Steve Burton Fan Event

December 2003

Have you had dessert yet?  Cause if you’ve already had some sugar, you probably should wait until later to read this.  At Steve Burton’s event a good time was had by all except maybe the man in back who kept calling out Pamela Anderson’s name for some weird reason and who asked Steve a vulgar question and then was groaned at by a room full of vocal women.  Maybe he was mad because his wife dragged him to the event.  Picture me shrugging here, I don’t care.  At my table, in my world, fun stuff was happening. 

Seated in almost the exact spot as the last event, this time I was surrounded by Liz and Jason fans.  And not any old ordinary Liason fans, these exuberant gals meet and talk at a place called The Canvas, a site dedicated to Jason and Liz.  They had stickers calling themselves “The Significant Minority” (a quote from one of Frons’ many insert foot moments) and most important, they had class.  The center table where I sat stretched almost the length of the comedy club and they filled it along with a few more tables.  People had flown in and driven from Chicago, Pittsburgh and Baltimore to gather at this event and finally meet in person.  It was fun to watch them putting faces with screen names, snapping pictures, and handing out hugs. 

After several minutes of talking soap talk with those around me, I began to wonder where the Journey fans were.  I knew they had to be around but I what I didn’t realize at first was that they had planned the same type of gathering from the website called Journey Into The Love Nest and they also took up one whole row and some more.  I walked over to their area to visit for a few minutes and was introduced to two ladies who flew in from Alaska and one from Hawaii.  How cool is that?  Same as the other table, they were enjoying their own meet and greet. 

I was impressed by a roomful of women who met through a web site, made friends because of a soap couple and planned and orchestrated meeting at Steve Burton’s Fan Event.  It proves what I’ve known all along.  Men may rule the world, but we women totally run it!   

Another fun aspect was meeting again several ladies with whom I’d spoken or stood in line with at the GH Fan Weekend in LA this summer.  I apologize again for not remembering faces, but I sure enjoyed talking with them.  A tenuous connection, it’s like meeting a high school classmate that you haven’t thought of for a long time but in a strange way, you’re connected because you have the same memories of walking down the same hallways.  And Marney?  I said hi to Katrina for ya.  She says you’re a sweetheart.   

So are you wondering WHEN will the fan gushing stop and the Steve gushing begin?  How about now.  This time I managed to keep a few more wits about me than last time and I actually took notes so I could remember most of what transpired. 

After a comedic warm up by a lady named Dee, Steve arrived on the stage amid wild clapping and cheering wearing jeans, light blue sweater and a brown leather jacket.  He jumped right in talking about GH.  Hair was discussed first as he poked fun at Alcazar’s hair and then Dillon’s.  Since his hair has been the topic of laughter and teasing for so long, he’s glad to finally make fun of other character’s do’s. 

“How can Ric be D.A.?” he asked. 

He pointed out and introduced Debbie Morris, President of the GH Fan Club who was sitting in the back.   

He asked what should be done about Faith?  Calls from the audience immediately rang out, “Kill her.”  He laughed and referred to Sonny and Faith, “Really.  How much can one man take?”  She does whatever she wants and Sonny doesn’t do anything. 

He told how Maurice had come up to him a while ago and told Steve, “Dude, I did a scene with Becky and she didn’t look at me once.”  Steve looked at Maurice and said, “Mo, she’s blind.”  (Remember Sonny in the hospital room with Blind Liz after Courtney ran her over?)  The room cracked up as Steve explained that he doesn’t actually watch GH so they do scenes for their characters and don’t always know how they play with other storylines.

At this point, he paused and asked if we were a smart crowd and of course, we were.  He said good, otherwise he’d have to stop and explain that he’s making fun of characters, not actors.  (Shameless plug here - sounds like EOS to me.)  He then qualified by saying, “I’m brain damaged myself.” 

He misses Johnny and hopes he comes back.  Though he thinks Jason may have killed him.   

Questions began at this point and funny lady Dee ran around the room with the microphone.  I’m going to paraphrase from here.  Please know that I’m looking at my notes and then trying to remember Steve’s words.  My memory definitely isn’t perfect so don’t take what I write as verbatim from Steve’s mouth.  Grammar will take a hike.  I’m writing what I remember. 

Q:  Will Steve and Maurice ever do any comedy acts together?

Steve:  Maurice doesn’t do a lot of appearances any more and they have to pay Maurice big bucks.  He’s the little guy so they don’t have to pay him as much to make appearances.  Mostly, appearances are booked by areas of popularity for GH.  Apparently, Texas boasts a large GH fan base. 

Q:  What did you do to prepare to be kidnapped by aliens on Taken?

Steve:  Well, on GH someone’s always being kidnapped.  He went on to say how much he loved doing the project.  I called out and asked if they really shaved his head and he answered no, they didn’t.

Q:  Why can’t Courtney have any friends?  It’s not fair that Jason can have friends but she can’t.

Steve:  It’s more to protect her.  Because that’s what a man does.  At least, that’s what Jason does. 

Q:  When did Jason fall in love with Courtney?

