Danny Romalotti

the cricket years

Danny's career began to take off in a big way when his remake of the David Essex classic, "Rock On" became a hit worldwide. His success meant he had to spend a lot more time on the road and his tours took him overseas and away from Cricket and his newly reconciled family. He visited whenever he could and then at the beginning of 1990 he was able to settle back in Genoa City on a more permanent basis. Danny soon discovered a lot had happened with his close friends Cricket and Nina during his absence and very soon he became entangled in the drama too.

Nina was now a wealthy widow having inherited all of Phillip Chancellor's money after he was killed in a drunk driving incident. Cricket and Chase Benson were sharing Nina's apartment with her and Little Phillip and were not happy about the fact that Nina was being wooed by Jill Abbott's secretary, David Kimble. Whilst alone with Cricket who was now a law student, David threatened to ruin her face so that she'd never model again. Cricket was convinced that David was only after Nina's money and she recruited Chase and the recently returned Danny in her quest to prove to Nina that David was only out to hurt her. The task was not an easy one and Danny and Cricket consistently hit roadblock after roadblock thrown at them by David, who was forever one step ahead of them as he had bugged Nina's apartment. When Danny, Cricket and Chase discovered the bug they thought they had at last got some solid evidence to prove their suspicions to Nina but again David was one step ahead of them when he and Nina showed up married. Brock

Reynolds, the son of Katherine Chancellor returned home and uncovered the most bizarre plot to steal his mother's fortune. Clint Radisson, Rex's cell mate from his prison days had married Gina and was behind the scheme which had Kay and her maid, Esther kidnapped and a look-a-like imposter, posing as Katherine Chancellor placed in the Chancellor home. Brock broke the news to Danny so that he could tell his sister the truth about her husband. Gina had believed that she and Clint would be moving to Tahiti together and were planning on starting a family and she took the news very badly. Danny and Rex did their best to comfort the distraught Gina but it was only after Danny discovered his sister had taken an overdose of sleeping tablets that they realised how deeply the news had hurt her.

Danny and Cricket were falling in love. Cricket had moved into Danny's loft as his room mate, the couple having agreed a "separate room deal" so that they could get to know each other better, before they moved on to something more. They continued to keep an eye on David but as he seemed to be treating Nina and her son well and Nina was very happy they could do little else. Nina found a broach in David's coat pocket and assumed it was for her and showed it off to her best friend. David was appalled to learn she had found it but could not take it away from her because of it's true history. He was temporarily relieved when he discovered that Cricket was keeping the broach in her safety deposit box due to it having a faulty clasp. Danny was preparing for his annual summer concert and asked Cricket to perform a dance number on stage and also to accompany him to New York the following day where he was scheduled to perform a charity concert. He also hinted to Cricket that whilst they were there he would ask her a very important question to which he hoped she would give him the right answer! Cricket had discovered that Nina's broach came from a jeweler's shop in New York and planned to take the broach with her to get it fixed. The concert was an enormous success and everyone joined Danny for an after show concert at Gina's restaurant, unaware that David had planted cocaine in Danny's dressing room and anonymously tipped off the police in an elaborate plan to prevent Cricket from taking the broach to the jeweler's. The broach was a unique piece which tied David to an unsolved murder, which he naturally was desperate to keep a secret.

The next few months found Danny fighting the toughest battle of his life. He knew he had been framed but all the evidence pointed to him as the owner and distributor of the cocaine which was discovered in the toilet tank of his dressing room. Family and friends stood by the rock star but colleagues and business associates believed the press and dropped him like a hot potato. Out on bail and unable to leave Genoa City, Danny told Cricket that they could not go ahead with their plans to marry. Cricket recognising how devastated Danny was, planned a secret wedding ceremony in the Private Dinning Room and invited friends and family to join them but Danny refused to marry her, with a prison sentence hanging over his head. With John Silva's help they managed to get the charges brought against him dropped due to the fact that the police had acted improperly, when they entered his dressing room. Danny was thrilled and formally proposed to Cricket but the engagement was short lived when the tabloid headlines declared that Danny got off on a mere technicality and his name had not been cleared as a drug user. Danny's reputation was important to him, he wanted to be a good influence on his fans and he also did not want his bad reputation to reflect negatively on Cricket, who was studying to be a lawyer. He called off the engagement and left town to clear his head. When he returned to collect his belongings a few days later, telling Cricket that she must get on with her life without him, Cricket remembered the flowers he had sent to her the day of the concert, had not been delivered to her but to Danny's dressing room and at last they had evidence that someone else had had access to his room and they could prove he had been framed. Danny made the momentous decision to go back to court and re-open the case and finally clear his name. It was a huge gamble for Danny, if he could not prove his innocence, he would be sent to prison for a minimum of 6 years. Miraculously as the court case was closing some new evidence came to light and the jury found Danny not guilty and he was cleared of all charges. As Danny and his friends celebrated his win in the courtroom, Danny announced to Cricket they were flying to Hawaii and would be married that night.

