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Soap
Opera Digest;
The
Couple: Meg Cummings and Ben Evans.
Soap
Star Hairstyles;
WEDDING BELLES - Relive some of the storybook weddings - and wedding day 'dos - from your favorite soaps! MEG
During their nearly three-year relationship on Sunset Beach, worldly Ben
and innocent Meg (Susan
Soap
Opera Weekly;
"Even
though I could be nasty and say Ben looked like the groom on the top of
the wedding cake, the fact is I adore the very earnest and charming Clive
Robertson. He's grown so much in the role. Robertson and Susan Ward worked
very hard to earn this day, as did all the fans who watched the couple
surmount obstacle after obstacle since their rocky romance started."
Soap
Opera Digest;
The Duo Doing the "I Do" - ing: Meg Cummings and Ben Evans Year: 1998 Venue For Vows: In the mission church in town, of course. Traditional Meg wouldn't settle for anything else. Memorable Moments: Psychic Carmen brandished a pistol and tried to halt the nupitals, frantically insisting that Ben and Meg shouldn't marry. Cop Ricardo wrestled the gun from Carmen's hands, but the fireworks didn't end there. After Ben and Meg were declared Mr. and Mrs. and went on to their reception, an amnesic Maria - Carmen's daughter and Ben's presumed dead wife - wandered into fete just in time to catch the bouquet. Surprise! For
Better Or For Worse?: Far worse. Aside from the fact that Maria's
arrival means that Ben's union with Meg is null and void, Ben also learned
that he and Maria share a young son together. That acknowledge has pushed
Maria and Ben closer together and put a wedge between him and Meg, who
have each convinced themselves that Ben's place is with Maria. The Ben/Meg
rift deepened when Meg discovered that Ben slept with Maria. Estranged
from Ben, Meg is now struggling with her feelings for Casey.
Soap
Opera Digest;
The Year: 1999 The Story: Ben's first wife, Maria, presumably drowned in 1993. Five years later, shortly after Ben and Meg said their "I do's", an amnesic Maria turned up at the ceremony. The Loose End: Ben vowed to dissolve his union with Maria. In March, he even planned to go to the Dominican Republic with Maria for a quickie divorce. But then came the arrival of little Benjy, who said to be ben and maria's son. The trip was off; so was the divorce. Odds Of A Tie-Up: Forget it. Beach prefers to believe that bigamist Ben is married only to Maria. The
Way The Show Sees It: "Ben's not married to Meg at all,"
insists Co-Head Writer Maggie DePriest. "That marriage is null and void.
But he is married to Maria still.
Soap
Opera Update;
When
we first met sweet Meg, she was running in tears from her wedding to Tim
in Kansas. The bride-no-to-be escaped to Sunset Beach, and as legend
had it, met her destiny, Ben, on the beach at sunset. He was brooding
over a deep dark secret named Maria, but Meg quickly won his heart.
Since then, Meg and Ben have battled more than their unfair share of soap
traumas, including deadly twin Derek, but their love stood the test of
time. That is, until Ben's first wife Maria returned from the land
of the undead and destroyed their beautiful wedding. Ever since that
day, there's been nothing but trouble for these star-crossed lovers.
Soap
Opera Update;
Ben - Sunset Beach - 9th Place out of 10 He
finally said "I do" to the woman he loves after months of nearly insurmountable
obstacles, only to have his presumed-dead first wife crash the wedding
reception. It's fair to say that any man in this situation would
be pretty shaken up, but since getting past the initial shock, Ben has
handled the situation admirably. While it's clear that he cares for
Maria, he's not experiencing guilty pangs over her reappearance or doubts
about his new marriage to Meg. Instead, he's doing what he can to
help his former wife get her life back and using every opportunity to convince
Meg that he loves her and that she is the woman he wants.
Soap
Opera Digest;
Best Wedding - Ben&Meg The orchids arrived on time. The bride was stunning. The groom never looked better -- dresses to the hilt in a dapper morning coat. But Ben&Meg should have known their long-planned wedding was doomed when the organist kicked off the festivities with "Ave Maria". Si, Maria Torres Evans -- Ben's long-presumed-drowned wife -- was alive and back in town. The audience had already been clued to "Dana's" true identity weeks before, which made it fun to see all the near-misses (about 50 of them) leading up to the wedding. When Maria approached the chapel doors as Ben&Meg were exchanging vows, it was agonizing. We were on the edge of our folding chairs as Maraia broke a shoe heel and then got locked in the ladies' room. At
the reception -- bingo! -- Maria caught the bouquet, making her Meg's reluctant
flower girl. The best part of this story is that Maria's return means Ben
and Meg's wedding wasn't legal -- so maybe we'll get to see it all over
again.
