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 she did say some hard truths. The fact of the matter is that Oprah is a businesswoman. She is looking to make good sound business decisions and taking on the soaps is not a good business choice for her. She knows the truth is in the numbers and she’s absolutely right when she says soaps don’t have the numbers anymore. Their desire for longevity has greatly diminished the ability of the soaps to evolve into worthwhile competitors in an ever expanding broadcast world. Many people have stopped watching soaps because there are so many more appealing choices out… Read more »
SPOT ON!!!!!!!
On the business side of things, Oprah has made some valid points, however, the way ratings are calculated for daytime audiences are not reflective of how many people actually watch their shows. They do not take into account the number of people who dvr their shows and watch in the evening or wait until the weekends when their time is free. They also do not take into account the number of folks who are watching via the internet. I personally kept up with my shows via Youtube, prior to ABC offering their shows for free online. How many more people… Read more »
IOO PERCENT AGREE WITH YOU– I HAVE TAPE ALL MY DAYTIMES AND MOST NIGHTIME SHOWS DUE TO NIGHTSHIFT NURSING WORK!!!! THE NETWORKS MUST ACCOUNT FOR ALL TAPED SHOWS, ETC TOO !!!!!
Ah, but one of her points is that “there just aren’t enough people who are at home in the daytime to watch them.” True. The current economy warrants many people to be working those hours. But the reality is, if she were to take on those soaps on OWN, she could air them at later hours in the day. I bet any serial on at 8pm, 9pm, 10pm would get double the ratings of an afternoon airing. Not to mention since it would be on basic cable, the story lines could be a bit more realistic instead desperately trying to… Read more »
The rating system is unfair and all viewers are not taken into account. To prove my point, why put gadgets in VCR’s and DVD players if they are not going to be counted. Better to just deal with the TV sets. Viewing the shows on the Internet, are these counted at all when one may tune in on their lunch our at their computer or when convenient. Have you every called your cable company and learned that they knew exactly what you were watching? Let the cable companies take over the ratings; they certainly probably have the technology and if… Read more »
I would like to remind Oprah that she would not be leaving broadcast tv as rich as she is if it were not for these 2 now cancelled soaps because her show follows these soaps on many abc stations & it is only because she has had such a huge lead in from them that has allowed her to remain on tv as long as she has!
Regarding your comment above; one of the reasons I left the set tuned…her show followed AMC and OLTL.
AMEN! She said that AMC & OLTL had very low ratings? I dont beleive that! Her show had huge ratings. If no one is home during the day until after 5:00, then why did her show have huge ratings? Because we “ARE” home watching the soaps, and then after we watch them, we stayed tuned in and watched OPRAH! I wished I had changed the damn station now and watched ELLEN or whomever else was on! If there was so low ratings, why are ABC & Disney being flooded with huge amounts of calls? Why are there websites set up… Read more »
I respect that she has to do what she feels is good for her business, but the truth is that her feelings regarding the state of the genre is her opinion. It is nothing more than that. There are a lot of industry people that seem to feel that if there were better measures for ratings that the soaps are doing much better than what is being demonstrated. In addition, there is something to be said for having consistent, loyal viewers. Oprah is not going to support scripted television. She has made her living with talk show and reality television.… Read more »
I still believe that some soaps could be saved….different time slot, evening, on a smaller scale.i loved my ATWT and still miss it…talk shows , reality shows, cooking shows etc. have their place, but so do soaps.And i don’t think there are fans more loyal than soap fans.I watch other types of shows but if I miss them i don’t care so much, but with my soap it was a different story and I think most soap fans feel the same way! Our world is certainly changing but not always in a good way!
I think she flaked out! I have been a long time supporter of Oprah-never again!
I wonder who is really behind this cancellation???? I hope the 700,000 people that I heard about keep working in their support concerning saving the SOAPS.
Oprah’s lack of imagination is astounding.
I certainly will not be watching the new OWN network.
Here is another person joining you on this and not just for the time we are going through now concerning saving the SOAPS; but for years and years to come.