The happy couple were joined in Hawaii by Rex, Leanna Love, Nina, David, Gina and Cricket's brother, Scott Granger who gave her away at the ceremony. Rex was Danny's best man and Nina, Cricket's bridesmaid. The ceremony was followed by a lavish Hawaiian luau celebration and Danny and Cricket spent their first night together as husband and wife. The wedding was followed by a romantic honeymoon, with picnics on the beach, helicopter rides and a moonlight cruise. The night before they returned home the couple reflected on who could have set Danny up and they vowed to continue to keep an eye on David, even though he had been very supportive over the past few months, they still could not trust him.

Danny and Cricket settled happily into married life and kept an eye on David who had manipulated Nina into changing her will and was attempting to adopt Little Phillip. Nina could not see that David was placing himself in the position of inheriting everything, should anything happen to her and her son. Alarm bells began to ring in Danny and Cricket's heads and they realised just how dangerous David could be. They approached John Silva with their fears and got him to stall the adoption as long as he could and they repeatedly warned Nina that David was dangerous. David was growing frustrated and angry at the delay and confided his plans to Diane a woman he had been secretly having an affair with at his office for months. Diane was becoming nervous but she was scared of David and stuck by him. At last Danny and Cricket's continuous warnings got through to Nina and she bought herself a gun for protection. The couple were shocked when the gun fell out of Nina's purse and tried to talk her out of keeping it but she was so frightened that she refused to relinquish it. Danny had to fly to New York for a concert and Cricket decided to take Nina's broach with them. At the last minute, Cricket also invited Nina to join them, much to Danny's dismay as he had been looking forward to a romantic trip with his wife. Nina however was frightened of what David's reaction would be when he found her gone, as he had planned on taking her and Little Phillip to Jamaica for a romantic getaway. While Cricket was at the jewelers with her broach and Danny prepared for his concert, Nina flew back to Genoa City. Cricket discovered the shocking history of Nina's broach from the jeweler and rushed to tell Danny who was performing on stage. The concert over, Cricket told Danny how the broach had belonged to a rich heiress called Rebecca. Rebecca had been married to a man named Tom Harper, who bared a striking resemblance to David Kimble and was last seen on a romantic getaway in Jamaica! The couple rushed to find Nina and when they discovered she had flown back to Genoa City, they followed her, fearing for her life.

Meanwhile, whilst hiding in David's office, Nina overheard David talking to his lover, Diane and learned the whole truth about David's plan to kill her and her son and inherit her fortune. In shock Nina went home and when he arrived in their apartment, Nina confronted David at gun point. He tried to get her to pay him $3 million in return for her life but Nina shot 5 bullets into his chest and left him for dead. David survived, feigned paralysis and remained in a hospital bed where several attempts to disprove his injuries failed. At first Nina was in shock and could not remember shooting David but the police came to arrest her at Danny and Cricket's apartment, where she had been staying and she confessed "he deserved it" as the officers escorted her out. Danny and Cricket stood by their friend and took care of Little Phillip until Jill Abbott could come over and take him to the Chancellor Estate. Shortly after, Danny received a visit from David's lover, Diane Westin who revealed all of David's sordid plan and offered her assistance in Nina's defense. Danny's suspicions that David Kimble had been behind his arrest for drug possession the previous year was also confirmed by Diane. Nina was terrified that she would lose her son and when released on bail, she skipped town and fled to Detroit, to her mother's home, with Little Phillip. Cricket managed to track her down and convince her to return to Genoa City but Nina attempted to run away again. Cricket was able to persuade her to return for her trial, which was already underway, when Little Phillip insisted they call to say goodbye to her. The prosecutors had David wheeled into the courtroom in his hospital bed during the trial but when Nina took the stand and testified that she had shot David out of self defense for herself and her son, the jury found her not guilty and she was able to get on with her life, with the help of her mother, Flo who moved in with her daughter and grandson.

Danny and Cricket had their first marital spat when Cricket decided to bring home a young girl who was addicted to crack and had come to Legal Aid for help in getting her job back. The quarrel was soon resolved however and Danny promised to help Cricket with her case when they discovered that Julie Sanderson was pregnant. With Dr Scott Granger's help the pair took Julie to a hospital to see for herself the result of smoking crack cocaine during pregnancy, to try to shock her into kicking the habit. It was a tough job but eventually Julie saw sense and checked herself into rehab, however it was too little too late and Julie gave birth prematurely and the baby died. There was a happy ending to the story though when Danny took it upon himself to call Julie's parents and explain what had been happening to their daughter. They came and picked her up and took her back home where she could attend a local college and start her life afresh.

