"Via Satellite" Interviews
During the week of Steve and Kayla's wedding (1988), Stephen and Mary Beth
appeared on various NBC affiliates (via satellite) to talk about their
storyline
and Steve and Kayla's nuptials. Below is a transcript of 5 of those
interviews
(*more pictures can be found at the bottom of this page, below
the interviews).
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Interview #1: Nashville
Clip of wedding shown
Anchor Woman:
Now live via satellite from Burbank, here are Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth
Evans
who you know as Patch and Kayla on Days of our Lives. Good morning to you!
Stephen and Mary Beth In Unison: Good morning
Anchor woman: You two are going to make a lot of people happy, a lot
of viewers here
in Nashville, on friday.
Mary Beth: We're happy...
Stephen: Ya...
Anchor Woman: Do you think it's about time? How do you feel about it?
Stephen: We do, we're very happy about it. We think it is about time.
Mary Beth: We've had a lot of turmoil...a LOT of things have happened to us.
Stephen: The feeling we both had, right? Was that we..when we actually
did tape the wedding,
was that it was really time. It was almost real for us, that we actually
were getting married.
Mary Beth: We were nervous
AnchorWoman: Tell us about the wedding
Mary Beth: It's outdoors...it's a surprise,the whole wedding...it
was a beautiful day, it was
sunny and hot, and it was really a beautiful wedding and I think everyone's
going to be really happy...
AnchorWoman: Was it near the water for a special reason?
Mary Beth: We live by the water, Salem USA is by the water. There's
the pier, and the fish market..
it is by the water...
Stephen: Plus it ties with Patch's past in the Merchant Marines. He
was out to sea for a long time.
And Kayla growing up there as a child...walked by the ocean and the docks...and
it's symbollic
Mary Beth:...in many ways.
AnchorWoman: There's another thing the viewers are wanting to know
about...now on friday,
we still weren't sure that you could hear after the surgery that Kayla
underwent... now will you
be able to hear by the wedding, or can you even tell us?
Stephen: Welllll.....you know, we'll have to wait and see...you know that's on friday...isn't it?
Mary Beth: What..airing? Hearing?
Stephen: Hearing, honey, not airing....
Mary Beth: I can't hear now
(they laugh).
Stephen: (laughs) Don' worry
AnchorWoman: We'll just have to wait and see I guess
Stephen: Ya, you'll have to wait and see. There is sign language involved
in the wedding,
I'll tell you that much
AnchorWoman: Now you've been speaking your lines in sign language for 2 or 3 weeks now...
Mary Beth: I think it's been longer than that
Stephen: more than that
(they laugh)
Mary Beth: ...forever
AnchorWoman: Has that made it more difficult for you as an actor?
Mary Beth: Sure, in a lot of ways. We've had to...well, for me in
particular, have all the emotions
across without any words. For someone like me who likes to talk a lot, it's
difficult, really, but it's
been fun...and having him talk to me. I have to say the one thing that was
irritating for me, being
able to hear him, is he'd interpret me and I'd be saying something with my
signs and in my mind it
was a different word than he was saying. And I'd be doing it again, like
"you're not getting it" ...
when if I could hear, it wouldn't matter. So it was aggravating at times,
but I think we really pulled
it off, or at least it feels that way.
AnchorWoman: Now your sign language teacher on the show is also your
sign language teacher
...that's hard to say. Did she also work with you on the loneliness and the
other things you had to
feel as an actress?
Mary Beth: She gave me some tips about the isolation, because she
herself had been deaf for
about 8 months in her life. And just talking to her gave insight.
AnchorWoman: Now the viewers know you as Patch and Kayla, and I hope
this is a fair question
...are you anything like your characters, either of you?
Mary Beth: Well I look more like Kayla than he does Patch. I think.
Stephen: Ya, I believe that for me there is always part of myself
in the character that I play. I think
that brings the reality to it you know, you have to blend the reality with
the fantasy to create a character.
AnchorWoman: And Mary Beth?
Mary Beth: Ya I think so...I think more and more too, as the character
grows, and I grow, the two
are kind of merging.
AnchorWoman: Thanks so much for being with us this morning. Stephen
Nichols and Mary Beth
Evans from Days of our Lives.
Mary Beth and Stephen: Thank you
AnchorWoman: And wedding will be this friday at 3 o'clock on NBC and
channel 4 on
Days of our Lives.
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Interview #2: Channel 5 (Mississippi?)
Anchorwoman: ...In this case it's the TV5 lunchroom. But all over
the Miss. south, folks are doing
the same thing: Watching Days of our Lives
Clip from wedding
Anchorwoman: And this is one of the main reasons-Patch and Kayla.
