GH’s Kelly Monaco Trades In Port Charles For The Las Vegas Stage
For the next three months, GENERAL HOSPITAL’s Kelly Monaco (Sam) will divide her time between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where she stars opposite Mel B, a.k.a. Scary Spice, in the sexy extravaganza Peepshow at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Which begs the question….
Soap Opera Digest: How in the world did Kelly Monaco go from soap star to Vegas headliner?
Kelly Monaco: Whoever would have thought those words would come out of your mouth [laughs]? I’m still trying to figure that out. I don’t know how this all unfolded, but I couldn’t be happier. This is the experience of a lifetime.
Digest: A lot of people have been waiting and watching to see what you’d do after your success on DANCING WITH THE STARS. There were DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES rumors, the FOOTBALL WIVES pilot. You could have done anything. Why this?
Monaco: It came up a few months ago, when someone mentioned a show on the Vegas stage and I thought, “Now that’s different.” I would have been a fool to say no and walk away from an opportunity like this. I’m scared to death because this is so out of my element, but I love to challenge myself, or at least I try to.
Digest: I think a lot of people expected you to go on to features or movies of the week.
Monaco: To be honest, I’ve had a lot of things handed my way after DWTS, but I’ve been waiting for something like this. I didn’t think it would be Vegas, but I’ve been waiting for something that was just as great, if not greater, than my last experience. I didn’t want to step backward, and I think this is something that will advance me as a person and as an artist.
Digest: Tell us about playing Bo Peep.
Monaco: You’re going to see a full-blown Vegas version of Bo Peep. She starts out lost and insecure. She can’t find love. She’s really miserable and she falls asleep reading this book. Now, whether or not this is real or her fantasy is up to the viewer to figure out. So, she is taken on a journey by the Peep Diva and she meets other storybook characters, but it’s all told in an adult fashion. Each of these characters gives her a little piece of themselves and by the end, she’s a fierce, confident, independent woman who has found love. It’s a very empowering story, for the character and for me, as well.
Digest: How so?
Monaco: I’m comfortable with sexuality, obviously, but for me it’s always been behind a camera, and to now have to embody that in front of real people and not just a stage manager who’s like, “Turn your head to the left,” I feel like I’m taking this journey with her. I’m learning a lot about myself — not just being sexy but being a woman and being proud of that and commanding a space with a look. It doesn’t have to be about your body. It’s the tools that you have. That’s really the deeper message. In fact, one of Mel’s lines is, “You’ve got all the tools. You’ve got to read the handbook. Everything’s there. You’ve got to be it. You’ve got to feel it,” and I’m learning that along the way with the character. It’s very strange [laughs].
Digest: You’ve posed for Playboy and FHM, among other men’s magazines. How does that kind of sexy work play into this?
Monaco: It’s very different. [Playboy] was so long ago I don’t even remember it. I forget where that girl went. I feel like I somehow got intimidated along the way afterward, and I tried to actually, more or less, erase that part of my past. It was like I forgot it was okay to be sexy and to own my space and my movements. I really feel like I’ve come full circle.
Digest: What was your family’s response?
Monaco: Well, I didn’t tell my family until the ink was dry. I didn’t want to jinx myself. I didn’t want anyone influencing this decision besides me and once I made the decision, then I felt it was appropriate to let people know what I chose to do next. That said, my family is so excited. I feel like in the past three years, when a lot of opportunities came my way and I said no to a lot of things, my family was like, “Why? Why are you not going to do this? Why are you not doing that?” and they didn’t quite understand my decision process but now, they get it.
Digest: How are you juggling a Vegas show with your GH responsibilities?
Monaco: Well, I’m working seven days a week. For the show in Vegas, we have off on Wednesdays and we don’t have a show until Thursday night, so GH has me 24 hours a day on Wednesdays and a half-day on Thursdays. I have to be in my dressing room in Vegas by late afternoon Thursday,
Digest: How has that worked out?
Monaco: GH has been really good to me and they’ve only been working me on Wednesdays and not giving me too much. I don’t know if that’s going to change, but for this rehearsal process, I really needed it. Once Peepshow starts and it becomes secondhand and I’m really only working 80 minutes a day, then I think it will be a piece of cake.
Digest: What’s the commute like?
Monaco: I spend more time in traffic in L.A. then I do flying back and forth. It’s only a 45-minute flight. One Wednesday, I was up first at GH, I was able to get out by lunch, get on a plane and make it to rehearsal Wednesday evening in Vegas. I was able to do both jobs in the same day in different states! How crazy is that?
Digest: What’s it like to put your dancing shoes on again?
Monaco: Well, I remember how much work it takes. It’s painful. It’s the long, tedious process that I knew it was going to be. We’re rehearsing 12 hours a day, but I thrive on the amount of work. I got my dancer’s body back [laughs]. It was weird going through the run-through. I was on the stage standing next to Mel and I was like, “This reminds me of DANCING WITH THE STARS. It’s a little chaotic. A lot of things aren’t in place yet and nobody knows what they’re doing.” But that’s the beauty of starting something from the ground up.
Digest: How is working with Mel?
Monaco: She’s amazing. This girl is so talented and has the most wonderful energy. This will definitely be her moment. She shines in this show. I’m sharing a stage with Scary Spice! That’s pretty cool.
Digest: Is there a DWTS connection, considering you’re the first winner and she was the season five runner-up?
Monaco: Not at all. It just kind of happened. I was on board five and a half months ago. I never asked her how it all came about, but I’m sure it’s sheer coincidence. I know they’re not going down the roster of DANCING WITH THE STARS saying, “Hey, let’s ask her [laughs].”
Digest: The production sounds like it’s a throwback to the Vegas of yesteryear.
Monaco: It’s clean and classy. It’s naughty in a great way. It’s not sleazy. It’s not trashy. The production is astronomical. So much thought has gone into every movement that these girls are doing. They’re working their asses off. Seeing how hard they’re working, I have it easy. It really puts it into perspective,
Digest: It is Vegas, so what about the nudity factor?
Monaco: Nobody is topless. There will be silhouettes. There will be the illusion. There will be fantasy. It teases. There are G-strings [laughs].
Digest: So you dance, but do you sing?
Monaco: Hell, no [laughs]. I only sing in the privacy of my home. No way. But I do a lot of yelling, which I’m not used to. I’m not used to stage performing and projecting like that. You know me. I’m the whispering queen on GENERAL HOSPITAL [laughs].
For more information, check out www.lasvegaspeepshow.com.
Click HERE for a chance to win a trip for two to see Peepshow and meet Kelly Monaco!
