The Shenandoah Apple
Blossom Festival celebrates the advent of spring in the Shenandoah Valley
as evidence by the blooming of the apple trees. The apple industry is
one of the oldest and most important natural resources in the
Winchester-Frederick County area.
The Festival is a civic celebration organized and operated by more than
2,500 people and a staff of five. All officers, directors, and event
directors are volunteers. The Festival is funded by a membership
drive, ticket sales to many events, advertising, souvenir sales, and the
sale of the Souvenir Program. Additionally, sponsorships are
provided by local, regional, and national businesses.
The Festival is held in Winchester/Frederick County Virginia, in the
beautiful and historic Northern Shenandoah Valley, just 75 miles west of
Washington, D.C. A small city with a rural atmosphere, Winchester is
within easy driving time from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA, Baltimore,
MD and Richmond, VA. Crowds in excess of 300,000 attend the Festival
each year.
The Winchester
Star, Saturday, May 1, 1999
One
Actress, Many Lives to Live
Slezak’s Family Finding Amanda’s Time
as Festival
Queen Feels Like a Fairy Tale
Neither she nor any
of her character’s split personalities have ever been to Winchester before
but they’re all enjoying their stay.
“One Life to Live’s Victoria Lord Carpenter, who occasionally goes by
her lesser-known real name, Erika Slezak, said she’s proud of her
real-life daughter, Amanda’s coronation as Queen Shenandoah LXXII.
“We’ve all been so excited about it from the time she was asked,”
Slezak said in a telephone interview Monday. “It’s been the major topic of
conversation ever since. We’ve talked about it more than we’ve talked
about college.”
“It’s thrilling,” actor Brian Davies, Slezak’s husband and Amanda’s
father, said Friday. “It’s like catching a thunderbolt or jumping over the
rainbow. It’s like a fairy tale.”
Slezak said she, Davies, and Amanda looked over the script for Friday’s
coronation well in advance. They marveled over the pomp and circumstance,
looked forward to the event for weeks, and loved every minute of it on
stage.
In person, Slezak is every bit as warm and vibrant as the character she
plays for ABC-TV. But that’s about as far as the comparison goes. Slezak’s
and Victoria’s lives are quite different. Slezak has been married for more
than 20 years and she doesn’t have any alternate personalities.
By comparison, Victoria’s full names, with previous
marriages/divorces/remarriages, is Victoria Lord Riley Burke Riley
Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter.
In the 28 years the character has been on the show, Viki has had a
total of six different split personalities, suffered from amnesia and had
a brain aneurysm, been in a coma, had a stroke, has seen her son kidnaped,
been on trial for murder, spent time in jail, been elected mayor, donated
a kidney to save her daughter’s life, visited heaven through an
out-of-body experience while her aneurysm was being operated on, been
trapped in the secret underground city of Eterna, and traveled back in
time to the Old West.
And it’s the diversity and the fun of those plots that keep “One Life
to Live’s roughly 3,465,000 viewers watching. It’s also what keeps Slezak
interested in the character. “I get to play every day. It’s like a big
grown-up sandbox.”
Slezak had some of her favorite sandbox moments with the Old West plot
line, which aired in 1988.
As the “One Life to Live” website summarizes Viki’s life in 1988, “In
Arizona, Clint (Buchanan) was thrown off his horse. After a long search,
he was presumed dead and Viki and her children mourned his loss. However,
he wasn’t dead-he had been transported back in time to the old west, circa
1888. Viki traveled back, too, interrupted Clint’s wedding to her
look-alike ancestor, Ginny, then returned to the future with her husband.
To Viki’s astonishment, she discovered that she had given birth to a baby
girl 25 years earlier, and the memory had been erased by a hypnotist.”
Slezak loved the Old West plot line “In my whole life I’ve never had a
big costume show. I wear wonderful costumes every day, but I always wanted
to do a Scarlet O’Hara ball scene or ride in a stage coach. (Through the
Old West Plot line) I got to ride in a stage coach and I just had a great
time with it.”
Slezak said it’s difficult acting in a scene where she’s playing
against another character she’s also portraying. “There’s another actress
standing there wearing a wig and the costume and everything, but there are
different methods of acting. So, they’re saying the words and acting the
scene, but you have to play it as if you’re the one saying the lines just
as you would say them yourself. Then you go back and shoot the other half
of the scene as the other character.”
Those are the kinds of scenes that require a lot of natural talent,
which Slezak has, and a lot of solid training, which Slezak also has.
She was admitted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London when
she was only 17, making her one of the youngest student ever to attend the
school.
