TVSquad Talks To OLTL's Kristen Alderson on "Starr X'd Lovers: The Musical"

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"One Life to Live" Star Kristen Alderson on 'Starr X'd Lovers: The Musical'
by Allison Waldman
posted May 12th 2010


It's time for the Llanview High prom on "One Life to Live". But this won't be your typical high school dance, as the gang is about to put on an epic, three-day musical event, starring Kristen Alderson (Starr Manning).

The special, titled 'Starr X'd Lovers: The Musical,' begins this Friday.


This week, Alderson spoke with TV Squad to give us the full scoop on the song-filled episodes. Here's what she had to say:





Tell me about 'Starr X'd Lovers: The Musical' on "One Life to Live".

Three years ago, when we did the other musical, we had all original songs. This time, we have seven established songs and seven original songs that were written for us as well. So that's new.

We have 32 dancers this time, and there are a lot more characters singing than the number that sang last time. And there's a lot more drama.






Do you like doing special episodes like this?

Definitely. I think it's really fun.

"OLTL" has always been a very music-oriented show. We've always had musical guest stars. We've had musical episodes where we've sung for the whole show. I think it's awesome that we're outside of the bubble, that we try different things.

It's really impressive, and I've seen seven of the 14 numbers so far and they look really awesome. I'm really excited to get everybody's feedback.









The musical three years ago was inspired by High School Musical.
Was this one inspired by "Glee"?

I don't know. I think people might wonder that, because we're singing some established songs. But we're still sticking to our original songs and what we did three years ago was very much our sticking to our own thing.

I don't think it's very similar to "Glee" except for the fact that we are singing established songs. ... "Glee" is a really wonderful show and I think anyone who's a fan of "Glee" will love to watch these episodes of 'One Life.'

If we can get some fans out of the "Glee" fans, then that's awesome.








Are you comfortable doing musicals as well as drama and comedy.
Do you like to do it all?

Oh definitely! I love bouncing between one and the other. That's what keeps it really fresh and that's why I love, love working here.

The fact that you don't know whether you're going to be singing, or crying, or laughing or yelling on any given day. It's always different.







What's it been like working with great actors like Robin Strasser (Dorian) and Erika Slezak (Viki)?

It's been absolutely amazing. I've been on the show for 12 years and I've known them all for that long. They've really been a part of my family.

Not only have I learned things about acting and the whole medium that we're in, but I've also learned life lessons from them, which has just been amazing. They're all really sweet people as well as very talented actors.






What's it like to play one of the Cramer women?

Starr really fits in with the other Cramers. She's very independent and she has feistiness about her.

I think there are times when she's more mature than all the other Cramer women, which can be pretty funny to see. She'll be like, 'Okay, guys, let's all act mature."









What has it been like growing up on a show like "OLTL"?

It's really crazy that I can go on YouTube and watch a scene of me when I was six, and then watch a scene that I taped last week, just to look at the difference. It's awesome, really.

I'm very close with a lot of the teens that work on the show and then to be able to look back at segments we've had on the show and different things that we've done. It's kind of like a home video of our lives.









Right now, the storyline has Starr really torn between being true to Cole, her husband, and loyal to her father, Todd.

Do you feel that Starr has had to grow up too fast?

Starr has definitely had to grow up too fast with all the drama that has surrounded her life over the years. She's had to really take responsibility for herself as a parent with her own child at 16 and also with her parents who act like children a lot of the time.

It really is interesting to me how mature Starr is at such a young age.









The soap genre is troubled right now, with "Guiding Light" having been canceled last year and soon "As the World Turns" will be over.

Are you ever worried about "One Life to Live"?

I don't think about that at all.

We've just filmed these three amazing shows and we spent a lot of time and money and effort to put toward that, and I don't think we would have been able to do that if we were really that much in trouble.

I feel like I'm going to enjoy every second of it with everyone else and that's what's to come.









Looking into the future, what would you like to be doing 10 years from now?

I would love be on "One Life to Live".

I would also like to be doing some things on the side. I'd like to get back on Broadway and juggle both a show and "One Life". I think that doing this musical has brought the bug out in me even more.





So we'll be watching on Friday, when the musical starts on "One Life to Live" ...

All the original songs for the show will be coming out on iTunes.
And we're going to be performing 'Starr X'd: Lovers' on "The View" on Friday.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/05/12/kr...d-the-musical/