Steve:  He wasn’t sure when or if there was an actual moment and several people called out moments like the kiss in the rain or at the apartment on their first date.  He said, yeah, maybe a little in the rain. 

Q.  A lady stood up and said how much she enjoyed him in The Last Castle.

Steve:  Thank you.  Yeah, the biggest flop in America. 

Q:  If he was in another movie and could work with anyone he wanted whom would he choose?

Steve:  He said that he can’t do both.  He can’t work almost everyday on GH and audition and do movies.  He had to choose and he chose GH.  But if he could, he’d like to work with Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Will Farrell.  “I’ll be an Elf, too.” 

Q:  An internet rumor says he’s leaving the show?

Steve:  I’m almost done negotiating for 2 more years on GH.  (This was the only scoopy info the man handed out, darn it!)  He laughed and remarked that he started the rumors for negotiation reasons.  “I’m not stupid.”   

Q:  Hi Jason.  How old are you?  (LOL did she mean how old is Jason or did she mix up character and actor?)

Steve:  33 (Actor) 

Q:  Who would you pick as your leading lady?  (The weird rude guy called out Pamela Anderson)

Steve:  “It’s hard to go from person to person when they’re all crazy.”  He kind of shrugged and laughed, “But then they pay us.”  He talked about the dilemma between keeping the character real vs. soapy storytelling.  (Notice that he didn’t actually answer the question, which I thought quite tactful with half a room of Jason/Liz fans and half a room of Jason/Courtney fans.)  

Q:  Who’s the current reigning ping pong champion?

Steve:  It goes back and forth between Maurice, me and Jay (Bontatibus, Andy Capelli).  Right now, Maurice holds the title.

Q:  A lady began asking her question and Steve became distracted by the Christmas tree on stage.  He turned to Dee and asked if it had been there the whole time.  The room erupted in laughter.  The lady asking the question, apparently a bit miffed said directly into the microphone, “Fine.  Ignore me.”  Probably she meant to be funny, but she sounded mad.  The room broke up again and Steve called out jokingly, “Courtney?”  Finally, she asked if he had any upcoming scenes with Luke?

Steve:  Thinking…answered, yes.   

He mentioned a couple times that it’s hard to keep track of what we are seeing on screen compared to what scenes are being acted out in the studio. 

Q:  How is it that Luke and Sonny hated each other and now they are friends again?

Steve:  I don’t know.   

Q:  Do you still want to direct?  And have you done any directing recently?

Steve:  He directed a short film, which will come out after the 1^st of the year. 

Q:  Will GH let him direct?

Steve:  Maybe if he pushed it, he could go to another show and direct.  He said that it may not politically be the best move.  Then everyone would want to do it, and ABC couldn’t allow it. 

Q:  Congratulations on becoming a father.

Steve:  He was eloquent in praise of moms.  They have an unbelievable job.  Wow. 

Q:  A lady stood up to tell him that her favorite scenes of all time are Jason and Carly in the boat when Carly was drunk. 

Steve:  He laughed and said thanks then wondered where did Jason get the coffee in the thermos?  From a nearby Starbucks hut?  He thought the scenes were going to be terrible because from his standpoint they were funny.  There was a boat in the studio and set guys stood on either side pulling ropes to rock the boat.  The big fan was turned on and people stood in front of them spraying them with water. 

Now came my one embarrassing moment.  I stood up to ask my question.  It was right there in my head.  Taking the microphone I said, “Hi Steve,” like everybody else had and then my mind went blank.  I would have sworn I wasn’t nervous but standing in front of a roomful, my silent button got stuck.  With total panic on my face, I shoved the microphone back towards Dee and said, “I can’t do this.”  (Because I am so eloquent in my momentary panic attack.)  Dee, a woman who can handle a crowd put her hand on my head and said, “Let me lay hands on you woman, and you can speak.”  It made me laugh, broke the glitch and I asked if Jason was EVER going to give up the leather jacket he wears in every scene.  He’s been shot in it more than once and it never gets bullet holes or bloodstained.  As soon as I said the first part, the noise level jumped.

Steve:  The jacket.  I love the jacket.  I’ll always have the jacket.   

Q:  How is it that Jason and everybody else can travel so quickly.  In one commercial break, they’ve returned from the island. 

Steve (laughing):  Super Traveler.  Just like I save everybody.  It’s in the contract.  Other than love interests, time passes.  If I can stick within character, it’s all good. 

Dee asked:  Can you hug your mom?  You need to hug your mom. (Meaning Monica, referring to the scene in the hospital when Emily informed Jason that her cancer was in remission.)

Steve:  Hey, it was good that I found out Emily had cancer.  She was home for three months and she told me on a park bench? 

Q:  When will Jason divorce Courtney so I can stop fast forwarding.

Steve:  There is so much that doesn’t make it to the screen.  Sometimes you have to put down your foot.  There’s so much stuff you don’t even see!

I called out and asked for an example (my voice was working fine by now.)

Steve:  Like Jason discussing business with Courtney.  He finally said, just give her the jacket.  I’ll stay in the penthouse. 

Q:  When Jason Q changed into Jason Morgan, did he know about Jason and Sonny and Jason and Robin?

