Paula's Soapbox

If you follow this blog and/or my LIVE interviews with any regularity, you may recall that last year I chatted with Morgan Englund about his crowdfunding campaign to make a music video for his song Homeward Bound (A Firefighter's Song). Englund was a firefighter and paramedic for years before deciding to pursue his long-held dream of becoming a singer/songwriter and musician. Homeward Bound is a tribute to Englund's fellow first responders and marks his first video in what will surely be a successful career in the music industry.  Regarding his song, Englund writes:  I hung up my axe and stethescope. But I offer this song to first responders everywhere. You do an amazing job, you sacrifice way more than the average person realizes. I will ever be proud and grateful to have been counted among you. I chatted with Englund just days before the official video release and you can watch that interview here: The video for Homeward Boun...

I stumbled upon something interesting while scrolling through Instagram last night. It was a comment posted in response to a General Hospital video. The video was reposted by actress Laura Wright (Carly, GH; ex-Cassie,GL). The response came from actress Stephanie Gatschet . You may recall that in addition to playing Madison North on All My Children, Gatschet played Cassie's daughter, Tammy, on Guiding Light. Gatschet's comment to Wright was "I miss creating melodrama...keep an eye out for a good role for little ol' me. I wanna play!"  (Check out the screenshot below) So could Gatschet be eyeing a return to daytime? How cool would it be to see her starring opposite Laura Wright again? Gatschet most recently starred in the web series Misguided .

UPDATE: Morgan Englund's Indiegogo  campaign is now 76% funded. To meet his goal, $2,418 will need to be donated by June 2nd.  To hear Morgan talk about his song Homeward Bound , be sure to check out my interview with him from last week at    https://youtu.be/5Dyq4Tc7H-Y Guiding Light alum Morgan Englund (Dylan Lewis) has launched an Indiegogo campaign to help fund a music video for a song he wrote called "Homeward Bound (A Firefighter's Song)", a fitting title and song for the actor who has worked as both a firefighter and paramedic.  Englund is hoping to raise $10,000 for the creation of the video, which will be directed by Andrea Shreeman. So far $3,199 has been donated to the campaign with a month left to go. Numerous perks are up for grabs for those wishing to contribute to the video's funding. $5 will get you a thank you shout out on social media from Englund, while the biggest perk, at $1500, will earn you an executive producer credit and a VIP ...

Veteran soap actor Anthony Addabbo, who starred as Jim Lemay on GL, Tony/Jonny Carerra on B&B, Jeff Peters on Dallas, Jason Craig on Generations, & Dimitri Marick on All My Children, has died at the age of 56 according to soapoperadigest.com .  Several stars spoke out in the wake of his death. Former co-star Beth Chamberlin (Beth, GL) responded to some tweets saying:  "So Tragic. So much life ahead of him. I can't believe it. His poor wife and son. So, so sad. Shocked."  "So sad. I can't believe Anthony is gone. This is just wrong."  On Instagram Tracey Bregman, another former co-star posted a picture of Anthony and said:  "So saddened at the passing of my friend and coworker from @boldandbeautifulcbs #rush #turk Too soon #anthonyaddabbo way too soon"  Kristoff St. John said:  "Anthony Addabo was a wonderful man, friend, artist. I worked with him for 2 years on the NBC Generations. He was truly a professional, with a wi...

The last few nights I have been catching up on South Beach. You may recall this is the Hulu original series starring soap opera faves Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy, B&B) and Jordi Vilasuso (Tony, GL; Griffin, AMC). South Beach is dark, gritty, sexy, and every bit a soap opera. It's like General Hospital on steroids, crossed with Empire, with elements of every primetime crime drama mixed in for good measure.  Vilasuso is very convincing in his role as ruthless mobster Isaac Santero, claiming his territory on South Beach. Sweet, gentle, good-hearted Tony he is not. As you might imagine, a storyline like this includes violence; but perhaps the most violent aspect of this show is what the audience doesn't really see. The prospect of a serial killer is introduced almost immediately and it looks like one of the main characters has already become a victim.  Jacqueline MacInnes Wood plays Samantha Lear, the daughter of a record executive, who hooks up with one of h...

The launch party for Martha Byrne's Weight was held tonight in NYC. If you were like me and couldn't make it in person, there were plenty of pictures and videos posted on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter. Check them out below:

  Soap Opera Digest   is reporting that soap vet Ricky Paull Goldin (Jake, AMC; Gus, GL; Dean, AW) has a new show coming to HGTV. It's called Spontaneous Construction and will begin airing on February 15th-and you can help him celebrate! Goldin's fans will have the chance to attend his premiere party on February 10th, alongside several of his former co-stars. For details go to  www.rpgeventsonline.com   .

Loyal Guiding Light fans have undoubtedly heard of Tina Sloan's (Lillian) book Changing Shoes and her one-woman play of the same title. In fact they have probably read the book from cover to cover several times and are making plans to attend her play later this month. If Michele Dargan's recent interview with Tina is any indication, fans have good reason to be excited about the actress's latest projects. I have not read Changing Shoes yet but I can tell you that after reading this interview I will definitely be adding it to my list of must-read books. Even if you never watched a single episode of Guiding Light I encourage everyone to take a moment to read Michele's interview, as Tina explains the life changes and struggles that served as her inspiration. Trust me you'll only want to read more.  To read Michele Dargan's interview with Tina Sloan click here . If you would like to purchase a copy of Changing Shoes from amazon.com y...

On Friday, September 18th, Guiding Light will air its final episode, ending more than 70 years of storytelling. And while this is certainly not the first time a soap opera has faced cancellation, it somehow feels different this time. Guiding Light's cancellation feels like the first major step toward pulling the plug on all soap operas. After all Guiding Light has been around longer than any of the other soaps currently on air, and if it could not be saved then how much hope do the rest of them have? Moreover Guiding Light is not even being replaced by another soap opera, instead an updated version of Let's Make a Deal will take its place. This has many loyal soap viewers, including myself, fearing that when other soaps finish their run that will be the end of the entire soap opera genre. This is an unsettling thought especially when you consider the fact that out of all the other types of programs on televison, soaps are arguably the only ones rooted in traditional storytellin...