BUFFALO COURIER-EXPRESS. Saturday Feb. I5 1977
Only Top-Notch Performers Are Tolerated By Viewers By Jon Michael Reed
Serial viewers who have a tolerance for mediocrity in other areas cannot abide a bland screen personality. The scripts can be weak. The sets can be shabby. But the performers on daily TV serials must be top-notch. And it's not always easy to find the necessary talents. Casting a single role on a soap opera may require more than a hundred auditions before the ideal image is found. Paul Rauch, the executive producer of both “Another World” and “Lovers and Friends-” takes justifiable Emmy Award-winning pride in the script and production quality of his shows. He’s also exhilaratingly boastful that his serials are studded with the best actors too.
I ALWAYS LOOK for actors who have solid theatrical training and background, not necessarily TV experience.” says Rauch. A few of the stellar stars in his soap opera firmament include Broadway theater giants Anne Meacham, Douglas Watson. Irene Dailey -Louise, Mac and Liz on “Another World”), Nancy Marchand. Stephen Joyce, John Heffernan and Margaret Barker (Edith, George, Lester and Sophia on "Lovers and Friends”). “All actors are basically selfish.” states Rauch, who is a former actor. “But performers who were nurtured on serials, who haven't done anything else, are generally more spoiled than others. The kind of fan adulation that soap actors receive tends to inflate the egos of undisciplined performers. They resist the idea of an ensemble effort and they usually only enjoy playing the climaxes of a story. An actor trained in theater, on the other hand, only knows how to hit peaks, but how to ride valleys. They usually have impeccable vocal skills and they're able to retain dialogue' a skill that's vitally important in serial work where a miniplay is rehearsed and taped every day. Those who survive Rauch's meticulous scrutiny invariably .find themselves repertory members of Rauch's and his head writer Harding Lemay's family. Nancy Marchand recently advanced from a subsidiary character (Therese Lamonte) on “Another World” to be the matriarchal lead (Edith Cushing) on “Lovers and Friends.”
ABOUT FOUR YEARS ago Beverlee McKinsey played a few performances as the minor “countrified ' character Emma Ordway on "AW.” Months later Lemay, who'd seen more than a promise of star sparkle, created a new and this time, major role for Bev — rich, bitchy, conniving Iris Carringtons. Two years later the then small role of her father, introduced for an intended three-week role. The 240-pound hired for the role was indisposed at the last minute and Douglas Watson was quickly called in to substitute. During a party scene the show's leading character, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham) was introduced to Iris’ pappa. and Rachel happened to run an alluring eye up and down Mac’s noble frame. He responded with a seductively suggestive glance. In that brief moment Lemay had a flash of story inspiration that had been generated between the two actors, and he called Rauch with a new story projection. Today Mac and Rachel are one of the most popular screen couples on the daytime tube. And it wouldn't have come to pass had it not been for the actors. “Discovering that rare chemistry, watching it feed and stimulate the story, that's the joy of casting superior talent,” concludes Rauch.
* That story re Mac contradicts what is reported in the AWHP. Robert Emhardt played Mac for various scenes over a year before Douglass Watson came on full time.
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Paul Raven ·
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