Can you tell me more about your new soap Passions? What is it about?

Absolutely. With pleasure. I’m rather passionate about Passions. Passions follows the dramatic lives of four families: the Cranes, the Russells, the Bennetts and the Lopez-Fitzgeralds. They reside in a quaint, charming, town called Harmony…a strange name for a place where life is anything but harmonious. The reason for this discord is that the townspeople of Harmony harbour secrets – secrets of all kinds….secret pasts. secret fears, secret fantasies…and, of course…secret passions. There is one very powerful secret however, that provides the undercurrent for all of the nasty, evil-doings in Harmony….a secret that threatens to destroy not only all of Harmony’s residents, but the town of Harmony itself!! This secret belongs to Tabitha Lenox. On the outside Tabitha is a sweet, somewhat eccentric, harmless old lady. In truth, sweet little Tabitha is a 300 year old witch – a witch with a vendetta against Harmony and all its residents.

Do you think viewers will enjoy Passions? Why?

I believe that viewers will love Passions and be very quick to embrace this soap …even those viewers who are not traditionally soap viewers. Historically, the most successful soaps have been those whose storylines focus on some very basic themes. Love, hate, desire, disappointment, bitterness, envy, conflict, compassion… these emotions are the threads that run through each of our lives and are familiar to all of us. In this aspect, Passions will not disappoint. A strong core family is also essential to a successful soap. In Egoli for example, it’s the powerful and wealthy Vorsters who have fuelled that show’s storylines for many years. The Bold and the Beautiful has the Forresters. Days of our Lives has the Brady family. In Passions we have the Cranes. It is important to mention here that Passions is the creation of James Reilly. Mr. Reilly was headwriter for Days of our Lives during the mid-nineties and it was he who brought the titillating mix of Gothic story and contemporary appeal to that show, blending them with those never-ending romantic triangles that are a staple of soap storytelling. The results were phenomenal. With storylines that included heroines being buried alive and possessed by the devil, Days skyrocketed to the top of the daytime ratings in the U.S. (Here in South Africa as well…who doesn’t watch Days?) James Reilly has infused his newest creation, Pas
sions with all the elements that have made Days an across-the-board smash success throughout the world. With that said, I’m not going to give away any more “secrets” regarding Passions” storyline. All I can say is that viewers should fasten their seat belts cause they’re in for one heck of an emotional roller-coaster ride!

Is Passions a local soap?

From the outset viewers will see that James Reilly created Passions for an international audience. The Passions crew travelled to Paris to shoot scenes on location that appear in the first twenty or so episodes. (The Passions crew shoots a very high ratio of its scenes outdoors in various locales.) In terms of storyline, for any soap to be a success on an international scale it must have a strong element of romance. Romance is the international language and Passions speaks this language…over and over again.

How long does the series run for?

Passions premiered in the U.S. in July 1999 and airs on NBC in a one-hour format. The series is doing extremely well and I expect it will be running for a long time to come. ABN has made an initial purchase of the first 260 hours of the series, which will be broadcast in its entirety in a specially edited 30-minute version to fit its half-hour time slot. That translates into 520 half-hours initially.

What is your target market?

Passions is unique in that it has a broad-based appeal that spans numerous demographics, including age, ethnicity and economics. Reflecting back to the four core families that form the backbone of the storylines-we have the Cranes who are “the super rich,” the Bennetts and Russells who are more middle class and the Lopez-Fitzgeralds who are more working class. They all have teenage children or children in their twenties, which accounts for the strong teen-based storylines that offer great appeal to younger viewers. Yet the storylines featuring characters in their thirties, forties and up are very strong and equally as riveting. The other unique aspect of Passions is its prominent multiethnic, multiracial make-up. All the core families (two white, one black, one of Latin origin) have front burner storylines that interweave on a daily basis. And all of their storylines are aspirational. By way of example, the Russells are one of Harmony’s prominent black families. T.C. Russell is a high school tennis coach. His wife, Eve, is a doctor, and they have two teenage daughters – Whitney, an Olympic games hopeful and her younger sister, boy-crazy Simone. The Lopez-Fitzgeralds are a mix of Irish and Latin. The eldest son, Luis, is a policeman in Harmony. His younger brother, Miguel is a student who is saving up for college. And sister Teresa. Well, she’s the dreamer. The problem with Teresa is that she dreams…and dreams…and dreams. And all of her dreams and schemes land her in some of the most hilariously funny predicaments.

Which brings me to Passions other forte… humour. Passions has moments of sheer madness and pure delight. James Reilly has created characters so multi-dimensional in scope and broad in emotional range that not even evil Tabitha is unredeemingly “bad.” In fact, many of the scenes involving this character are among the show’s most hilarious. Credit here must also go to Emmy award winning actress Juliet Mills, who infuses the character of Tabitha Lenox with a perfect balance of malevolence and good spirited fun. I would like to make mention here that all of the cast is equally as marvellous….and they are matched every step of the way by a superb writing team (several of them Days of our Lives graduates) and a production team that cranks out a first rate show – five days a weeks. There you have it. A new soap for Africa that has something for everyone and enough romance, mystery, suspense, humor and “passion” to keep viewers on the edge of their seats for a long time to come.

How will Passions compare with Isidingo? Can you give me your comments and opinions on both?

Isidingo is remarkable. I have tremendous admiration for the series because it is so very brave in its presentation of sensitive themes such as HIV and rape. This is story-telling with a sometimes “unpretty” message that is sensitively written, sensitively portrayed, extremely well-acted and presented in a way that thoroughly “entertains” its audience while simultaneously empowering them. I’ve never seen anything like it and I watch the series as often as I can. Isidingo is, of course, more focused towards a local audience. Passions is more international in scope and highly aspirational.