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Cyndi Lauper Brings Her "True Colors" to Oakdale
courtesy Cyndi Lauper
Oh, those crazy folks at As the World Turns! For months, they ran scared of anti-gay Christian groups outraged by the romance of Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann) — so scared that the boys went 211 days between kisses!
Now, in a wild, what-the-hell reversal, ATWT will throw a gay pride dance party on the July 3 episode, complete with Cyndi Lauper singing her GLBT power anthem "True Colors".
Lauper rang us from her current 24-city U.S. tour to tell us about her World turn. — Michael Logan
TVGuide.com: Did you know you were stepping into such a controversial story line?
Cyndi Lauper: Yeah, but why is true love controversial? Those so-called "Jesus people" are so confused, so disconnected from their hearts. They don’t speak for Jesus. He would be horrified at their beliefs! What CBS has done here is groundbreaking and very courageous. Also smart, because a lot of gay people watch soaps. I'm honored to be a little part of it.
TVGuide.com: Luke and Noah are on the outs at the moment – in fact, Noah even shows up at the pride party with another guy. But, word is, you play matchmaker and bring 'em back together.
Lauper: Hey, I’m a real buttinsky, so who wouldn’t want to get involved with that? I tell those boys, "You never give up on love!" And it's true. There will always be obstacles but, in the end, it's all about love, pal.
TVGuide.com: Yeah, but Nuke fans say there have been too many obstacles, like Noah's green-card wife and his homophobic daddy. Your episode will end with Noah announcing he’s joined the army! There’s concern that all this is intended to keep the romance chaste. Thoughts?
Lauper: Anybody can do the badda-bing badda-boom sex stuff. Luke and Noah have taken a slower, deeper path and, in the end, that'll have a more powerful impact on the audience. But I know what you mean about that awful father! When they told me how terrible he's been to Luke and Noah I wanted a scene with that guy! I wanted to give him a piece of my mind. [Laughs] But they said I’d scare the hell out of him.
TVGuide: Is it true that "True Colors" was almost Anne Murray’s song?
Lauper: It was originally intended to be a kind of country-western gospel song and was first offered to her — and she turned it down!
TVGuide.com: So how did it fall into your lap?
Lauper: "That’s What Friends Are For" had just come out when my friend Gregory was ill with AIDS and had gone into the hospital. He wanted me to write a song for him just like that, and I’m thinking, "Oh, s--t...me write like Burt Bacharach? How the hell am I gonna do that?" In the meantime, my management sent me "True Colors" after Anne Murray took a pass, and I was struck by the words and the melody. Me and my friend and co-arranger at that time, Peter Wood kinda stripped it down and made more open chords. And that’s how the song came together. I sang it I guess because I was hurting. I sang it for Gregory’s lover Carl, who survived him, and for Gregory’s family of friends.
TVGuide.com: Were you surprised that it became a gay anthem?
Lauper: I knew it was a healing song but had no idea how much it meant to the gay community until 1994 when I sang it at Gay Pride. A man came up and presented me with a new version of the rainbow flag and said he had designed it after being inspired by the song. You could have knocked me down with a feather! That night I wrapped that flag around myself on stage and sang "True Colors" in a way I'd never sung it before — and it was only then that I realized that Gregory did get his wish.
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Jun 24, 2008 3:36 PM
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Hell yeah Cyndi!
Bring our babies back together where they belong!
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Jun 24, 2008 4:46 PM
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I don't know if CL charcterized the anti-gay group that is attacking ATWT as the "Jesus people" or if they characterize themselves that way, but she is right about one thing: those folks do NOT represent Jesus' values of loving everyone.
As a follower of Christ I'm tired of the loud, obnoxious, hateful Christians getting all the press and giving the rest of us a bad name.
I'm a faithful Presbyterian and was very proud to read that this coming Sunday gay members of my faith and other Protestants will share communion in front of our church and then march in the Heritage of Pride parade. For the first time this group even has a float.
Go tolerance! Now THAT is a teaching Jesus would have stood behind.
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Jun 25, 2008 2:59 PM
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Logan,
Exactly what EVIDENCE do you have that "the folks at As the Worlds Turns" ran scared of the Christian right and the watchdogs?
Was it not YOU who said the following in TV Guide blog #80003617 (http://community.tvguide.com/blog-entry/TVGuide-Editors-Blog/Soaps-News/Atwt-Gay-Nuke/800036717):
"My take? I think the folks at ATWT are loving the scandal and milking it for all it's worth. How else to explain that recent scene where Luke — in a nod to the controversy — leaned into Noah and seductively whispered, "What is hotter than a forbidden romance?"
You said those words, sir. Now you are saying it was because they were "scared"? are these the same "crazy" folks who kept and keep the Luke and Noah romance going, complete with an increase in the number of kisses, going so far as to show them in bed together suggesting — gasp — sex between the couple? Are these the same "crazy" people who have resisted the calls of the zealots to get rid of Luke & Noah altogether? And if what you are saying now is true about them running scared then, what could have possibly changed for ATWT to throw a gay pride celebration in Oakdale now?
While there is certainly some level of legitimate criticism about how Luke & Noah have been handled, your claim that P&G ran "scared" when you yourself speculated the lack of kissing was because those crazy folks at ATWT were "milking" the publicity is a shameful bit of unnecessary and unsubstantiated hyperbole on your part.
After reading your columns for years, I expect better of you, Mr. Logan.
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Jun 26, 2008 11:52 PM
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Gee....I didn't know anyone still watched that garbage. Also Cyndiwho?????
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Jun 30, 2008 12:06 PM
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I, for one, don't mind the obstacles -- this is a soap, after all. I just hope there's more kissing (and more) in the future. Cyndi's awesome, and I look forward to seeing her in Oakdale.
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Jun 30, 2008 12:18 PM
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It's HIGH-larious when miscreants like Sadiebug make comments about people watching "that garbage" and disparage an icon of the 80's who is still a popular performer like Cyndi Lauper as some kind of broadsided superior insult, yet they care deeply enough to not only read an article about them but take the time to actually comment about it.
I wonder what's on Sadie's tv schedule? Uplifting fare like Wipeout, Moment of Truth and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? no doubt.
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Jul 1, 2008 10:03 AM
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This was so great!
Thank you Cyndi! Thank you ATWT!
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Jul 7, 2008 12:04 PM
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