There was enough of us asking for help that she addressed it in a video. she wouldn’t do that for 5 fan responses, that alone shows theres a passionate audience. OLTL and AMC aren’t perfect as they are, they need work and she could have taken on a challenge of reworking the shows or one of them. I don’t understand people who say good drama is a thing of the past, look at primetime..its not. We need help not just keeping our shows on air but then making them better. I’m not saying she’s wrong to do whatever she wants… Read more »
ok and also why even air anything during the day…why not just put on dead air since “no one” watches. If they counted DVR recordings I would bet that more people record soaps than game or talk shows.
Frankly I think Oprah’s time has come. She’s made a big deal about the Oprah Show ending, but she’s not going anywhere. I don’t feel it’s up to her to save the soaps , but it sure gave her another un-needed ego boost, as if she needs anymore.
Ratings are down for ALL shows in daytime because people are working and because viewers are divided among the many cable stations. By Oprah’s reasoning, there shouldn’t be broadcast television during the day, if the ratings are low. Ratings are not really the issue. The issue is whether or not a show can generate revenue. Soaps do generate revenue but less than reality programming because soaps cost more to produce. Apparently, it isn’t enough to break even or generate a small profit on a show. Network executives are looking to maximize profits. They will simply produce what generates the most… Read more »
Well said David, and quite true, on all counts!
Well said……….loved OLTL’s promo today for two of their Stars and the Monday promo. Way to go Frank Valentini, Exec. Producer OLTL.
I totally agree!
What a load of crap! If there aren’t enough people at home during the day to watch TV WHO is it she thinks has been watching HER show all these years, keeping HER ratings up? The SAME people who have been watching the soaps. So, is she saying the ratings for HER show have gone way down too? If she doesn’t want to get involved with it, just state that flat out but please don’t feed us that bull and play into the hands of ABC and Disney! Well, she’ll have her hands full keeping OWN going because I see… Read more »
Good points. Her response seemed disingenuous and inaccurate. What’s really pathetic about OWN is that it has nothing but reality programming. The executives at OWN are being conservative by simply copying what already exists. They had a chance to expand their programming beyond reality shows and blew it. Few people are going to watch OWN anyway because it isn’t included in the basic Comcast package. Sponsoring these soaps would have encouraged existing Comcast subscribers to upgrade to the preferred package to get OWN. Oprah and OWN executives have no idea of the magnitude of their mistake.
Disney has changed……..ABC is changing………..; just wonder if it is really all about money or is it just another way to make viewers feel down……; taking away the little escape we sometimes want to participate in? It would seem that the new VIP’s at Disney don’t care about fantasy and I will remind my Gifter the next time she decides to renew our Annual Passes at Disney World for 6 people. Universal Studios maybe getting more visitors. Sorry Walt, we know you would have found a better solution and improved on the already established SOAPS instead of drowning them.
If there aren’t enough people to watch in in daytime then put some soaps on in the evening.Maybe not on a daily basis if they’re too expensive but I’m sure somebody could come up with something .It just seems that no one makes any effort!it’s not just ABC, CBS and Procter and Gamble did it to GL and more recently to ATWT.i still miss my ATWT and always will.I hope you OLTL and AMC viewers have better luck because it does leave a huge void even if you have a full life as so many of us do.And for those… Read more »
Oprah has been in business with ABC Daytime for 25 years. Of course she’s going to say what’s necessary to protect ABC. ABC Chicago gave Oprah her own talk show. Look at OWN’s ratings: they’re pathetic. Not one show on OWN can approach the ratings and numbers of viewers that Y&R, GH, or OLTL deliver on a daily basis. I like Oprah but I would have preferred that she just said sorry I can’t help and left it like that instead of carrying water for pals at ABC. The reality is that ABC IS making money on GH just as… Read more »
i can appreciate the fact that oprah can not help BUT i felt like she was also saying to us soap fans to accept the decision that abc made & just shut up about it – she really didn’t seem sympathetic at all towards our feelings for the devastating loss we are experiencing…..
