Beloved stars from All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital will reunite for ABC Daytime: Back on Broadway, a one-night-only streaming concert benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The free streamed event can be viewed on the Broadway Cares website beginning at 8 pm Eastern on Thursday, February 11.
Additionally, the event can be seen on Broadway Cares’ YouTube Channel, ABC-owned television stations’ 32 connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku and each of the eight stations’ websites around the country, including abc7ny.com and Good Morning America’s Facebook page..
PhotoL ABC
The star-studded lineup will include performances by All My Children’s Bobbie Eakes, Melissa Claire Egan, Vincent Irizarry, Eva La Rue, Susan Lucci, Cameron Mathison, Eden Riegel, Chrishell Stause and Walt Willey, One Life to Live’s Kristen Alderson, BethAnn Fuenmayor, Kathy Brier, Kassie DePaiva, David Gregory, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Catherine Hickland, Mark Lawson, Hillary B. Smith, Jason Tam and Brittany Underwood; and General Hospital’s Bradford Anderson, Brandon Barash and Anthony Geary..
For the February 11 streaming special, viewers can expect to hear a bevy of Broadway classics and jazzy standards. The streaming event will be directed by John Dietrich, who also directed each of the live stage performances.
Dedicated fans also will have the opportunity for one-on-one virtual meet-and-greets with their favorite soap stars on Saturday, February 13. Further information on tickets and the lineup of special guests will be announced later this month.
From 2005-2011, the stars of ABC Daytime took the stage at New York City’s Town Hall one night each year for ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares. The evening featured dynamic production numbers, heartfelt ballads and hilarious skits. Now, 10 years after that final performance, the iconic ABC Daytime actors revisit their performances as they help raise money for those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the event began in 2005. it was for a one-night benefit concert to celebrate All My Children’s 35th Anniversary. With overwhelming support from fans, the event continued for six more years and included cast members from One Life to Live, General Hospital and co-hosts of The View. Over its seven-year run, ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares raised an incredible $1.85 million.
“This event is truly one of a kind,” Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola said. “We are so thankful to the stars from ABC Daytime for joining us again as we relive moments from this delightful tradition, while helping to provide lifesaving medication, healthy meals and emergency support to those struggling during this ongoing pandemic.”
“It was such an incredible privilege and joy to join my fellow co-stars to perform in the seven ABC Daytime Salutes concerts to benefit Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS,” said former All My Children star Susan Lucci. “There are no fans like ABC Daytime fans. Their love and support continue to astonish us. We can’t wait to share these special performances with them and help raise money for so many in need during this difficult time.”
Lucci also shared her excitement on her Instagram account expressing: “We’re getting the fans and cast back together!!! Join us on Thursday, February 11 at 8pm for “ABC Daytime: Back on Broadway”—a fabulous online event revisiting seven years of singing, dancing and plot twists, featuring your favorite ABC Daytime stars. And it’s all to help Broadway Cares support our friends and neighbors who are struggling during this pandemic. Watch the stream at
broadway-cares.org, to join the fun! I hope to see you there!”
So excited to hear about the ABC Daytime Back to Broadway event? Let us know in the comment section, and check out the announcement from The View’s Whoopi Goldberg below.
BREAKING! Queen of @theview @WhoopiGoldberg announces ABC Daytime: Back on #Broadway will stream on February 11. Theatre and Soap fans alike are sure to swoon over performances of Broadway hits and parodies by @Susan_Lucci and stars from AMC, OLTL, and GH. https://t.co/Nxa3X2oJcx
— Broadway Cares (@BCEFA) January 14, 2021
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I think the whole thing was planned from way start. ABC cancelled the shows, saw the heat they were getting from the fans (which they probably never anticipated) when they saw how outraged the fans were they dreamed up the PP story. Think about it these guys buy the rights to 2 shows and they have no money, no backing but these 2 shows need $40,000,000.00 a year to produce! (and that’s low balling it from what I’ve read). So the fans are “somewhat” happy definately hopefull, but still pissed at abc. So abc then makes an announcement that Frons… Read more »
EXACTLY …WE were manipulated and “handled” at every step . PP needed some start up money and Buzz, and ABC gave them both.
Now I treat ABC the same way they treated me.. like dirt !
Totally agree. ABC just wanted to shut the fans up and give some false hope and someone else to blame besides themselves. I think we should scream even louder and let ABC know we are not happy with our soaps gone!