By 1973, Slezak was starring in an off-Broadway production of Somerset
Maugham’s “The Circle” where she met Davies. They married in 1978 and now
have two children, Amanda and Michael. Michael 19, attends Georgetown
University, and Amanda, 17 will attend Skidmore College in Upstate New
York this fall.
Much of Brian Davies’ screen and stage acclaim comes from his roles in
musicals.
He starred opposite Julie Wilson in the revival of “Babes in Arms” in
1959. Later that year, he starred as Rolf Gruber in the “Sound of Music.”
Davies also starred in London in a musical based on “Gone with the Wind.”
His film work includes “American Gigolo,” “The Age of Innocence,”
“Masquerade,” “Convoy,” and “Mickey Blue Eyes,” and his television credits
include “The Deerslayer,” “All My Children,” “The American Dream,” “Beacon
Hill,” and “One Life to Live.”
Slezak said she hasn’t gotten bored playing the same character
throughout most of her career. “It is different, though. It’s not a normal
job to play the same role for 28 years. But it’s not like being in the
same Broadway show for 28 years. It’s different every day. There are new
scenes, new relationships and new plots.”
Slezak said, for her, a typical day of shooting starts at 7:30 A.M. and
wraps up around 3-4 P.M. Others work longer hours, but Slezak’s said she’s
paid her dues, put in her time, and earned the right to get off early.
Besides being adored by millions of fans, she’s got a few other records
to her credit. Slezak set a record for being the only actress to win Five
Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress (1984, 1986, 1992, 1995,
and 1996).
For the Hollywood-born Slezak, acting runs in the family. Her Father
was award-winning actor Walter Slezak, and her Grandfather Leo Slezak, was
an opera singer. Slezak’s favorite moment on “One Life to Live” remains
the day her father appeared on the show with her.
While Slezak is in Winchester, Viki probably won’t have to disappear
from the show to free up Slezak’s time. “Hopefully she’ll just be upstairs
in the bedroom with Ben,” Slezak quipped of her character and her current
love interest. “Three days in real time is nothing in Landview time. I’ll
be gone about three days, but Viki will just be busy for three hours.”
Slezak, Davies and Amanda arrived in Winchester on Wednesday. Michael
arrived on Thursday and will return to Georgetown today. Slezak, Davies
and Amanda will head back to their Long Island home on Sunday. “I’ve got
to get back to work on the show and Amanda has to get to school. She’s
written a first draft of a term paper on Mozart, but she has to have some
time to finish it up.”
Slezak and Davies will ride with their daughter in the Grand Feature
Parade today at 1:30 P.M. Shortly after arriving in Winchester, the family
took a private tour of Glen Burnie. They hope to have the opportunity to
get out and see more of Winchester before they leave.
Wherever they go, if they’re in public, they’re sure to be recognized.
Slezak admits when she’s seen by an admiring fan she’s usually greeted
as “Viki” as opposed to being greeted as “Erika” or “Miss Slezak,” She
said while she’s here in Winchester, or anywhere else for that matter, she
more than willing to meet fans.
“I’m always happy for anyone to come up to me who wants to talk or who
wants to ask for an autograph. When that happens, it means I’m working
well and that people are interested.”
On Friday, after the coronation, one lucky fan got her wish. “Oh my
God, it’s her! It’s Viki!” squealed Sandy D’Elosua, a University of
Florida sophomore. “Take my picture with her! Take my picture with her!”
she told a friend. “I don’t even know what her real name is...”
D’Elosua’s sister Jennifer De’Elosua, is going to Shenandoah
University. She choreographed parts of the coronation and the
entertainment afterward, including Daniel Morgan Middle School’s “Soul
Man,” which Co-Grand Marshall Dan Akroyd joined in on.
“I love what they’re doing with your character on the show!” Sandy
excitedly told Slezak. “It’s great to see you- I mean - your
character-with a new love interest.”
Sandy pressed a few people for information about what’s coming up on
the show (they tape three weeks in advance) but to no avail.
Davies couldn’t resist turning the screws a little bit. “Oh, I can tell
you what’s going to happen,” he whispered to D’Elosua.
“Really? What? She asked, leaning close.
“Oh, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen on the show,” Davies said
with a sly smile.
Sandy will just have to wait and see. But she did get her picture taken
with Viki.
Rehearsal for the Big Day
Queen Shenandoah Amanda and her parents enjoy the musical
entertainment
Erika enjoys a dance at the annual Seniors Luncheon
One of the Festival Princesses meets her favorite,
"Viki."
Brian, Erika and Michael wave to the crowds at the Apple
Blossom Parade
Brian, Erika and Michael, the Queens Family at the
Firemans Parade