Being a stay at home mom of three, the youngest being 5 months old, with a husband in the Navy who is deployed right now, I have barely had time to sleep, let alone watch tv. But when I do? Its my soaps. And sometimes Oprah, which I will not watch anymore or her OWN network now that I know she is really just more about the bottom line and not actually about happiness and “living your best life”. With the way things are today with the world, it would be nice to tune into something familiar and comforting, even… Read more »
Personally, I have never been a fan of Ms. Winfrey, one who follows her like sheep and reads the books she says you should read and votes for candidates for whom she says you should vote. I’ve always thought she is a self-important ego-maniac, and I’m not saying that just because she won’t save One Life to Live. I love One Life to Live, but I dislike Ms. Winfrey and her personal network equally, so I’m not sure I’d follow any programming to that network anyway. I’m not surprised that this woman refuses to save our shows, as they have… Read more »
Oprah I admire you so much for what you have done. and I see where you are coming from but to sit there and defend them when you know they are wrong I know you got your show from them and you want to be loyal but come on I really thank one of the reasons you don’t to do it is your show you still have time on there and you don’t want to ruffle any feathers . If you look at your other shows on Own all I see is repeats of ABC and the others are not… Read more »
It would have been better to say that “for personal reasons she chose not to get involved and that she could understand and respect our thoughts on the matter. Yes, everyone is entitled to speak their mind, but her statement didn’t seem real and that old familiar thought…..I owe you……don’t go up against the Power Players; bad for business clearly comes to mind.
I am sure the ratings for her show have also dropped during the years. Her OWN network is not doing well. Does that mean her time has come and people are not interested in everything that Opie has to say? She can be another Frons; she believes that she can determine what people want. I respect her for what she has achieved over the years, but sometimes that ego can be TOO much!
All that Oprah said made sense (as she sees it, which is the only way she can judge it, and that is perfectly fine), but the main probably I had with the video was that she seemed insincere, and probably did it just as a necessary evil so that her channel is hopefully no longer bombarded with the “save the soaps” requests. Again, I say, what a strong group of supporters we are, to warrant Oprah to address the issue and us. I think the slight glimmer of hope probably remains in addressing the advertisers. If more big names, like… Read more »
Sorry, but I totally disagree with Oprah’s statement about soaps running their course. In today’s economy people can’t afford to remain at home during the day so they have to DVR or TIVO their soaps to watch at another time more suitable to their schedule. Producing soaps is still a viable commodity contrary to what TIIC say. I will no longer give talk, game or cooking shows the time of day anymore. It’s not worth my time or energy.
Oprah is right, if the major networks can’t afford to keep the soaps going, then neither can a cable channel, especially one that is still trying establish itself and find its niche audience such as OWN. Reasons shows like Law and Order: CI made it successfully after being bought by USA, is that USA has credibility, a niche audience, enough programs to lead in, and the show is affordable. Soaps are not that affordable. If you want your soap to be bought by a cable channel, please do not complain later on that they are ruining the soap when the… Read more »
The ABC soaps are bringing in ratings! ABC is not telling the truth! Also, I will agree that writting can be better, but that was Brain Fron’s fault, head of ABC. It was his doing to purposely hire the bad writters. The fans complained to him regarding the writing constantly, but he refused to listen. Now we know why! He has been planning to destroy the soaps for some time! The acting is some of the best in the acting world, so I don’t know why you think that needs a change. We fans have all said, we have no… Read more »
I am not going to be quick to lay all the blame on Frons. It takes more than one guy to ruin the soaps. I think the soaps biggest problem is that the way television in general is done today is very different than 20 years ago. Because it hasn’t changed with the times (not just in story lines but in format), it is falling behind. Every show has an audience, every single show. The problem isn’t that, its just how big of an audience it has. No network wants to go bankrupt and as a result, they have to… Read more »
I wouldn’t have cared if ATWT had been shortened.Just to see it on a steady basis would have made me and so many other fans happy.I would rather have something than nothing and i can only bet that OLTL and AMC fans would say the same!
Also, those of you upset that networks are looking at the bottom line, have you forgotten this country is in major financial straits? If they air a show that is not bringing in enough money to cover all the expenses of a show, then not only are you going to have to worry about your show being canceled, but you are also going to have to worry about the entire network disappearing because of bankruptcy.
