Days: Farewell Dee-A-Palooza, Fest Honors Marlena/Deidre Hall

[marlenadlc]

You don't lose the perhaps the most stellar leading lady on soaps (along with Ms. Lucci of course) without giving Deidre Hall and her fabled character Days of Our Lives. Dr. Marlena Evans. a proper send-off! Welcome to Dee-A-Palooza!

On three successive days, we talk about why Marlena/Deidre has been so popular and what she means to us personally. The whole staff of marlenadelacroix.com sounds off: Damon L. Jacobs, the Soap Shrink, today, Monday; Patrick Erwin, tomorrow, Tuesday ; the other Marlena herself, Ms. De Lacroix on Wednesday.

http://www.marlenadelacroix.com

[tylerbo20]

too bad her on screen departure will be mearly oh john you remember and then they vanish. all in one episode.

[thelma42]

Nice read. Thanks for posting.

[Darn]

I find her one of the most unappealing daytime stars. She's so impersonal and cold in her performances.

[Vee]

I think the most accurate thing we can say about Hall in the current era is what that doctor writes in the post at the blog: Marlena is now sort of a construct who wrestles with two sides of her nature, logical and bestial. For all intents and purposes, Marlena became a sideshow attraction under Reilly, some kind of campy monster who could do anything, and a oversexed glamourpuss on top of that; DH's increasingly mannered, alien performances only helped that process. She lost all naturalism and warmth for me, and they ceased to write or play her as a flesh and blood woman. Her heaving and gasping, overdramatized movements are comical. She's either a sex goddess with Drake, or she's a freakshow, and in either case Marlena and John are constantly isolated story-wise. In that respect, I can't blame the show for not knowing what to do with her anymore. How do you relate to Marlena anymore when neither the actors nor the fans seem to be willing to give an inch in changing her?

That said, I think losing her is cataclysmic for the show. She is emblematic of DAYS and has given it a lot. I'd have found a way to work it out. The value of Marlena to the audience as the ultimate woman/mother/heroine - even if she is unnatural now - cannot be underestimated.

[alphanguy74]

Well... Diedre could always do a reunion movie as Electra Woman!

[YRBB]

It's a shame that she'll be leaving, again.

[Kstaff]

I think it's much ado about nothing.

[Pest Spray]

Great idea MDL! Can't wait to read all of the three