'General Hospital' at Graceland: Soap stars come to Elvis-land for fan celebration

When you look up "Laura Wright" on the Internet Movie Database, the website that functions as an encyclopedia of film and television credits, you will notice that the first of the 51 images in Wright's "photo gallery" depicts the actress in what appears to be mid-grimace, her teeth clenched upon the red gag tied around her mouth.

“That’s probably when she was kidnapped," said Wright, referring to Carly Corinthos, the character she has played for the past 17 years on the ABC daytime soap opera, "General Hospital."

"A crazy woman had kidnapped Carly and taken her hostage," Wright added, as nonchalantly as a person in a less romantic profession might explain that a less startling picture was snapped during the office Christmas party or at a family reunion.

Already much-photographed, Wright no doubt will appear in thousands of new images this week, captured by enthusiastic amateurs rather than by network camera crews. That's because she is one of about a dozen "General Hospital" cast members and executives scheduled to be at Graceland Oct. 28-30 for the "2022 General Hospital Fan Celebration," a convention that brings soap opera addicts from across the country to Memphis, to pay homage to Port Charles, New York.

Some real "Hospital" heavy hitters will be at the "Celebration," to regale the 300 or so fans who already have registered to attend. Some paid as much as $1,250 for "VIP" access, while others went for a $50 "day pass."

Among the cast members making the General Hospital-Graceland connection are Genie Francis, the "Laura" of "Luke and Laura" fame; Maurice Benard, who plays Sonny Corinthos, described by Wikipedia as a "manic depressive mob kingpin"; Donnell Turner, who on TV is private investigator Curtis Ashford; and Cameron Mathison, also a heartthrob in Hallmark Channel movies.

The stars and fans will interact during meet-and-greets, panel discussions, costume parties, marathon episode screenings, Graceland tours and other events.

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Luke and Laura, Port Charles' supercouple

As fictional as Oz (albeit less fanciful), Port Charles is the city where the titular General Hospital is located. It's a city that for close to 60 years has been home to doctors, nurses, patients, newlyweds, widows, adulterers, gangsters and even a handsome outer-space alien (in a particularly outlandish 1990 story arc).

Also, Port Charles was home to Luke and Laura Spencer, the soap opera world's "signature supercouple" (so says Wikipedia), played by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis. The fraught Luke-and-Laura romance vaulted "General Hospital" to a mainstream awareness that perhaps no daytime soap opera had achieved since vampire Barnabas Collins stalked through "Dark Shadows" in the late 1960s and early '70s, a decade before the Luke-and-Laura heyday.

This era of soap opera chic captivated even Elizabeth Taylor, who was a guest star on the 1981 Luke-and-Laura wedding episode, which attracted 30 million viewers. Geary eventually left the "Hospital," but Francis remains a major presence; in fact, in 2019, Francis' Laura was elected mayor of Port Charles.

This week's "Fan Celebration" will be the third General Hospital convention at Graceland. (The others were in 2019 and 2020, before the COVID-19 shutdowns.) The union seems logical, from a pop-culture standpoint. Elvis set sales records and remains arguably the top pop-music icon of all time, while "General Hospital" — which debuted on April 1, 1963, two days before Elvis' 10th movie, "It Happened at the World's Fair," opened in theaters — is itself a phenomenon: It's now the longest-running national TV series still in production (not counting news and sports shows).

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'General Hospital' stays true to original concept 60 years later

Once a staple of millions of Americans' regular TV diet (especially "housewives," in an era before many married women had salaried jobs), daytime soap operas are now a vanishing breed. In addition to "General Hospital," the only soaps airing on a major network are "The Young and the Restless," which dates to 1973, and "The Bold and the Beautiful," which launched in 1987, both on CBS. (A fourth, "Days of Our Lives," which debuted on NBC in 1965, was moved to the Peacock streaming service in August.)

"Part of the reason 'General Hospital' has stayed around so long is that it remains true to the original concept of the show, which is the lives and loves of people connected to a hospital," said Frank Valentini, a soap opera veteran who has been executive producer of "General Hospital" since 2003.

He said viewers who become enamored of soap operas often develop a close connection with the (frequently traumatized characters) and a deep devotion to the (sometimes outrageous) plots. In part, this is because soap operas air new episodes five days a week, week in and week out. The intensity of emotion displayed onscreen is matched by the intensity of the production schedule.

"We're in their living room every day, not once a week, and we tell stories about family and relationships," said Wright, whose Carly Corinthos may be Port Charles' most popular citizen since Laura Spencer. "And we're only there because of the fans, we're only on the air because of them, and that's why it's so exciting to come out and interact with them."

"We can three-dimensionalize stories and tell stories in a much more elaborate and complex way than you have time for on a show that's only once a week," Valentini said.

Sometimes, that complexity is applied to a lurid plotline; but soap operas also are able to take long-term looks at problems with long-term impact on some members of their audiences. For example, he said, a "very full" Alzheimer disease storyline on "General Hospital" generated a lot of favorable reaction from viewers who, in their daily lives, interact with loved ones with various forms of dementia.

Soap operas 'should get more respect'

Events during the fan convention will take place at such locations on the "Elvis campus" as the Exhibition Center, The Guest House at Graceland (the hotel), and the Soundstage (the performance venue, where a concert featuring Rick Springfield — known to "General Hospital" fans as "Dr. Noah Drake" — is set for Oct. 29). Production on the third season of the NBC series "The Young Rock" remains ongoing within areas of the Exhibition Center, on specially built soundstages, but convention events and the television program's shooting schedule will not overlap.

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For that "and a million other reasons," soap operas "absolutely should get more respect and be more prominently featured in our industry," said Wright (who is respected by her peers, at least: She's a six-time nominee and one-time winner in the "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series" category of the Daytime Emmy Awards).

However challenging the "Young Rock" schedule may be, it would be luxurious to the stars of "General Hospital," who film some 270 episodes of the show per year. (In comparison, season 3 of "Young Rock" will consist of 13 episodes.)

After all, shouldn't a show that's held an audience for almost 60 years be part of the so-called critical and cultural discourse, alongside such trendy newcomers as "Severance" and "House of the Dragon"?

"It's my job to find the reality in heightened drama," Wright said. "I don't think it's that different from 'Game of Thrones.'"

General Hospital Fan Celebration

Oct. 28-30 at Graceland

More than a dozen series stars and executives in attendance. Panels, parties, a Rick Springfield concert and more.

Ticket packages include the $1,250 VIP Pass, the $225 Weekend-plus-Concert Pass and the $50 Day Pass, among other options.

For tickets, a schedule of events and more information, visit graceland.com/gh2022.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: 'General Hospital' at Graceland: What to know about fan celebration