Maureen, apparently you are not on top of the information about this whole fiasco! Let me share some factual info with you. The blame does lie with Brian Frons. It has been disclosed by many individuals connected WITH the shows, that Brian Frons has been trying purposely to get rid of the soaps for awhile now. He purposely brought in BAD writers and had a huge hand in the story lines. Soap fans were writing in constantly regarding the poor writing, but Brian ignored it. This was acknowledged to us fans as true by many of the actors. There is… Read more »
Keep denying all the real problems that are canceling your soaps. If you and your friends would prefer to blame Frons, Oprah and even lowly old working class me for why your soaps are dying then fine. But don’t you dare get upset when the last 4 soaps are canceled. You are not fixing the actual problems. You are only making scapegoats to avoid all the work that goes into really finding what is making the soaps die. I am not going to fight with someone bent on blaming whomever doesn’t agree with them for the death of their soaps.… Read more »
I am saddened that she came out with this stand especially since these shows may have helped her build her audience. I never thought she would be afraid to try anything that could help so many people keep there jobs. Why not offer the shows 6 months to turn a profit?
Hey Maureen, do you work for ABC/Disney or Oprah? Are you a soap watcher/fan? We are here trying to save what is left of our shows and to support each other. I am sensing such a negative vibe from you. I don’t think we really need that here. Do you have anything positive to add?
Lew,
This saving our SOAPs have grown bigger than the VIP’s expected, so who really knows where the negative, cold words come from as we work together to save our SOAPs. If you notice, the comments seem contrived and unreal; forcing extreme negativity to get their point across. Don’t give up…keep up your support with the rest of us. Our comments are warm and friendly; not hateful. OLTL 4/22/11 was exceptional today (promo for two Stars and a Monday preview). I watch faithfully on my computer and that is apparently not counted.
That is rather sad that you assume that anyone who is being pragmatic and realistic is some kind of ABC crony.
Saying the truth is not being negative. Denial isn’t going to save your soaps. If you want to save it, then you have to stop creating scapegoats and get to the real problems that are making soaps fail. Keep blaming people like Frons, ABC, Oprah and Rachel Ray and all you will end up doing is seeing ABC get out of the soap business altogether followed by NBC and CBS.
We as soap fans are not in denial. People are not looking at the bigger picture and seeing how many people actually are watching these shows. If the views on soapnet were counted, or the views on the internet, many would find that the ratings are enormous. But the ratings systems are biased and do not count all the actual viewers.
Can you please stop with the blame game? People have got to stop blaming the problem of soaps on everything else. If you want to save the soaps, stop making scapegoats out of everything else. Sure, there are faults with the ratings system but not enough to kill the soaps.
If you aren’t in denial then why are you playing the blame game? Soaps are dying for a myriad of reasons and no one on this board wants to admit that. Why? Why is it so hard to admit that there are alot more problems than just blaming Oprah, Nielson ratings, ABC and Frons?????
I would easily pay $10/month or $120/year to watch OLTL. How many other viewers would be willing? With viewer subscriptions, advertisers, and syndication, the show could survive and make a profit, but right now it needs a genius of a sponsor who could act on and coordinate various possibilities.
I would pay more than that to keep my soaps alive. I pay 14.99 for my premium movie channels and I would hapilly match that keep my soaps alive
Why couldn’t OLTL be on PBS?
Perhaps Oprah feels her network could not accomodate the cancelled soaps in their current form but her creative management, while surely pushed already to program a new network, could indeed have provided a new springboard for a better product and brought a built in audience and advertisers to her daytime schedule. Soaps need not be a five day a week program perhaps. Maybe two or three days a week would suffice. Dallas survived many a season with only one episode a week and that truely was a soap opera. It’s also too bad that ABC sees fit to constantly promote… Read more »
I know that people will be angry with me for saying this, but I agree and understand what Oprah is saying. The soap operas are just too expensive to produce for the amount of money they are able to attract from sponsors because of the low ratings. There may be an audience (and perhaps, there could be more of an audience if the quality on soaps were better), but the reality is that the audience is not big enough anymore to be able to keep the soaps on the air.