David Kimble, still pretending to be paralyzed, faked his death in a hospital fire. With Diane's help he had plastic surgery to change his appearance. He asked the surgeon to make him look like David Hasselhoff but the surgeon recognised David's face from the trial coverage in the newspaper and carved the word "killer" into his forehead. David was livid but unable to take revenge, he used a wig and makeup to disguise himself and set out to woo Flo. Flo was taken in by David, who was now calling himself Jim Adams and she fell in love with him. Katherine Chancellor and Rex Sterling were hosting a huge Masquerade Ball and David plotted to attend the party dressed in the same wolf costume as Danny and kill Nina, Cricket and Danny and escape with Nina's fortune. Danny and Cricket managed to persuade Nina to attend the party with them and arranged for John Silva to be her escort. As the four friends prepared to leave Danny and Cricket's apartment the phone rang and Danny ran to answer it. At the party Danny was called away to meet with a friend, he went outside and was shot by David and left for dead on the ground. David then took Danny's place at the party and danced with the unsuspecting Cricket. Later, Cricket was worried when Danny seemed to have vanished and she and Nina went looking for him, they screamed when they discovered his body on the ground and then came face to face with David who took great delight in firing his gun at them. Unbeknown to David was the fact that Diane had swapped the bullets in his gun for fake ones. David returned to his office and replayed the murders over in his mind but his joy came to an abrupt end when someone banged on his door and called out his name. It was private investigator, Paul Williams and the police. David in desperation jumped into the trash shoot and slid down into the trash compactor in the garage below. Danny and Cricket arrived just in time to see David accidentally turn on the machine, resulting in his death.

Drucilla Barber wanted to be a model and she approached Cricket to help her. Cricket and Danny both gave her advise and support and a friendship grew up between them and Neil Winters. Dru took things too far though when she got involved with a couple of guys who were making a porno movie. Cricket and Nina who had attempted to rescue Dru from the mess got caught up in it too and only escaped when Danny and Neil arrived in the nick of time to rescue them.

1992 and Cricket was entering her final year in law school and was offered the chance to intern at the prestigious law firm, Wittman Walker and Wilson, with successful young attorney, Michael Baldwin. Unsure at first that she wanted to pursue a career in corporate law, Christine as she was now known, soon found herself in awe of her new mentor and working long hours alone with her boss. Danny was not happy at the amount of time his wife was spending at the office and did not trust Michael Baldwin's intentions, nor did he feel comfortable when he discovered Cricket was sharing the same office. Baldwin celebrated their first win on a case together by kissing Cricket. She was a little taken aback but dismissed the kiss. The pair then took on the Clyde Robinson case and Danny found himself spending even more time home alone. When he tried to suggest to Cricket that it was unusual for a student to be so heavily involved in such a high profile case, Cricket was insulted and the tension in their marriage grew. Danny turned to his sister Gina and father Rex who was now remarried to Katherine, for their support and advice. He decided to be more understanding of his wife's career and his attitude towards Baldwin changed after seeing him in action in the courtroom. Baldwin managed to persuade the law partners to offer Christine a job and potential partnership in the firm, once she passed the barr exam. The news was announced to Chris and Danny at a party to celebrate the end of the Clyde Robinson case. Danny was proud of his wife and shook Baldwin's hand before he had to leave for band practice. Later that night when they were alone, Baldwin kissed Christine again. She pulled away from him and ran from the office. A short while later while Danny was away on a concert tour, Baldwin came over to their apartment to help Cricket study for the barr exam. Baldwin started to paint a picture of what a successful partnership the two of them could have by working together in every way. Realising he meant a sexual relationship as well as business, she reminded him that she was in love with her husband and had no intention of ever cheating on him. A few days later Christine was stunned when the job offer was rescinded.

Christine sought the advise of friend and mentor, John Silva and with Danny's full support she took her allegations of sexual harassment against Michael, to the firm's bosses. Chris soon learned she was fighting a losing battle, when they took Michael's side against her. Realising that she needed to get more evidence of Baldwin's behaviour, Christine returned to the firm to work with a female lawyer, in the hope that

he would again show his true colours. Danny and Cricket staged a fight in Gina's restaurant to make it appear that their marriage was on the rocks and Danny even moved out of their apartment. Michael made his move and took Chris out to dinner while her husband performed his summer concert. Encouraged by Christine's behaviour towards him and her acknowledgement that her marriage to Danny was over, Baldwin invited her to join him on a business trip to L.A. The trip gave Chris, Danny and John Silva the perfect opportunity to get the evidence they needed to take to the firm and prove sexual harassment. Chris got her taped confession but at the last minute Baldwin caught on to the scheme and he tore the concealed wire from her body. Danny and John Silva rushed to her rescue but too late to prevent him from throwing the tape over the hotel balcony. Michael desperate to look like a man in a stable relationship, married Hilary Lancaster, an ex employee and current love interest he had been stringing along. Eventually Danny and Cricket got the tape back and were able to take it to Baldwin's bosses who could do little else but fire their top lawyer.

