The fictional event has been hosted by ‘Mistress of Ceremonies’ Lucy Coe, played by Lynn Herring, since the inaugural ball in 1994. Lynn has been a part of the cast of the long-running soap opera for almost 40 years and gave insight into what viewers can expect this year.”The main thing, I think, for folks, is that there are two really wonderful stories that are dramatic that come to a head at the ball. Sometimes we haven’t had as much drama, and this one is good,” the actress said.The Nurses Ball, a recurring storyline in the show, is a charity gala used to raise awareness and raise money to support HIV/AIDS research.Lynn gave an inside look at this year’s emotional event. “Usually, they have me do the opening speech and welcome to the ball,” she said. “And this year, [co-head writers] Elizabeth [Korte] and Chris [Van Etten] gave me a speech about how Lucy started it 31 years ago. I choked up, and the audience kind of choked up, too, because we’re reliving a tradition and then also emphasizing how dark it was in the AIDS/HIV days and how far we’ve come.”
She went on to say, “And this speech, they just did such a nice job because it kind of re-lit my enthusiasm about how much in real life communities come together for a cause, and it became very real for that moment when I was up on the stage. It sort of flavored the rest of the ball for me, and all those memories came flooding back about what we have done and accomplished with the ball over the years. It’s just a really nice way to start the ball off and get the enthusiasm back.”
Lynn’s character Lucy will continue the tradition of multiple outfit changes this year. “Shawn [Reeves, costume designer] is a miracle worker,” she said.
“Sometimes in the past, I’ve had 14 changes when [former Costume Designer] Bob Miller was doing it, and then with budget constraints, we had less. This year, Shawn was determined to get me at least five or six changes, so he got creative with how to make these dresses special and to give Lucy more changes. I was just thrilled that he put that kind of love and attention to it.”