Steve:  No, he didn’t know.  Plus you never know what stories will take off and what won’t.  It could have tanked.  It didn’t, thank goodness.  That story changed my life. 

Q:  What did you think of Jason and Brenda storyline?

Steve:  He loved working with Vanessa.  He really hated the wedding.  Hated the accordion.  People around him could tell he hated it, but luckily, it worked for the scenes.  Hopefully, she’ll come back.  But, you know, she’s on a new hit show.  He said jokingly that maybe it’ll get cancelled so she can come back.  (He was joking, not wishing bad upon Vanessa Marcil.) 

Q:  When will the shirt come off?

Steve:  Never.  When I was younger, yes.  Now I like to eat a lot. 

Q:  Is Stuart Damon experiencing health problems?

Steve:  No.  Though he’s had back problems for years and he finally had surgery to correct it. 

Q:  Jason is always Super J saving people.  What mistake would Steve like to see Jason make?

Steve:  Stumped.  I don’t know.  Great question. 

Q:  Would he ever consider doing commercials?

Steve laughed:  10-10-284 calls?  Not.  When he left the show he was able to try different things.  Offers are still coming in from Taken, but I love GH. 

Q:  What’s up with Anna Lee?

Steve:  She’s not fired.  Taken off contract means still working as needed.  He loves her and hopes she comes back soon. 

Q:  How has ABC supported his new fatherhood?

Steve:  They’ve been great.  Mostly he works mornings or afternoons.  Makena now sleeps through the night.  The big question was how did he manage to work on so little sleep?   

Q:  How does he prepare for painful scenes?  Does he use a picture of his baby?

Steve:  It’s hard to think about bad things.  It’s tough using painful things to get where you need to go for a scene. 

Somewhere in here the man in back asked his stupid question that I am not going to repeat about love scenes.  But I liked Steve’s answer that he believes if a man is married he should only be kissing one woman, his wife.  When they do love scenes in the studio, it’s only acting.  He mused that he had seen a few people really get hot and bothered in a love scene, but for him it was acting.  If he had a choice he wouldn’t do love scenes. 

Q:  Will you submit an Emmy reel this year?

Steve:  Yes…(thinking) When Courtney lost the baby and Emily’s cancer. 

My question again:  Did profanity rules change because it seems like there’s more cursing and Jason told Zander he was trying to save his own “ass” a week or so ago.

Steve:  When I said that it just came out.  The scene ended and I asked, “Can I say that?” and they said, “Yeah, OK, we’ll leave it.”  There are rules about profanity and how much can be used during periods of the day.  There are other rules like we can’t point a gun at someone’s head.  That’s why we always aim at the shoulder.   

(Apparently, that rule doesn’t apply if the bullet travels through someone’s chest and into someone else’s head.) 

Q:  Will Robin come back?

Steve:  I loved that story.  (Laughing, joking) But Robin ratted him out.  She’s dead to me now.  Really, I don’t know.  Kimberly works.  She was on The Shield.  I don’t know. 

Several times during the show people took the microphone to declare their birthday, their daughter’s birthday, their granddaughter’s birthday, etc. so they could receive a hug from Steve.   

Steve, Jeremy, and Dee did the raffle of pictures, GH signs and scripts and I didn’t win a script again!  Oh well, maybe in July.  Profits from the $10 pictures of Steve and from the raffle tickets (1 ticket for $5, 3 for $10) go to Jeremy for college expenses.  Steve’s way of helping out a friend. 

Steve with Jeremy and Dee.

Doesn’t Jeremy look like Sonny in this picture? 

Steve read his GH poem that he’d written a few years ago.  I personally thought he should read the Ode to Jason and Sonny that I wrote.  LOL   

And then it was time for the meet and greet.  Everyone who paid for a VIP ticket lined up around the room.  Steve stood on stage and takes a picture with or signs an autograph, not both.  The line moved quickly.  I went to chat with Debbie Morris for a few minutes and ended up almost last in line.  When I made it to the front I had my picture taken, asked about the interview (Jeremy, had already mentioned it to him.) and Steve said sure and motioned me to stand to one side.  I was able to ask if he would be in Luke’s Christmas episode and he answered no.  At this point, several fans were vying for his attention, the Comedy Club guy was trying to keep folks off the stage and from getting too close to Steve and I didn’t want to be in the way or a pain so I thanked him for agreeing and said maybe I could have a moment this July.  He threw me a quick grin and nod.  Maybe it all worked out for the best because most of the carefully thought out questions I wanted to ask had already been answered. 

I’m so mad that this picture came out blurred.

Not only that, my right side seems to be sagging!

You know Steve called me and said, “Hey, Kathy, I’m wearing

a light blue sweater, what are you wearing?”

I think I am going to caption this, “Another picture of

Kathy grinning like an idiot.” 

I’m sorry this is soooo long!  You probably had to stop and fix a snack just to read through it.  And if you made it this far, you are my new best friend!  For those of you who attended, if I missed anything or didn’t remember an answer correctly, e-mail me and I’ll try to fix it.  Or maybe not.  Cause this puppy is long and I’m tired of typing!