Soap
Opera Digest;
Beach's Ben and Meg say "I Do" - For Now. Few couples have had to cross as many speed bumps to happiness as Sunset Beach's Ben Evans and Meg Cummings, who met on the Internet, but have discovered the hard way that love's not as easy as sending an Instant Message. Ben's one guy with more history than the Roman Empire, and as pieces of it pop up, his relationship with Meg always seems in danger of crumbling. Sure, they made it to the altar, but just barely. And what about Meg's missing wedding guest, Dana? My Wife And My Dead Wife: After dodging the speeding bullet known as Derek, Ben's evil twin, nothing could keep the two lovers apart. Unless, of course, Ben's first wife, Maria (presumed drowned five years ago), showed up. As everyone recovered from a devastating earthquake, an amnesiac Maria was found wandering in Dana Point and placed in hospital for observation. Tim figured out who she was, and then Annie recognized her old friend, but rather than fill Maria in on what was going on, they concocted an elaborate plan to keep her identity a secret, planning to spring Maria on the wedding party. Meanwhile, Meg (who'd never seen what Maria looked like) and "Dana" became fast friends. How cozy! Don't Stand On Ceremony: The march down the aisle went without a hitch, but that was just a lull in the proceedings. First, Carmen (Maria's mother) had the psychic intuition (and the pistol power to back it up) to know that something was afoot and tried to stop the wedding by waving a gun at the couple. Once she was disarmed, the ceremony began again - but didn't continue for long. Annie and Tim's big plan involved Maria, clad in an off-the-shoulder, simple white dress, barging in on the big ceremony. But when they "lost" her (she somehow got locked in the chapel's ladies' room), Anie and Tim decided to interrupt the proceedings themselves and show Meg the photo of Maria with Annie. Ben took them both outside, knocked Tim out and let Casey literally usher both into a different room. With the troublemakers ordered to stay away, the ceremony proceeded without further interruption - mainly because Maria was still trapped in the loo. But this is one secret that had to come out... during the bridal bouquet toss at the reception. What's a man with two wives to do? Dressed
to Kill: When Beach Costume Designer Chic Gennarelli's original
wedding dress for Meg was rejected (he didn't want Maria's appearance after
the wedding to be the only thing revealed), he got a little creative, adapting
a dress he's purchased from a Los Angeles bridal shop. "I really thought
the first one was going to be a go," Gennarelli explains, "so there really
wasn't a lot of time to make a whole new wedding dress. I wanted a gown
with a sexy, see-through lace top that still covered up everything for
the needs of a farm girl. The shoulders are bare to depict a Sunset Beach
wedding -- connecting the Midwest with the beach. We took satin off from
the bottom and replaced it with netting to create the look of a cloud --
or even an angel."
Soap
Opera Digest;
Interruptions
notwithstanding, it was nice to see SUNSET BEACH's Meg and Ben wed in an
authentic wedding ceremony. It's rare to see a nuptial mass on daytime.
Soap
Opera Digest;
It was the event that SUNSET BEACH had been building to almost since its premiere nearly two years ago: The wedding of country mouse Meg Cummings and city mouse Ben Evans - but this was no day as Disneyland. Mousetraps aplenty had been carefully laid, months in advance - all set to snap as the lovers journeyed down the aisle. Except for a thunderstorm, the obstacles were not BEACH's usual fare. Instead of earthquakes and tidal waves, human relationships threatened the star-crossed lovers' bliss. As the wedding approached, Carmen played by the deliciously hilarious Margarita Cordova, began to wig out. Plagued by the belief that her daughter, Maria (Ben'' drowned wife), was alive, she saw Ben and Meg's wedding as the apocalypse. As it turned out, the loony lady was dead on. Things began to crumble the moment Carmen stormed into the Cummings house and pleaded with Meg to cancel the nuptials. This provoked an inspired performance from Susan Ward (Meg). "Why are you doing this to me?" the bride-to-be sobbed. Ward's ability to convey the compassion for and understanding of a mother's grief succeeded in gaining sympathy for both women. When the action moved to the chapel, several subplots gained steam - all threatening to climax in a simultaneous eruption of licentious lava. A desperate Carmen slithered inside, as her son, Antonio, officiated the nuptials. The padre was a little hot under the collar himself, unable to take his eyes off bridesmaid Gabi. Maid-of-honor Sara fantasized about marrying best man Casey. With all those lustful looks darting back and forth, we were caught off guard when Carmen rose from her pew, thrust her gun in the air and screamed, "You're going to listen to me - all of you!" And we did, as the eccentric psychic pushed Meg to the breaking point. "I am through listening to anything you have to say ever again!" the bride spat. Carmen was promptly escorted out by her sons, who demonstrated just the right blend of shame and support for their hysterical mama. Another interruption arrived in the form of Annie and Tim, but they were quickly removed. While all this was going down, the biggest bombshell was lurking in the wings, err, vestibule. Fans were pulling out their hair as amnesiac Maria's entry was delayed by one mishap after another. First, a broken heel forced her into the bathroom. Then, the doorknob fell off, trapping her inside. When Maria tried to escape through a window, she fell and was knocked unconscious. By the time she came to, Meg and Ben were married. The newlyweds celebrated at the reception until Meg tossed her bouquet - rotating in super slow-motion - and it landed in wife No. 1's arms. Newcomer Christina Chambers skillfully conveyed the heartbreaking fear and confusion that Maria was feeling. When she fainted, we nearly did too. Ben
stared with disbelief and horror at his resurrected spouse as Meg realized
the shocking identity of her new pal, Dana. It was a thrilling roller coaster
ride for all three passengers - and it's far from over.
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