The soap community partied like it's 1999 at this year's Emmys — and Susan Lucci's long-awaited win just gave everyone more incentive to celebrate. The festivities began a few weeks ago when Crystal Chappell (soon-to-be-Crystal, GL) and some pals threw a cocktail party at Cheetah in New York. The drinks were plentiful, the music was great and the actors - like Cady McClain (Dixie, AMC, Ron Raines (Alan, Guiding Light and Kim Rhodes (Cindy, AW) - were moving and grooving like there was no tomorrow. Fast-forward to Thursday, May 20, and the classy Bell luncheon at the Rainbow Room. The annual event, thrown by Y&R/B&B honchos William and Lee Phillip Bell, is always filled with good food, great conversation and decadent desserts — and this year was no different. The famous chocolate cake that we've drooled over for the past five years is gone, but the new chocolate cake in it's place is even better! Later that day, the troops headed to Sunset Beach's annual party, this year at Whiskey Blue at the W Hotel. Sure, the Sunset crowd was there, but so were Louise Sorel, Austin Peck (Vivian and Austin, Days), Patti D'Arbanville (Selena, GL) and Courtney Sherman (June Reiner, AW). The Asian-influenced hors d' oeuvres were pretty tasty, but the bite-sized brownies with chocolate chips and a hard silver frosting (think nail polish!) were too delicious. Even later, several NBC actors went down to the Bubble Lounge in SoHo, but certain reporters had to turn in early to prepare for the Emmys the next day! The Emmy dinner is always a highlight, but the less said about this year's disastrous and unprofessional affair, the better. Next year, someone in charge should see that the daytime community is treated with a little respect! It's incredibly unappetizing when every actor, writer, producer, reporter and network executive has to walk though a bathroom to get to their table. After La Lucci's pressroom speech, the next stop was the Procter & Gamble party at the Tupelo Grill. The aforementioned Crystal Chappell was hanging out with hubby Michael Sabatino (Peter, ATWT), while former ATWT diva Elizabeth Hubbard made the rounds in a huge dress that practically invited people to accidentally step on it! Stephen Schnetzer (Cass, AW) reminisced about playing scenes with June Reiner, and the normally sophisticated Brittany Snow and Lauren Mayhew (Susan and Marah, GL) practically had a conniption at the thought of actually going to the ABC party and maybe seeing Jonathan Jackson. Incidentally, one of the first people spotted at the ABC party was the gals' GL cast mate Joie Lenz (Michelle), talking to none other than Mr. Jackson himself. Something tells me there is going to be hell to pay at the GL studio when Mayhew and Snow learn that Lenz was hangin' with JJ! Seriously, the ABC party, held at the visually stunning, multi-level eatery Metronome, was a blast. Lucci, glowing with pride, chatted individually with well wishers, while ABC Daytime honcho Angela Shapiro beamed with pride over the network's many Emmy victories. Forget whatever problems the ABC soaps may have, these folks know how to throw a party! The music was perfect (Livin' La Vida Loca, naturally), the sushi was fresh, the actors were plentiful (Ingo! Rena! Hickland! Cameron Mathison! Stephen Nichols!) and the mood was festive. The best part, of course were the oversized cookies you got as you exited the party. They were covered in yellow frosting in homage to ABC's "TV is good" campaign. So were the cookies. So was the party.— Jonathan Reiner |