For 2 years, the couple has
been one of the most popular on daytime television. And this week, their
daytime audience will focus
on their wedding, finally
Stephen: A lot of guys are saying to me 'If you don't want her I'll
take her' You know, 'Get on
with it, are you going to marry the girl or what?'
Anchorwoman: I talked to Patch and Kayla, who are actually Mary Beth
Evans and Stephen
Nichols, via satellite today, about their lives on Days of our Lives....
Mary Beth Evans: Well a little over two years we've been together.
And we're very good friends
and love each other as friends, so I think that really comes across...I think
if we didn't like each other
maybe that would show...but we really try to tune in to each other and pay
attention, and we run our
lines all day long, go to lunch together... I'm trying to get him to go to
the gym with me but he's always
uh, doing something else (laughs).
Stephen: Aw, that's not true, I'll go with you.
AnchorWoman: As for Steve and Kayla, the big day of their lives will be at 12:30, this friday.
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Interview #3 (unknown location)
Anchorwoman: Mary Beth Evans and Stephen Nichols of Days of our Lives
are with us today.
I understand that congratulations are in order, Patch and Kayla are getting
married, does that
mean they'll live happily ever after?
Mary Beth: We hope so...
Stephen: Ya we want them to live happily ever after...this daytime
thing, they went us always to
have conflict. People say they don't like it, but that's why they keep watching,
to see the couples
and the characters get out of the conflict, get through it...But we're getting
married today,without fail....
Mary Beth: And I have to go get my nails done, get ready...
Stephen: ...No problems...we're going to get married, it's a wonderful wedding
Anchorwoman: I heard it was the most beautiful on daytime tv
Mary Beth: It's very pretty
Stephen: Well that's what we heard, we got reports that it was the
best, most beautiful, most
romantic wedding they had ever seen on daytime television...
Mary Beth: Who said that?
Stephen: Some of the people at NBC, the big wigs
Mary Beth: That's exciting
Anchorwoman: That sounds great. Why do you think Patch and Kayla are so popular?
Mary Beth: Well, I think because we care about each other so much...I
think that's probably why
I think that we've always had a good chemistry and we tune in and we're there
for each other. We
run it all day long, go to lunch together, and we just work hard at it.
Stephen: Plus the characters aren't your typical soap opera characters.
Patch, right of the bat, the
guy with one eye...he's not your typical pretty boy soap hunk, and he's an
underdog.. People love
him because they see all of his problems and some people relate to those
problems and then seeing
him overcome them. I think that's why they like Patch. And women love the
fact that he's kind of
forbidden love...the whole time I was chasing her, and she was chasing me...it's
kind of a forbidden
love situation there. You know, somebody you'd be with but you wouldn't tell
your friends? (Laughs).
Mary Beth: In the closet? (laughs)
Stephen: That's what one of the producers told me anyway (laughs)
Mary Beth: Did they tell you that? (laughs)
Stephen: Ya (smiling)
Anchorwoman: You mentioned that you two get along so well, and of
course the past few weeks
you really have had to, because you've had to learn sign language. How were
you able to do that?
Mary Beth: A lot of hard work...
Stephen: We had to do it, we had no choice, and it was very hard in
the beginning. After a while,
we got a basic vocabulary going and we started really enjoying it. And its
a thrill to be able to
communicate with hearing impaired people and especially the children that
come on the show...
we've worked with a few kids now and have conversations with them and their
parents. It's fantastic,
it's a whole new world.
Mary Beth: It's something we'll keep our whole lives now
Anchorwoman: What kind of impact do you think that had on the hearing impaired community?
Mary Beth: I think quite a bit...they're so isolated, there aren't
that many close captioned shows.
I don't think there are any soaps that are close captioned. It's just a very
isolating situation, and
this gave them a chance to tune in and feel more excited about or show too....
Stephen: They're enjoying the storyline...being able to actually follow
what we're saying and what
we're doing in our story at least.
Anchorwoman: Do you think this is something that will be carried even
further...will Kayla work
more in the community....
Stephen: It will, Yes
Mary Beth: Ya, we know it will be, yes.
Anchorwoman: Tell me a little bit about your dress, Mary Beth.
Mary Beth: It's a blush color...(Stephen is interrupting and she
smiles)...He's upset that no one
asks about his tux....and it's a blush color, Lee Smith our costume designer
had it made, he made
it for me. And sewed the little pieces of fabric...
Stephen: Sewed it to your body and it's still there
Mary Beth: Sewed it to my body (laughs). And so...then, he took it
from there and it's hand
beaded, it's really beautiful.... it's a little poky under the arms...but
it's really pretty.
(Stephen laughs at the "poky" comment)
Anchorwoman: Would you like some time to talk about your outfit, Steve?
Stephen: (laughs) He taped a little piece of muslin to my belly and....No,
it's a beautiful tux, and it's
very unique and very Patch-like. And it was all hand done. One fitting, they
brought it back to me,
it fit me perfectly, the tailor was fantastic. Lee Smith designed it and
picked the fabric. Great costume
designer...
