Ball or No Ball?

Watching Chase and Brook Lynn’s beautiful wedding made me remember another General Hospital event that is usually held around this time of year: the nurses ball. I am not sure if there will be one this year, but the event has always delighted me. Put on hold during the pandemic, it did eventually return, although it lacked the pizzazz it had previously. Hopefully it will keep coming back and eventually build itself up. In 2020, GH treated us to The Best of the Nurses Ball. I could not have been happier.

Last week, I heard the Emotions song “Best of My Love.” In 2019 the nurses opened the ball with that song (with “my” changed to “our”). While it has never been one of my favorites, there was something about seeing all the GH nurses in their scrubs, singing and dancing to celebrate their love for the audience – mainly consisting of those who either worked with them or had been treated by them – and viewers that just warmed my heart. Some of the powerhouse voices belong to cast members who unfortunately we do not get to see too often, and a couple of the performers are no longer with us.

Here are just a few performances from the nurses ball (since its resurrection in 2013) that brought me cheer and/or touched my heart:

2018: The opening number was Sly & The Family Stone’s “Everyday People.” I watch this all the time (thank goodness for YouTube) and sing and dance along with it. It starts with the ever-powerful voice of the late Epiphany Johnson, who is missed on the show as much as her portrayer, Sonya Eddy, is missed in the real world. And dancing right beside Epiphany is the wonderful Bobbie Spencer, another character lost when her portrayer, Jacklyn Zeman, died last year.

2014: Ned Quartermaine sang “Hot Summer Night,” by Meat Loaf, whom the world lost in 2022. I had not heard that song in years, and Wally Kurth did it wonderful justice. I hope Meat Loaf is listening to it on the other side and smiling.

2018: Dante tricked Harrison Chase — the new kid in town – into performing (he told him he would be part of a group) .Chase was terrified when he found out he had to go out on his own, but to Dante’s surprise, that guy can sing! In his classy threads he gave a flawless performance of “Feel It Still,” by the group Portugal. The Man. I wish Chase would continue to be a singing cop, especially now that he is married to his former manager.

2019: Leisl Obrecht was known for crashing the ball (one time she was tied up and confined to keep this from happening) — singing her tailored version of the Cabaret song “Willkommen, ” or the Nena song “99 Luftballoons” (surrounded by the balloons). However, this time she turned in a classic performance of the Barbra Streisand / Barry Gibb duet “Guilty,” accompanied by her then partner in crime, Franco Baldwin. This was so well executed, as Leisl started the song by herself, and then a male voice was heard in the background. As the second verse began, Franco came strutting out and joined Leisl. I miss these two characters (though Leisl is still on, we hardly see her).

2014: Another time Liesl strayed from her ball crashing ways is when she sang the Willie Nelson song “Always on My Mind” to her children, Britt Westbourne and Nathan West. Sadly, both of these characters have since met their demise.

2018: Sonny’s father, Mike Corbin – whom everyone knew was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease – attended the ball with his family. Mike, played by the brilliant Max Gail, insisted on performing. Clad in Rat Pack garb, he made an introduction and then proceeded to belt out Frank Sinatra’s “Summer Wind.” The audience was captivated, until Alzheimer’s kicked in and made Mike get stuck. The pain in his eyes, and the audience’s looks of concern, was heartbreaking to see. Knowing he needed to help his dad, Sonny went onstage next to him, told him the lyric he had forgotten, and proceeded to sing with him. A beautiful performance.

Closing (or opening) song: I can’t pin this down to one nurses ball, as GH has used it several times: the song “You’re Not Alone,” seemingly written just for GH. The song was first introduced in 2013; Sabrina Santiago started to sing it, along with Epiphany, and eventually the rest of the cast either joined in or were shown going through joyful or tragic experiences. The same thing happened in the next few nurses balls. (In 2014, Sabrina and Patrick sang it to their premature son in the NICU). Hopefully it will be resurrected.

Soaptalk loves to hear from our readers. What are your favorite nurses ball performances? Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts on here or on our Facebook page.