GUIDING LIGHT Arrives In Florida

GUIDING LIGHT will be at Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida starting today through Saturday. Cast and crew will be at the Resort taping scenes throughout Universal Studios Florida, Universal's Islands of Adventure and Universal CityWalk. The scenes taped at the Resort will air over multiple episodes in mid to late April 2009.

On Saturday there will be an autograph signing from 11am to 5pm.

Dewayne Bevil writes on today's Orlando Sentinel (OrlandoSentinel.com/tpr):

The shooting schedule is, to say the least, fast-paced. The crew of about 100 people will squeeze in about seven episodes' worth of material into five days. The takes start even before the parks open. Park guests may be seen in the background, though Universal team members are on guard to keep folks from aimlessly wandering onto the hot set.

Monday morning, they completed scenes in front of the hat shop, in front of Terminator 2, at the turnstiles, just inside the entrance, two near the globe at CityWalk, Mel's Drive-In, and at the lake -- all before 10 a.m. They're shooting out of sequence, which saves time overall. And while there's a schedule of what they plan to do each day, it changes frequently. The actors must call in every hour to see if there's a change that requires them to be on set.

No spoilers here. Universal Orlando stars as itself, and there was definite script approval. I've only seen the script for Monday, but you could bet a pretty penny that there won't be a storyline involving Murder at the Theme Park. It's good clean fun at Guiding Light this week. Bill (played by Daniel Cosgrove) and Lizzie (Marcy Rylan) are basically having a romp -- and multiple costume changes -- at Universal.

Oh, and they meet a certain Theme Park Ranger. I was recruited for/agreed to two spoken lines with Cosgrove and Rylan as they enter the park (in real life, the exit, but work with me here). A grand total of 13 word -- in one take too! I'm not a theme-park employee, but I play one on TV, complete with green checked shirt, pleated khakis and nametag for "Michael" though in the script he was referred to only as TICKET MAN. Call imdb!

Director Ellen Wheeler yelled "perfect!" and the whole shooting match was off to the next scene. She keeps things moving at a brisk pace. All she needs in a little orange flag and they'd be a Brazilian tour group: actors, camera men, costume, makeup, producers, set managers all fall in line.

If you are in the area, you don't have to wait until Saturday to see a GL star. Karla Mosley (Christina) will be singing the national anthem today at the New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies spring training game. The game begins at 1:15 pm at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.