Mary Beth: So if nothing else, we'll look good you know? (jokes)
Anchorwoman: You look gorgeous saying it. Thank you so much for joining us
Mary Beth: Thanks for having us
Stephen: Thank you
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Interview #4 Detroit
"Star Notes"
(Anchorwoman voice over as clips of Steve and Kayla are shown):
"Stephen Nichols and Mary Beth Evans who play the popular couple have
had a particularly
stormy soap opera relationship. Their most recent tragedy has left Kayla
without her hearing, a
storyline forced the two to learn sign language."
Mary Beth: We had never studied it before and we wanted to be correct
with this, so it was a
lot of work but very rewarding to both of us I think.
Anchorwoman: As actors, it's added to the challenge of performing
Stephen: For example, Patch has a conversation with two other people
in the room that doesn't
really involve Kayla...well, I try to at least throw in ...give her a gist
of what was being talked about
even if it didn't involve her, because people often just forget that the
deaf person needs to know
what's going on.
Anchorwoman (we learn her name is Sylvia Glover): Fans are anticipating
the big event this
friday, when the two are planning to be married, but we have a sneak preview
of the wedding
couple (clip from Days wedding).
Stephen talks as the wedding clips are shown: Patch actually cooked
up a surprise for Kayla
...a beautiful ceremony, a beautiful setting. Something that he found was
one of her childhood dreams,
that she wanted to have. It's really beautiful. It's very well done. And
we were very happy with our
job that we did, and we stuck together and helped each other through it,
and the fans won't be
disappointed. It's going to be a gorgeous, beautiful wedding.
Anchorwoman: For Star Notes, Sylvia Glover, News 4, Detroit
------------------
#5 WJAC TV6 Johnston
Male voice over before commercials:
"The wedding of the year, the one that soap addicts have been waiting for,
Kayla and Steve are
tying the knot. We'll talk to them about the writers strike effect on their
romance.."
Anchorwoman: "Soap operas...they've got love and lust, romance and
runaways...but do they
have any socially redeeming values? Viewers of Days of our Lives would say
yes. NBC's #1
rated daytime show has picked up the storyline of deafness, and some of the
characters have
had to learn sign language. I recently talked with Mary Beth Evans and Stephen
Nichols about
how its changed their characters.They said it's been a real challenge for
them, and a boost for
the hearing impaired audience.
Clips with voiceover: Kayla Brady, played by Mary Beth Evans, was
injured in a fire which
left her deaf and dumb. Kayla and her fiance, Steve Johnson, played by Stephen
Nichols, have
had to learn sign language to communicate.
Stephen: You have to rely on other parts of yourself, your instrument,
to express yourself ...and
it's really, we really enjoy it
Mary Beth: I was surprised, because I thought...without words especially,
me because I am one
who likes to talk a lot, right? I was just kind of worried because how am
I going to pull this off
without speaking at all. But then when I had to go back to speaking, which
I really haven't done
yet...it was kind of difficult and felt weird to start speaking again because
I was getting so used to
expressing myself in other ways. Also sign language is something that is
conceptually correct, but
not necessarily correct in how we speak English...So it's confusing to learn
our lines as they're written
and translate them to sign language, because we leave out a lot of words
...and then try to remember
your lines, but then switch it.
Anchorwoman: Have you had much reaction from the deaf community?
Mary Beth nods.
Stephen: Ya, they're really enjoying it. Apparently there's something
like 11% of the audience is
hearing impaired. It's become a big hit with them, for sure..because we are
staying true to the sign
language, and we're not leaving anything out that should be there. We're
learning all of our lines
correctly in sign language. We have a great teacher who is helping us with
that.
Anchorwoman: And is the wedding going to be signed?
Mary Beth (laughs): Maybe
Stephen: We'll see. There is sign language in the wedding. We can tell you that much.
Anchorwoman: Is the wedding actually going to come off, or is there
going to be a big disaster in
the middle?
Stephen: Well you know, there's always that lurking something in the background
Mary Beth: Did you lurk yet?
Stephen: Oh, I lurked at your wedding my dear
(Stephen is talking about Kayla's wedding to Jack)
Mary Beth: No there was another one I thought?
Stephen: No, I don't think so....
Mary Beth: Well anyway, ya he lurked at mine...
Stephen: There's always something boiling underneath, but it should be a happy time for both of us
Clip from the wedding: Steve saying, "We Made it Sweetness, Happy Wedding Day"
Anchorwoman: The wedding won't be the end of the signing for Days of our Lives
Mary Beth: We actually have a new little boy coming on our show, Darrell,
who is really terrific, and
he will kind of let the story continue a while I think
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