By Alena Prime, Télé Star, 1987

In the wings of the universally famous soaps, like Dallas or Dynasty, it happens to have competition between actors and actresses; the scandals which periodically agitate the shooting of these shows are not counted any more. Nothing of that with Santa Barbara. The team of the show is like a big family, even if, on the screen, they must play bad blows to themselves. Some strong friendships have been tied for three years. Thus, in the reality like on the screen, Jane Sibbett and Lenore Kasdorf, who play Jane and Caroline Wilson, are inseparable. The other actors also perfectly get along... It is at such point that with the agreement of the directors, the interpreters of Santa Barbara decided to offer to themselves a fabulous dress ball which will make, on its own, a splendid episode of the show. In the story, it will be naturally an occasion for the Capwell and Lockridge clans to confront. But, for all the actors, it will especially be the possibility of appearing on the screen in splendid costumes.

In preview of this episode, which must be aired in February in the United States, here is the cast. You will easily recognize the regular ones who are there since the beginning. A Martinez (Cruz Castillo) will appear disguised in Petruccio, from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew; Marcy Walker (Capwell Eden) will be Kate, from the same part; Lane Davies (Mason Capwell) will be dressed up as Hamlet and Kristen Meadows (Victoria Lane) will be his Ophelia. Clark Gable would recover from his tomb if he could see Nicolas Coster (Lionel Lockridge) disguised in Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind, because he is a little stout. Scarlett O'Hara will be represented by Lenore Kasdorf. The star of this dress ball will be without question Robin Mattson (Gina DeMott Capwell) who appears as Lady Godiva, a naked woman on a horse. Let us specify that the young woman will be covered with a flesh-like leotard...

But Shakespeare and the Anglo-Saxon tradition is not the only represented. Our Alexandre Dumas gave ideas to some of them. Jed Allan (C.C. Capwell) plays a seducing D'Artagnan, and perfidious Mrs. De Winter will have the features and the silhouette of Judith McConnell (Sophie Capwell). Japan was not forgotten. Ross Kettle (Jeffrey Conrad) is covered with the armour of a samourai and Robin Wright (Kelly Capwell) is a masked court lady. The cruel emperor Nero, finally, pleased to Justin Deas (Keith Timmons), but there is neither Agrippina nor Octavia.

The adjustment of this spectacle of quality was not so easy. A new comer in the show, John Tesh, was asked to play the part of a reporter sent by a local newspaper to cover the famous dress ball of the two enemy families. And the most difficult was perhaps to join together everyone on the photo. I attended the shooting of the episode. Everyone was over-excited. The director became mad while howling that he never had had a such difficult scene to regulate in his life; the accessories suppliers hustled all the presents ones so that everything is well in place at each change of setting; the dressers ran behind their appointed stars to adjust a detail of costume; the make-up girls did not know where to give of the head any more. In this indescribable bustle, in this anthill on which loudspeakers unceasingly howled names and contradictory orders, all ended up being well in place, like the figures of a well regulated ballet. Hollywood is also like this !