Lavosier Pulls Out His Dancing Shoes
The mere idea of ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s John-Paul Lavoisier (Rex) teaching a dance class makes many of us smile. So when the premise of this year’s Fan February was each winner swapping a day with a soap actor, and one of the swaps was Lavoisier and a Virginia Beach dance teacher, well, we thought, “Where do we buy tickets?”
No tickets were needed, however, when I headed to OLTL on Jan. 15 to meet the winner, Stephanie Ryan from Virginia Beach, Va. The bubbly blonde is a dance instructor at Golden Slippers dance studio. She teaches tap, lyrical, jazz, hip hop and ballet to all ages. She also hopes to act someday, which is why her win meant so much to her.
And how did she win? Ryan had to submit an essay explaining why she was OLTL’s biggest fan. Ryan’s winning remarks went something like this: “I am the biggest fan. I watch it every day. Even if I watch it, I tape it. I go to Super Soap early, the night before. I’m first every year. The workers aren’t even there. I told them what I did. and I ended with ‘Remember, I’m your biggest fan.'”
A few weeks later Ryan and her mom were in the OLTL studios for the winner’s day as a soap actor. Documenting the activities was a camera crew and the effervescent Bob Guiney, who’s carved a professional niche out of hosting daytime-related events (and who’s also known as Bachelor Bob and Rebecca Budig’s (ex-Greenlee, ALL MY CHILDREN) husband). I’d never met Guiney — Bob to me and you — but know that he’s as charming and delightful off-screen as he is on.
As for Lavoisier (J-P to me and, okay, you)…he’s a great, fun guy. He was so sweet to Stephanie during her visit to OLTL, which included her playing Rex in a scene that won’t air (but the behind-the-scenes part will), hanging out in the dressing rooms, and getting to meet some of her favorite OLTL actors, including Nathaniel Marston and Kathy Brier (Michael and Marcie), who top her list. Stephanie teared up a bit when she met Marston for the first time. She’d met Brier before at Super Soap when she participated in one of the game shows. Her partner had been Kathy and the show was hosted by J-P, so it was really a back at home week for Ryan at the studio.
A few days later Lavoisier, Guiney and the crew from ABC Daytime flew down to Virginia Beach to tape the actor’s debut as a guest dance teacher. As expected (sadly, I didn’t experience it firsthand), J-P proved to be most entertaining. Photos don’t lie!
“I did not have to teach as much as I thought I was going to,” Lavoisier told me after the fact. “I was more one of the students. I learned everything from hip-hop to ballet to pirouetting. I was not as sore as they warned me I might be.
“We had a half hour of stretching,” Lavoisier continued. “I go to the gym and I stretch five days a week and it was nothing compared to this. Of course, I didn’t do the splits. I closed my eyes because that pains me.”
Lavoisier regretted not bringing more clothing options as the workout resulted in him sweating — something, he has said on more than one occasion, that he hates. “I didn’t go prepared. I wore pajama pants and a Bob Woods (Bo) T-shirt, which I thought I’d be completely comfortable in. I should have worn shorts and a tank top and dance shoes. Twenty minutes into dancing, my shins were so sore it felt as if I had stress fractures. I went to Stephanie and told her, and she said, ‘Wait until tomorrow — you are not even going to be able to walk.'”
Pain or no pain, Lavoisier raved, “The girls were great. Everyone was very supportive of my mental handicap in the dancing world.”
GENERAL HOSPITAL and ALL MY CHILDREN also did fan/star swaps. AMC’s Jeff Branson (Jonathan) switched places with Nina Reinert, a tattoo artist from the Chicago area, while GH’s Jason Thompson (Patrick) got a chance to teach Jayme Wolff’s first grade class in Dallas. All the actors’ and winners’ adventures will air during their respective soaps the week of Feb. 12.
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