DANGER Zone

Tony-winner Michael R. Jackson talks to Digest about his new soap-themed musical, White Girl In Danger.

- Stephanie Sloane

Soap Opera Digest: How did you become a fan of soaps? 

Michael R. Jackson: I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, in the city limits, until I was 18 years old and I left and went to NYU for college and grad school. Both my parents worked, so before I was old enough to go to school, my mother would drop me off at her aunt’s house, my great-aunt Ruth. She was probably in her late 60s and I was 5 or 6 years old. There were no children around, so there was nothing else for me to do but watch television with her. We would watch SALE OF THE CENTURY at 10:30, CLASSIC CONCENTRATION at 11:30. YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS would start at 12:30 and then we would switch to DAYS OF OUR LIVES at 1, ANOTHER WORLD at 2, SANTA BARBARA at 3 and then I would go in another room and watch cartoons for the rest of the afternoon until my parents picked me up. Watching these people in these fictional towns, I developed an attachment to them.

Digest: Did you keep watching them?