"The City" premieres on Monday, November 13, as 12 key characters (indicated in bold) from the ABC daytime drama "Loving," move from the fictional location of Corinth, PA, to the real downtown New York City neighborhood of SoHo and begin to share their lives with some unique neighbors. At the heart of "The City" is romance with a touch of humor, as the dreams and the despair of city life are played out in a very special loft building.
Sydney Chase (Morgan Fairchild) is the bright, beautiful and witty driving force behind communications conglomerate, Chase International, and she prides herself on taking impossible situations and making them work. Sydney is devoted to her husband, the reclusive Jared Chase, although they are no longer seen in public together. A patron of the arts, Sydney owns the empty loft building, containing her sprawling penthouse. Her plans to turn the rest of the building into a cultural center are turned upside down when Australian tabloid reporter Richard Wilkins (Corey Page) deliberately defies her and rents the building spaces to his friends from Corinth. Richard's hit syndicated series, "Hotline," is owned by Chase International, but Richard and Sydney appear to have other, less public, ties that bind them.
Tough and determined Tess Wilder (Catherine Hickland) is thrilled to escape her suffocating small town life to launch the Wilder Modeling Agency in a SoHo loft. Up until now, Tess has been unlucky in love and unluckier in business, but it seems that for the first time in her life, everything is going her way. For the moment. Tess has lured pregnant model Steffi Brewster (Amelia Weatherly) to the agency. Once an international covergirl, Steffi is keeping herself under wraps until the birth of her child, in order to keep her ex-fiance from learning he is going to be a father. Ally Rescott Bowman (Laura Wright) has come to New York to start life anew as a fledgling photographer at the agency. A young widow, Ally has arrived in New York a little wilder and a little more adventurous than she was in Corinth, but she hadn't planned on working with Danny Roberts (T.W. King), a man she professes to hate. Danny, an ex-drug dealer turned bad boy model, has decided to sign on as one of Tess' models. Danny's first interest has always been himself, but he can't seem to get Ally out of his system.
Tess is astounded by her good fortune when Azure C. (Carlotta Chang), a stunning super-model to be, walks through the Wilder Agency door looking for work. Although she hasn't done much modeling, the exquisitely beautiful Azure comes to life in front of the camera, but off-camera she is shy and secretive. She is admired from afar by Bernardo (Philip Anthony), an aspiring artist who acts as the indispensible building superintendent, and helps everybody settle into the loft. Near the loft, in an abandoned building, lives Richard's friend, Zoey (Joni Allen), who was abandoned as an infant and raised by nuns. Zoey, who is always willing to weave an exotic story about her past, ran away from the nuns at age 14, has taken up life on the streets and will do anything to get by.
Bodyguard, cop and now private investigator Tony Soleito's (George Palermo) deep love for Steffi has propelled him back to his native New York and his family roots. He is hoping to work with ex-police partner Alex Masters (Randy Mantooth) in a private investigative venture. Alex has arrived in New York, uncertain of who he is, after a failed effort to patch up his marriage. Sydney Chase's lawyer, hard-driving, intelligent Jocelyn Brown (Lisa Lo Cicero), is imagining a future with Alex. But she has a dark secret that no one knows, not even her brother Danny Roberts, and Jocelyn would do anything to prevent Alex from uncovering it. Effervescent Molly Malone (Melissa Dye), an aspiring young actress, is working her way to SoHo with dreams of finding the perfect agency to work with.
Dr. Angela Hubbard (Debbi Morgan) made a decision to follow her heart for a life with soulmate Jacob Foster (Darnell Williams) and to realize her dream of opening a free medical clinic. But she is soon to learn the one thing she dreamed of the most is not in the cards. Angie's son Frankie (Alimi Ballard) is determined to establish his freedom and independence while attending NYU Film School. Frankie is in for a real education as he searches for his own identity, and separates himself from his mother and Jacob. Up until recently, Jacob's life had been filled with the pain and loss of his wife and son, but with Angie at his side Jacob is ready to start again. Buck Huston (Philip Brown) has taken Jacob up on his offer to open a bar in SoHo, knowing that this may be his last chance for a life with stability and meaning.
Nick Rivers (Roscoe Born) is a charasmatic musician who achieved early success in his career. But Nick had a penchant for alcohol and women, combined with a self destructive streak that sent him on a downward spiral. After years of hard living, he has returned to the scene of his first big success - the bar in a SoHo loft building where it all started. And to a special lady he has never been able to forget.
"The City" will be the first daytime drama to incorporate weekly location shoots into its production, and to use a mixture of film and tape in each show. State-of-the-art shooting techniques and devices, commonly used in film and on location shooting, will be utilized to obtain fluidity of movement and to provide quicker-paced storytelling. The large loft building set, which is the focal point of the drama's action, provides a multi-level location for all of the interior sets, and has been matched to an actual exterior location, located on SoHo's Greene Street.
Jean Dadario Burke is the executive producer of "The City." Barbara Esensten and James Harmon Brown are the head writers. "The City" airs Monday-Friday, 12:30 - 1:00 p.m., ET on the ABC Television Network.