Soaps may be too expensive for a fledgeling network, but they are not so out of the ball park for any of the top three networks. OLTL especially was coming in under budget and has the ratings, not to mention all the critical acclaim it has received. The ratings for OLTL and AMC are higher than the ratings for many primetime programs, not to mention the fact that the viewers have been loyal for *decades*. Those are the types of viewers the networks and advertisers should be trying to cater to because those are the viewers who will be brand… Read more »
First of all, there is nothing wrong with the quality of soaps, and if you don’t watch them you should keep your opinions to yourself. The audience is massive, the problem is soapnet and internet views, these should be counted in the ratings are they are not. This is the problem, not the quality of these shows
This is why we soap fans are so upset. It is a lie that the ratings are low. They are not. They claim it’s only 3 million (which is still higher than some night time shows) but the fact is that it is wayyyyyyyy higher. They are not counting the ratings correctly at all. That is more than I want to get into right now, but there is an abundance of information about it currently all over the internet. Plus they are not counting people who DVR, or watch it on ABC.COM, etc. We have prooven how many fans are… Read more »
This perpetuation of misinformation has got to stop. Oprah is wrong. ABC is wrong. The Nielson system is antiquated and needs to disappear or be updated. There are MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WATCHING ON DVR! Seriously, people, get with the times! The decision to pull the soaps was solely based on GREED! Sure, it costs some dough to operate ANY tv show. But it costs next to nothing to create more vapid reality tv shows and redundant cooking and talk shows. Networks make money on their advertisers. Some of the largest companies in the world advertise on soaps. And guess what?… Read more »
Maureen, you want the truth? Bones recent ratings were 2.2 million viewers. OLTL recent ratings were 2.3 million. AND that’s using the CRAPPY Nielson ratings system. You really need to do some REAL research.
Yes, sure lets blame everything on the Nielsen ratings as if there was no other reason for the problems with soaps. Only naive people think this is a simple problem with a simple solution.
Maureen, i provided you with actual facts about the viewership, in direct response to your assumption that “no one is watching”. You ignored the facts and continued with some more drivel. And i wasn’t “blaming nielson” as you so vaguely put it. It is ABC itself that is blaming the ratings as the reason for cancelation. As i stated, i believe this to be a hollow reason without facts to back it up. If you wan to talk about possible solutions to making soaps cheaper to produce, I would be happy to chat about that. I have a lot of… Read more »
Maureen, The best to you and your viewing habits.
Oprah may have made some valid points but I had to watch this video twice. The first time I walked away and couldn’t get it off my mind. So I watched again. My take. She sounded too rehearsed, and too defensive of ABC’s decision. Could it be the network that broadcasts the Oprah show “asked” her to make this statement in their defense? I hear her network is not doing so well in the ratings. So if AMC pulls in a 1.9 and OLTL pulls a 2.0 she can’t use those added viewers to her network? For a cable network… Read more »
DITTO! And AMEN!
Hey guys, do you think Maureen is really Brian Frons checking in to find out what is being written about him on the websites? HA!
That thought crossed my mind as well. lol
I agree with someone’s earlier post….if the ratings are so bad in daytime then why wouldn’t she pick the shows up and run them in the evening. I am a fan of Oprah, and have tuned into her network, and was not at all impressed. I mean hours and hours of watching “Season 25: Behind the Scenes” is not what I call great program entertainment. I mean right now, I turned on my program guide and she has: The Best of Trading Spaces, Mystery Diagnosis, Say Yes to The Dress, Dr. Phil, Prince William Special, The Judds and more of… Read more »
This video was a big turn off for me, an Oprah “ultimate viewer” since day one of her show’s debut many years ago. The truth is no one can accurately measure the number of people still watching daytime soaps due to the internet, DVR, heck there are probably some VCR recording still going on. The Nielsen Ratings are a joke, using a “sampling of viewers” not even large enough to get a true sense of normal customers viewing. I have been an avid TV viewer since birth (over half a century ago) and lived east coast, west coast and have… Read more »