AlphaVertexLitZ + Pixel Light Pass?

I want to be able to use the AlphaVertexLitZ shader from the Unify Community wiki to be able to cleanly fade my characters in and out of the scene. However, I'm using a spotlight which rotates to point at the latest character to be created in order to cast some shadows and create dramatic lighting conditions across the characters body. I've been attempting to add an additional pixel light pass to the AlphaVertextLitZ shader in order to add these features, but have been having no luck.

I tried using the Transparent-Diffuse shader that is built in, and it looks terrible. I can see all of the different objects that comprise my character coming through where they're not supposed to, and it also doesn't cast a shadow.

Below is a comparison of the shaders under the spotlight, with AlphaVertextLitZ on the left and Normal-Diffuse on the right (ignore the clothing color difference, as it's randomly assigned each time the character is created).

 

Ok, after reading these threads I realize this is not possible in a single shader:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/8227-Shadows-and-Transparency
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/9909-No-shadows-visible-on-Transparency-Shaders-!!

Sooo.... anyone have an idea for a workaround? Maybe a way to render a shadow with the object itself set to not render, so it can hide underneath my visible translucent object?