Set Visit: Cyndi Lauper Helps "As the World Turns" Celebrate Gay Pride

When I was invited to the set of As the World Turns to cover the special guest appearance of Cyndi Lauper, I was shocked. For a second I wondered if the whole thing was a clever ruse organized by staffers who were fed up with my snarky liveblogs and were luring me to the set with pop diva promises only to stuff me in a cage made of human bones and force me to watch Noah’s wedding to Ameera on infinite repeat until my brain bled out my ears.

Thankfully, this was not the case.

It seemed that the Girl who taught everyone about Having Fun back in the 80s and who in recent years has emerged as one of the most prominent gay rights advocates was indeed dropping by Oakdale, and that her appearance involved gay characters Luke and Noah. So I grabbed my trusty recorder and headed down to Brooklyn, not sure what to expect.

I’ll tell you what I didn’t expect: to find that Gay Pride had come to Oakdale.

When I was led to the set of Yo’s (Oakdale’s beloved dive bar), it took me a minute to notice amidst the scurrying crewmembers and cameras that the bar was festooned with rainbow flags. I guess that, having lived in New York for a decade and being a frequent visitor of gay establishments, maybe it didn’t immediately register that the Pride flags and True Colors Tour posters that papered the bar were a bit out-of-place in what was supposed to be a honkeytonk in small-town Illinois.

So what’s the deal?

Jake Silbermann, who plays Noah, explains, “Cyndi is doing a benefit between her shows in New York and Chicago. She made a little pit stop in Oakdale, and she’s gonna put on a show at Yo’s. She’s doing a Gay Pride benefit, and Luke is going to interview her for the school paper. Noah gets to meet her and be a little starstruck, so it’s fun.”

Yes, with Luke and Noah’s relationship in shambles, the show has enlisted Lauper to come to town and teach the boys a little lesson in true love. When she joined our “coffee clutch” around the Snyder Family kitchen table (truly a surreal experience, believe me) later that morning, Cyndi puts it this way:

“Well, there’s a lot goin’ on, as you know. Noah split up with Luke, and he’s goin’ off with someone else, but really his father’s messed up, and his mom passed away … can’t really talk about it. So there’s a lot goin’ on, and I figured this would be a good opportunity to step right in and try to bring people together, that’s what I do. Bit of a nosybody but hey, gotta say somethin’. Singing, a little matchmaking … nothing my family hasn’t passed down from generation to generation.”