"DOWN TO EARTH" (10/1999)

Down To Earth
By: Jeffrey Epstein
Soap Opera Digest
October 12, 1999

Her Character's Head May Be in the Clouds, but PASSIONS' Lindsay Korman is ... Down To Earth

Lindsay Korman (Theresa, PASSIONS) has made a habit of falling into careers, but it's her most recent one - dramatic acting - that really caught her by surprise. "I never expected to do a soap opera," admits Korman. "I was singing, which is what I've done since I was 14. I thought I was going to be a recording artist."

That dream was temporarily sidetracked when a friend introduced Korman to the Don Buchwald Agency, which sent her on her first two auditions: PASSIONS and the upcoming parody, Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween. "I didn't get the movie, but I did get PASSIONS," she smiles. "So [my agents] were really happy with me. It was a complete accident, but it's just been like a dream come true. It's a lot of hard work, but it's awesome."

Not that hard work is a foreign concept for the actress. Born and raised in the Palm Springs area (where her parents ran an import furniture store), Korman started performing early on. "I had done a couple of pageants and I won first place for beauty when I was about 13," she remembers.

Unfortunately, when it came to the talent portion, Korman confesses she came up short. "I wanted to dance freestyle," she laughs. "But my mother was like, 'I can't let you do that. Why don't you just sing?'" Korman sang instead. And? "I didn't win in the talent, but I still won in the beauty," she smiles.

All that changed when Korman met choreographer Gary White. "I never won beauty again, but I won talent everywhere I went," she beams. "I was a shoo-in."

The lead role in a local production of The Wizard of Oz followed, but it wasn't until Korman's family moved to Las Vegas when she was 16 that performing turned from a hobby into a career. Korman became the youngest female performer on the famed Vegas "Strip" when she landed the lead vocalist spot in Viva Las Vegas, a daytime revue at the Sands Hotel and Casino. While less risqu� than most of the burlesque shows Vegas offered in the evening, "They still had their little rear ends out," she giggles.

It was during that time that an L.A. vocal coach spotted Korman and got her an audition for the role of Sandy in the Broadway production of Grease. "I'm olive-skinned with brown hair, not the typical Sandy," she cracks. "But I sang for them and got a great vibe. I walked out of there and was like, 'I think they really liked me.'"   They did - Korman was cast in the ensemble, understudying the roles of Patty Simcox and Sandy. "I moved by myself to New York," she notes. "I never lived on my own before, and I had to learn the city."

Not that she had much time during her three-month stay in the Big Apple. Between learning both of her understudy roles during the day, and performing in the ensemble at night, Korman found little opportunity to explore her adopted town. After Grease, Korman starred in productions from Texas to Greece.

While Korman hasn't given up singing (she recently cut a demo with Michael Jackson's brother, Jackie), she insists she is committed to her new career as Ethan-obsessed Theresa - and her newly acquired soap fans. "Everybody says they hope Theresa ends up with Ethan," she smiles.

Ah, yes, the Crane conundrum. If Korman were to offer advice to her love-lorn counterpart, what would it be? "And she would listen to it?" quips the actress. "I would tell her that I understand where she is coming from and I know that she loves him. But she is 17, and there could be other men out there. If she had someone tell her, 'I know where you are coming from,' then maybe she could think more realistically. But no one is doing that. Everyone is like, 'No, no, no.' So she's like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.' Just like a 17-year-old."

Just The Facts:   Birthday: April 17

Birth Place: Palm Springs, CA

Siblings: An older brother, Greg, who's in law school. "He's a lot different than I am."

Theresa's Ethan Crane Crush: "She is really obsessed, but only because she's in love. She's motivated by a beautiful thing and I like that."

Favorite Actor: "Anthony Hopkins is up there with the top."

... And Actress: "I love Natalie Wood."

Her (Real) Heritage: "I'm Greek, Italian and Jewish. In TV Guide they wrote that I was French, Greek and Jewish. I am mostly Greek. I don't know where French came from."