Tufts soap opera will soon be on a TV near you

Get out of the way, Guiding Light. Watch out, As the World Turns. Television's newest soap opera is coming direct to channel 43, and this time the young and the restless will be students at everyone's favorite university.

The upcoming TUTV soap opera is a carry-over from last semester, a project written, directed by, and starring Tufts students. A promo of the show is currently running on the Tufts direct access station, channel 43, with the rest of the series promised to follow in the near future. Each twenty-minute episode will focus on several colorful characters, from wide-eyed freshmen to cynical seniors, going about their day-to-day life at Tufts.

Though most of the cast is returning from the previous semester, producer Hannah Suh says that some recasting may be necessary due to schedule conflicts.

The plot is currently being reworked to focus on an upcoming Valentine's Day party with plenty of unexpected twists and sudden sharp turns that one would expect from a soap opera. Shooting should be finished by Feb. 14 with the first show expected to air by the end of February.

Because the show's producers have no budget at their disposal, they have to be resourceful. Cast members provide their own wardrobes and production assistants scout dorm rooms for filming locations.

"It's going to be a bit hectic, but we're going to get it done," says Suh. "People are usually a bit wary of preproduction and the filming itself, but we have an exciting script and I think it's going to be a fun thing to do."

The TUTV soap opera is intended to echo features of network television's daytime shows. To the traditional story lines of evil twins and jealous relationships, the show will add Tufts-like spins to the mix: characters will face mismatched roommates, computers will eat term papers at the last minute, and there will be other collegiate nightmares.

In a nutshell, says Suh, the soap opera will be a microcosm of the Tufts experience. "It's a small school, so everyone here is separated by one degree _ even if you don't know a person yourself, you know someone who knows the person," she said.

Working on film poses its own special problems, especially considering that most of Tufts' theater population is used to performing on the stage. Everything on film, Suh says, is much smaller. "Every tic, every blemish shows up on the camera," she said, which means the smallest gesture can carry a huge meaning to the actor's audience.

Just like any other performer, soap actors must get into their characters' heads, research their background and discover their motivations _ even if the motivation is coming from beyond the grave to get revenge against one's identical twin.

In the end, behind the jealous rivalries and overblown relationships, Suh says that Tufts' newest soap opera is "just like life."

But, as junior Adrian Pellereau adds, "Only it's a little bit more dramatic."