Christine learned that she had passed the barr exam and was now a qualified lawyer and returned to work with John Silva at Legal Aid. She remained determined to have Michael Baldwin disbarred for his harassment and shortly before Christmas the trial began. Hilary Lancaster, who had dumped Baldwin upon hearing her husband's taped confession, revealed to Chris that she too had been a victim when she had worked with him as an intern and took the stand against Baldwin. Danny also testified, as did several other of his female assistants. After the tape had been played to the panel, Baldwin realised he was on shaky ground and took advantage of the Christmas break to concoct some evidence of his own. He recruited a woman named Rebecca who was a big fan of Danny's and was willing to do anything to become "Danny's girl". On the day of his New Years Ever concert, Rebecca tricked Danny into letting her into his apartment to

pick up some free tickets to his show and whilst he was upstairs, slipped a sleeping pill into his tea. Once Danny had fallen asleep, Rebecca let a photographer and an unknown female into the apartment and they took pictures of the woman and Danny together in a compromising position. Baldwin then used the photo to discredit Danny and Christine's testimonies that their's was a solid, happy marriage. However his efforts were futile as the panel found him guilty of sexual harassment and he was censured by the State Supreme Court. Later, when Rebecca realised her efforts to make Danny her's were all for nothing, she threatened to tell all unless Baldwin paid her to keep quiet but he didn't have time for her blackmail and he took her for a drive, beat her up and left her for dead in some woods. She was discovered by a young couple who were out walking and taken to the Genoa City Memorial hospital, where she died several days later, a Jane Doe. Her death was never tied to Baldwin.

Danny and Cricket's life finally returned to normal once the trial was over but Danny feared for his wife's safety when he had to leave town for a few weeks. Having landed the lead role in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat", Danny had to attend rehearsals in Los Angeles. He recruited the help of old friend, Paul Williams to keep a watch on Cricket without her knowledge but when Cricket learned of her husband's scheme she requested Paul's services be terminated, as she believed Baldwin had moved to New York. However as Danny's departure drew closer, Cricket became nervous too and she asked Paul to resume his watch but this time, he was to keep it a secret from Danny. With Danny out of the way and Hilary on an extended trip, Baldwin was able to gain access to Hilary's empty apartment and started to smash a hole through an adjoining wall, into the closet by Danny and Cricket's front door. The night he finally broke through, Nina arrived to make dinner for herself and Cricket and was confronted by Baldwin and his gun. He bound and gagged Nina and left her in the bathroom by Danny and Cricket's bedroom, then he waited for Cricket to arrive home. His attempt to rape and murder his victim was thwarted by the arrival of Paul Williams and Nathan Hastings, when Paul shot him in the leg. Baldwin was arrested and taken to hospital before being moved to prison for a lengthy stay.

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" opened for it's pre Broadway run, to rave reviews in Genoa City and Danny's career was soaring to new heights. Christine's work was also taking up much of her time, as she had become engrossed in helping an elderly couple, Margaret and Miles in their fight to save their home, Rainbow Gardens. Danny tried to lend his support but was already over-extended with the play, publicity and rehearsals for his upcoming summer concert. The couple struggled to keep their marriage on track as their respective careers pulled them in different directions. Christine found support from Paul Williams who was assisting her with the Rainbow Gardens case and Danny turned to his co star in Joseph, Bernadette. The couple did manage to work out their differences and as the time came closer to Danny's departure for Broadway, he asked his wife if she would join him in New York once the rainbow Gardens case was over. After much thought and persuasion from her husband, Chris agreed to go and the

couple looked forward to beginning a new life in the Big Apple but as moving day drew nearer Danny began to realise just how much his wife would be giving up to be with him. He knew that there are no guarantees in show business and that the play could close in a matter of weeks, or it could run for months and he did not want to see Christine put her career on hold for him. Danny made the momentous decision to move to New York alone and the couple shared a tearful farewell at the airport.

As Christine prepared to fly out to spend the holidays with Danny, he called her and begged her to stay home as he would be working and would have little time to spend with her. Shortly after, she received a letter from Danny requesting that they end their marriage........