Soap
Opera
Weekly
Postcards
from London
A REAL
GUYS' ADVENTURE
GH's Matthew Ashford leaves Tom
behind (or does he?) to visit Shakespeare's Old Globe
Theater, drink his first English lager — and get
in touch with the Beatles....
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"We saw this sign on the way to
Dover and, of course, once I saw it, I knew I had to find
the town, Matt admits. "I said to Chris, `We gotta
stop'—my last name is Ashford.'"
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"I
just had to have a photo of this bobby in front of Big
Ben at Westminiser Abbey in London," Matt says.
"Security there is very tight, so he had to be
on the ball. As you can see, he agreed to pose —
but he isn't exactly thrilled."
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The Fab Four
— sort of. (Left to right): Matt's wife Christina,
Matt, singer Nancy Ringham and husband Chris Smith
(Matt's traveling companion) making like you know
who outside the Abbey Road Studios. "People
don't realize Abbey Road is a real road," Matt
says. "We literally had to stop traffic to
get the picture — and avoid being run over
in the process.
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GH
Star Matthew Ashford (Tom) made a quick study of ancient history
on a recent trip to England — and he got to make a little
modern history as well.
"I recorded a few songs a Abbey Road Studios, where the
Beatles recorded," Matt reports. "Actually, we were
there because my wife, Christina Saffran, was making the cast
album of Singin' in the Rain. The director needed a
few more actors for some small speaking and singing roles
on another cast album he was doing, so I got to perform, too.
"I was standing there with my headphones on trying to
capture John, Paul, George, and Ringo's vibes," he recalls.
"It was pretty cool."
"I was standing there with my headphones on trying to
capture John, Paul, George, and Ringo's vibes," he recalls.
"It was pretty cool."
"I recorded a few songs a Abbey Road Studios, where the
Beatles recorded," Matt reports. "Actually, we were
there because my wife, Christina Saffran, was making the cast
album of Singin' in the Rain. The director needed a
few more actors for some small speaking and singing roles
on another cast album he was doing, so I got to perform, too.
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On
a trip to see the legendary white cliffs of Dover, Matt insisted
on making a detour when he saw a sign for the town of Ashford.
The highlight of the day: hunting down tombstones with the
name Ashford in the local cemetery. "I stopped to look
for long lost relatives," laughs the actor, who is of
English and Irish decent.
Although he was thousands of miles from home, Matt couldn't
escape his own fame. "While I was in the recording studio,
a woman and her entourage came in and I was introduced to
her as the famous America actor Matthew Ashford," he
says with a grin. "She immediately recognized me from
GH and wanted to know what was happening on the show. Later,
I found out she's someone really important like the Minister
of Culture — and she's a big fan. How weird is that?"
—LISA BACKUS |
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Matt checks out the
scene in Trafalgar Square, then closes in for a closeup.
"Hey let's face it, it's what you do with a lion,"
he laughs. "I kept thinking the English must say to
themselves, `Those Americans will do anything for a photo.'"
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"I thought this telephone booth was
so quaint — until I realized it looked like someone
had been living in it." Matt laughs. "As you can
see, only my foot's inside — I was afraid to go any
further."
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