Thanks for the article, Michael! It sounds even more as if PP was never really serious about showing either show, and that this was just posturing to deflect the fans wrath at ABC/Disney.
Trapper, I so agree with your comment.
I was so happy that PP was going to move the soaps to the net but I never forgave abc/disney for cancelling them and everyday I called, e mailed, and signed petitions I still do ,I wanted my soaps to stay on t v.So I never gave up on my quest to fight abc/disney ,after what they have done to the soaps.If general hospital gets canceled I will never for any reason watch anything there network has to show, Im through, the way abc/disney treated the soap fans even to this day with lies ,head games ,the game they are… Read more »
It’s shameful the way these actors and crew were treated. What did PP think, they would just give away their craft for free so they (PP) could make money on a new experiment? Just like ABC, they lied and lied, right up until the end. Instead of a formal notification the day before T-giving, which is what the actors and crew deserved, they got a “clean out your dressing room by the end of the day.” Nice.
Ok so PP lost their option on One Life to Live? ABC once again has the rights? Why don’t they sell the rights to AN or to others who were supp interested. I understand abc must know they made a huge mistake with OLTL and would not want someone to air it as competition. There must be a way before it is too late.
i agree, all about money and greed. i hate to think our beloved shows are gone; it looks abcd and pp just wont let go. even at the risk of losing many devoted fans.
ABC has ALWAYS been involved. PP was made up of former ABC people and in my mind PP is just the facade put up to deflect the fans and the ultimate plans of ABC not even considering to listen to us.
i agrree 100%… i bet abc/disney paid PP to say they were doing this and never planned to.
agnus nixon should not have to buy what she created,but even if she did want to buy them back those bastards at the rat channel wont do it because they dont want all my children and one life to live to be successful on any other network unless they get more money,abc/disney cares for the almighty dollar more than having descent programming and there disposal of the soaps prove that,and I believe that p p was a plant to keep the soap fans less quite about the cancellations,but It didnt work and shame on abc/disney for being low life scum… Read more »
Barbara, I agree with you 100%. I now hate ABC, I really do. I’ve been boycotting them (except for GH) since May,2011. I’ve missed a couple of shows I really like but I don’t care. I want my soaps back. I’ve been watching them since almost the beginning and they are good television, not like these stupid reality shows. I really believe that ABC is dangling strings and we’re the puppets. I can live without ABC and the stupid mouse and long as need be. Hope you can too.
I’m not a fan of ABC or PP, but if Agnes Nixon wanted the rights to her shows, yes she SHOULD have to buy them, as they don’t belong to her. She SOLD her ideas to ABC decades ago, as creators usually do. It’s the way the industry works. Please get real.
Heather I agree with you that Agnes should have to buy them back. Most of us realize they will not be ‘given’ to anyone. But ABC/D has not offered to sell them, they would rather no one have the rights than to see it go back to Agnes and prove them wrong.
I wonder if Prospect was in on it with ABC? I feel sorry for the actors and the fans.. I wouldn’t be so bitter about it if they handled it better.. They made the actors move to LA and everything thinking the show was going to last a few years. Not once has ABC said thank you to the fans for the years of support.
I would not be surprised to find out that “Prospect Park” is acutally a second phone line at the desk of Anne Sweeney and what’s his face head of Disney personal assistants. The whole Prospect Park thing smelled like a rat from day one. ABC/Disney was feeling the heat from the soap fans, so in order to get us off their back and out of their faces, they invented Prospect Park, made it look like the soaps were saved. A lot of us backed off. I know I did. I am guilty of drinking the Prospect Park KoolAid. Then at… Read more »
BRING BACK OUR SOAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the article that is really terrible to treat such talented actors like that and crew. How does that old saying go what comes around goes around, now they deserve what they are getting and maybe someone will wake up and put our soaps back a do the right thing for everyone .
Well Jill & All I take it like this; ABC and Disney and Prospect Park and whoever the powers that be are have had it in their pipes all along to cancel out our soaps. We never had a snow balls chance in hell of ever reaching an aggreement to where our shows would be continuing. All the emailing, calling and addressing these higher ups was a total lost cause and a waste of time.. I for one am cancelling my ABC programming off of my sattillite programming package along with all Disney programing. I am not watching any shows… Read more »
Debbie I totally agree with you. In fact I do not need to respond to this article at all because you said it all and with perfection. I miss OLTL so much. The characters became family and I am still mourning them. Star and Todd seem out of place in Port Charles. I dvr GH because I can then scan through all the Sonny/Jason crap. But it is bye bye abc/d once GH goes away.
