| CBS
Soaps in Depth
[January 29o, 2011] |
THEY'RE
PLAYING OUR
Song
[Matthew Ashford
and wife take center stage]
|
|
You know Matthew Ashford
as one half of DAYS OF OUR LIVES' longtime supercouple,
Jack and Jennifer Deveraux. But for the last few years this talented
actor has made a name for himself on stage in productions of
Mamma Mia and Anthony & Cleopatra. "I saw
how much joy these shows can bring to people," the actor offers."It's
like musical soap opera."
This month, he's head to Sacramento, CA, to take on what could be
the biggest challenge of his career, "I'm starring in the two-person
musical, I Do! I Do! with my wife, Christina Saffran
Ashford," he reels of his participation in the 2011 Music Circus
season. "It's a pretty big theater in the round, and it'll be non-stop
music, dialogue, dancing and playing musical instruments. It's very
challenging but also gratifying. It's just a good year for me to
grow and try new things."
Originally written for Robert Preston and Mary Martin, the musical
follows a couple's marriage from 1895 to 1945 and relates the tale
with more than a dozen songs. "It's a great character -- he
actually reminds me of Jack. He's a writer of romance noels and
very full of himself," Ashford says with a laugh. "He
says things that I would never get away with -- he's a piece of
work."
As Time Goes
By
The process of telling a story with his wife as they
both age from their 20s into their 70s on stage also reminds Ashford
of two special people from his DAYS past. "It
follows a relationship that grows, matures, struggles and develops,
and brings to mind the on-going relationship that Macdonald Cary
(Tom) shared with Frances Reid (Alice)
that we all followed right up until the end of their lives,"
Ashford suggests. "They were always held up as being the relationships
to try to be, which no one ever really lies up to, which they would
say they never measured up to, either."
The production, which runs Tuesday, August 15, through Sunday, August
21, has required intense rehearsal time which meant that DAYS
had to juggle Ashford's summer taping schedule in order to accommodate
Jack's return now that the character is slated to hit Salem again
in mid-September. And as if that isn't enough to keep him busy,
he's also taping new episodes of the popular Web series THE
BAY. "It's a lot of fun," he says of the star-studded
production. "There's a lot of love going on around there!"
Which, as it turns out, could be said of all the projects the incredibly
busy actor has going on!
--Keli
M. Larson |
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