The Island Hopper: Daytime soap stars play on Marco

Though I am a lifelong aficionado of the arts in almost all their forms, I have to confess that the appeal of soap operas has always eluded me. The melodrama, the far-fetched plot lines, the often over-the-top acting just don't strike a chord with me and I've never even been drawn to watch a single episode in its entirety.

So it may seem odd that when WJPT 106.3's on-air radio personality Jenny Smith invited me to join her at this year's SWFL Soapfest "A Night of Stars" event at the Player's Club and Spa at Lely Resort this past Saturday, not only did I jump at the chance but I wound up having one of the most fun outings I can remember in recent months.

Organizer Pat Berry gathered together an array of stars from Guiding Light and One Life to Live for a weekend of events that included a "Boozin', Schmoozin' and Cruisin'" trip on the Marco Princess, a golf outing, celebrity bartending at Cocomo's, and the soiree/silent auction/mingler at the Player's Club, all to benefit the Ricky King Children's Fund, Eden-Florida and Hospice of Marco Island.

What was fascinating about the first event of the night Saturday wasn't the party itself — in fact, the separate seating at individual tables, buffet-style dinner, loosely led auction and Q&A session all lent an odd sense of disconnect to the festivities.

But what made the evening fabulous, Jenny and I agreed, was the real-live soap opera working behind the scenes amid actors, fans and other party guests.

Since Jenny, too, is no expert on any soap but General Hospital, we were woefully uninformed about who was who among the nearly dozen daytime drama stars floating around the gorgeous Player's Club grounds. But our unfamiliarity lent us great powers of objective observation and discernment that allowed us to pick up on dynamics that might have eluded more serious fans.

Without knowing any of the personalities, we quickly developed our own system of identification. The handsome but long-faced star seemingly bored beyond measure as the free-for-all auction was held became Serious Actor Guy, clearly someone who felt that greater things were in store for him beyond the world of daytime drama.

There was the Funny, Grounded One, who refused to take his profession too seriously and was equally accessible to fans and coworkers. The Adorable Ingenue actually wore pigtails and squinched up her pert and perfect nose adorably for pictures with admirers. And, of course, there was the Diva, the gold-chain-sporting, shirt-unbuttoned, scruffy-bearded sex symbol who was apparently so put off by the idea of performing a scene with an audience member as part of the auction, he refused to perform it and absconded to the bar halfway through the festivities.

Later we got to meet and talk to the cast members after the auction, and at Cocomo's late that night for the celebrity bartending bash, and put names to our broad generalizations. Serious Actor Guy was Trevor St. John—One Life to Live's Todd Manning, if you are a fan — and had indeed just finished shooting a Jamie Foxx film.

The Funny, Grounded One was Michael O'Leary, one of the most delightful and genuine personalities you might never imagine in show business, who has played Dr. Rick Bauer on Guiding Light since 1983, following a glorious early stint as a Price Is Right usher.

Adorable Ingenue was Marcy Rylan, brand-new to the Guiding Light after coming in as a replacement in the role of Lizzie Spaulding. And the Diva — well, never you mind who the Diva was, since he didn't trouble himself to show up at the second event of the evening at Cocomo's.

After becoming one of the highlights of the night during his hilariously bizarre, melodramatic scene with an audience member at the Player's Club, Guiding Light's Tom Pelphrey spiced up the night at Cocomo's. The Daytime Emmy-winner for Best Younger Actor (as Jonathan Randall) belted out — atonally, but with great enthusiasm and charm — Sonny and Cher's "I Got You Babe" in impromptu karaoke.

He was followed up by pretty Nicole Forester (Guiding Light's Cassie Layne Winslow) doing a lovely job on Patsy Cline's "Crazy," while the other soap celebs took shifts slinging drinks behind the packed Cocomo's bar.

Jenny and I — in true leechlike media fashion — had discovered two aces in the hole early in the evening. Devoted — some might even say rabid — fans Nan Bressler and Joanna Patterson had driven in from Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, respectively, for their third time at the Marco event, with both of their families waiting at their hotel on Marco Island.

Once we discovered that the two could tell us everything about not only the actors and their characters but the behind-the-scenes dramas, show politics and even parent company bureaucracy, we dragged them behind us for the remainder of the night as indispensable sources of information.

The utter charm and appeal of several of the celebs had Jenny and me resolving to tune in now and then to see our new friends doing their daytime drama dynamics — a testament to the power of the messenger despite the message.