I hear you on missing OLTL. What OLTL stars have moved to GH seem out of place; with the heavy focus on crime and violence on that show, the heart and humor and drama that OLTL had just doesn’t seem to have a place in GH alias Sonny mob land. They’d need somebody like Viki and Clint Buchanan to move into town, build an empire there, add some new backbone to Port Charles, take the focus off the boring mob stuff. With some strong, backbone forces like them, a new feel could be given to GH, which is much needed.… Read more »
I am so angry with ABC. They tried to blame everything on Prospect Park whenthey have the rights. We fans know ABC could put OLTL back on. They would be ashamed to admit they were wrong. That’s why they don’t. Well, suck it up and put OLTL back on and everything will go back to normal. If not we will continue to BOYCOTT ABC. Mr. Walt Disney would never have allowed them to hurt the fans like this. He is turning over in his grave. Grow up Mr. Iger & Ms. Sweeney. Act like adults & at least talk to… Read more »
I negotiate contracts for a living and something smells really fishy here. I’ve never heard of an interested party agreeing to negotiate for one round and then suddenly just stop negotiating UNLESS #1 they received a better offer elsewhere or #2 had ulterior motives for even entering the contract negotiation to begin with. VERY obvious that PP never intended to negotiate. Pretty apparent that PP was used as a stall tactic to temporily pacify the public outcry against the cancellations of OLTL and AMC. ABC/PP dragged out the “negotiation” JUST long enough to get The Revolution and The Chew up… Read more »
it smells alright,I dont know anything about contracts other then they can be broken.and PP was put in place to keep us soap fans quiet ,It didnt work for me because I have been boycotting abc/disney since all my children went off the air ,when that happened I only watched one life to live and general hospital now I am down to one soap and I hope this isnt the end of our stories from port charles,but like you I dont trust abc/disney and something does stink, they know what there doing and they know right now whether they are… Read more »
i’m no legaleze… but people have been brought to court, sued for much less – I want to know why no one has brought legal action to PP or any ABC-Duhs involved! maybe get ABC-duh to give the rights for the shows to someone who does care about the actors, crew and fans!
You are right, people have been sued for less, but there has to be demonstrable damages. In this case there are two possibilities. The Disney shareholders may have a case of lost income for ABC not selling or licensing AMC/OLTL, one time valued at $200 mil, to a company like Sony. ABC is already in financial trouble. And a class action suit under the Federal Communications Act which charges broadcasters to act “in the public interest.” Either action needs an expert attorney, know anyone?
Totally agree with you that PP was b.s. from the get go. Still boycotting abc/d.
EPIC FAIL from the very beginning!
I hate ABC/D how can a network choose to fall in the nielson ratings they are at or close to the bottom almost every day they use to be a network leading the pack. The only show that I will watch on ABC is GH if they cancel GH than ABC will never be on my tv again. ABC needs to let the 2 soaps go so they may find another home.
I still say it was all a big fat plan on behalf of ABC to stall out the fans. Best words for it? “Dirty Play!” I never felt comfortable anymore about PP from the day I learned that these two guys (whatever their names are) were once employed by ABC. Once? Come on! They were probably ALWAYS employed by ABC! Sorry ~ no more ABC on my TV. Not ever again, and I don’t miss it one bit! On to bigger and better things. My new favorite will be Dallas beginning on Wednesday, June 13th at 9 p.m. Oh and… Read more »
Thank you so much for this interview, Michael! Jill is one class act! What I found very interesting about this interview was Prospect Park telling the actors they would lose their option to the shows on Jan 1st. Is this the truth or another Prospect Park blatant lie they told the casts? The bottom line is Prospect Park acted with zero respect for anybody or anything to do with these shows. Prospect Park’s business acumen looks like a page out of the Keystone Cops playbook. This company will go down in well-deserved flames and I for one will be sitting… Read more »
I have read that Agnes Nixon gets the rights back in Sept if PP has not found a way to have
our soaps put back in production. Now I am wondering if then our shows will start up again.
All we can do at this point is hope and pray…
would be nice to know there was a timeline built in somewhere that the rights go back to Ms. Nixon… tho I think it would be a while before she could get shows back into production, first she’d have to find a different network!
I’m skeptical about this story Debbie. ABC still owns the soaps and only leased them to Prospect Park for one year.
Never did I read anywhere or heard anything about Agnes Nixon getting the rights back should PP fails to bring the soaps back.
