kind of friendship, a safeness, where you can talk to someone that you know and trust and they help and you know it’s going to be alright. There’s something really powerful about that.
What would you like to say to the fans after all these years? I miss you so much!
How would you feel about AW being rebooted as a movie? I think a movie reboot of AW would be fun.
Where do you see Paulina at this stage of her life? I would hope Paulina would go back to work the tv studio.
Even though you are still in the soap community, what do you miss about being on AW? I miss the cast, the crew, the Brooklyn Studio, the Chinese food in Brooklyn, and certainly miss NY/NJ changing if the seasons
How would you feel about AW being rebooted as a movie? I actually would adore that! Even when so many of our fabulous cast-family are no longer with us, and some are physically compromised: We lost Doug Watson (Mac), Carmen Duncan (Iris), my love, David Forsyth (David), is dealing with the rotten luck of having had a stroke. But ….. we do have Linda Dano, (Felicia) Steven Schnetzer (Cass), Alice Barrett (Frankie), Amy Carlson (Josie), Judi Evans (Paulina) – if she’d guest from her current gig, John Bolger (Gabe), Laurence Lau (Jamie), Victoria Wyndham (Rachel) and many, many more who might get a kick out of playing in the AW sandbox again! Hey, ya nevah know! Now, I do think Sharlene could stand a new career….. say, CEO of Frame Enterprises? We’re a successful startup competing with Elon Musk. Sky’s the limit!!!
Where do you see Sharlene at this stage of her life? Well, I have mentioned her success as the head of FRAME ENTERPRISES…why not?!! And, there’s always the possibility that Sharly could make a comeback. Or, Sharlene, seeking to find true meaning in life, has joined Jane Goodall, lives in Africa, helping with chimp rescue where she ends up working with a handsome Swahili Guide…sparks fly…and the rest…I mean, c’mon! Think of the potential!
What do you miss about being in the soap industry? The company of the actors, directors, producers, writers, editors, designers and crew that you got to be with each week. We really had something out there in Brooklyn. Consistent work, especially as an actor, is a blessing.
How would you feel about AW being rebooted as a movie? I’d be in an absolute state of shock. Maybe I’m not in touch with the zeitgeist but I don’t think there’s enough of an audience clamoring for this. First of all, all the actors are 25 years older! 25!
Would I be interested in coming back as Cass? Sure. It’s a great role and I love to work.
Where do you see Cass at this stage of his life? Sitting in rocking chairs on an estate veranda with Felicia, reminiscing about old times, laughing our fool heads off. Or getting involved in caperish hijinks with a lot of comic possibilities.
What do you miss about being in the soap industry? I miss the steadiness of working week in week out, month in and month out, and most of all I miss the people. I worked with a lot of wonderful and talented people over my career. And, yes, working on DOOL did bring it all rushing back. I had a reunion with many folks I had worked with back in the late 70’s.
How would you feel about AW being rebooted as a movie? I can’t envision a film that would actually work. “Those were the days my friends, we thought they’d never end”, but they did. I feel we need to be remembered as the people who were loved at that moment in that time.
Where do you see Donna at this stage of her life? I would like to think that with all the loss and tragedy along her journey, that she would have done a lot of soul searching and stepped outside of her comfort zone to help others in need. At this age, she probably wouldn’t travel to the Sudan, but certainly create foundations that could make a difference. She wouldn’t have to give up the clothes and a little botox but no facelifts for her!
What do you miss about being in the soap industry? You should listen to the song from Sunset Boulevard, “It’s As If We Never Said Goodbye”. The camaraderie, the magic, the struggle to make the scripts believable no matter what! The struggle to look camera perfect on days you felt less than, trying to stay awake when you’ve worked 17 hours the day before, and have to work another 17 hrs., and so much more. My friend wanted me to write a memoir and call it Inside the Soap Bubble and write about the uniqueness of the genre. There’s nothing that compares to it. There is so much that I enjoyed about working in that part of the industry. I don’t suppose you can get a simple quote from that, but it’s just NOT simple!
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