Agnes Nixon never had the rights to either show. When she sold the ideas to ABC, ABC became the owner. ABC still technically owns the soaps. They were leased to Prospect Park for one year.
when disney bought abc their main goal was to get rid of all three of the daytime soaps – it was the agenda from the beginning and they have just about finished what they started……….
I wonder how much money abc/disney paid pp to keep the games going ,I was suspicious a few months into the con game,there werent that many soap stars signing on ,but most of all we heard nothing from pp if they were really into it why didnt they talk straight to the fans ?they didnt because it was all lies and abc/disney knew it and they broke our hearts not once but twice,and not once did abc/disney say anything ,thats because they are cowards and they are all RATS that work for a network that use to be grand but… Read more »
J.R.EWING would b proud as PP is a dummy corporation 4 ABC.
When ABC/D gets rid of the whole soap genre and their ratings tank they will be begging actors to come back and do the shows. If they don’t have ratings, the sponsers will drop them. No sponsers, no money and that means they will have to come up with something else to provide revenue. We soap fans are banded together and if you think that ratings on ABC are bad now, just wait. PP was and is a joke, trying to bargain great actors and actresses with $50 an episode? That was a slap in the face and the biggest… Read more »
Mr. Fairman, thank-you for making us aware of this interview with Jill Larson, in “Soap Opera Digest.” What she had to say about PPark from her perspective, certainly didn’t sound like they made the actors a fair offer, even if it was a “real” offer. And after reading many of the comments here one wonders if it was all “smoke & mirrors.” If so, that is very discouraging. But, I do not think all the hard work & time that many of the soapfans have put into the cause & CONTINUE to put into the cause is never a waste… Read more »
It is beyond ridiculous that ABC is wanting to become an all talk show network during daytime. Prospect Park is a joke as well as ABC/D – we need to put more pressure for them to sell back to Agnes Nixon so another netwok can take over. There has to be a way to force ABC to give it up already!!! This is ridiculous.
We can get All My Children & One Life To Live back on the air. It’s going to take us as fans to do it! These actors came into our hearts and homes everyday. We have an idea for putting both shows back on the air but, we need supporters/fans help. If you are interested, contact us and become a friend on our facebook page, if you want to take part on getting both soaps back on the air. Add friends to our page and help support AMC & OLTL, and let start working together on airing our 2 favorite… Read more »
Thank you for the article. I adore Jill, met her twice. She’s a straight shooter from my aquaintance I remember. I’m inclined to believe she is telling exactly what happened. No further comment. Tired of going through the same subjects over and again. Thank you for the article, Thanks Jill for further perspective.
Short and sweet I believe the Media & TPTB weren’t aware of how large a fan base the shows HAVE and how we rally!
I think originally, PP had honest intentions. ABC on the otherhand, Knew PP would run into issues thats y they leased to them instead a production company that was established and could profit. In the end (out the mouth of an actor) PP wanted actors to drop union & work for peanuts while they rake in the $ hand over fist airing shows on cable. In the end its all about greed and screw the people.
ABC was playing games with us from day one. I remember early on someone saying that ABC was going to feed us some malarky to keep our mouths shut. That is exactly what they pullled. They had no intention of saving the soaps in any capacity. I truly believe they duped us and have every intention of getting rid of General Hospital when the time comes. The best thing the fans can do is continue their boycott of ABC and Disney. We have already hit them hard in the pocketbook with the tanking of “The Revolution”, and other programs coming… Read more »
I want ABC to bring All My Children back!
I am so sick of ABC shows. I have watched AMC,OLTL, AND GH ever since I was in jr high after school with my aunt. I grew up loving these actors! They are so much better, So much more talented than these awful, replacement shows. I cant even stand to see commercials for “the spew” or “revulsion” ugh!! Now you cant watch GH without seeing the nauseating commercials for gcb and the b in apt whatever!! What is up with the b word and disney?? I’m sick of these annoying, crappy shows. Soaps were like diamonds, this stuff–dirt. Oh yeah,… Read more »
I think PP and ABC treated the cast and crew horribly. ABC tried to save face with PP; PP tried tos ay they were doing all they can and then blaming Susan Lucci for AMC’s failure – the actors were wondering why PP didn’t meet with Lucci personally and why they weren’t talking to Lucci seriously – they didn’t continue negotiating. Now it is rumoured or more than rumoured that ABC is thinking of picking up a night time soap called Devious maids and guess who they cast – Susan Lucci. I think she was to be just a co… Read more »