Acting

In My Next Life I’m Coming Back As Shirley MacLaine

Oprah is counting down the last few weeks of her show and I’m sure the Harpo team has been going through an intense selection process, mulling, deliberating, and debating each possible guest.

So it said a lot when Shirley MacLaine came on last week and Oprah called her “one of my greatest teachers.”

I’m certainly not in Oprah’s league, but I’ve also had the pleasure of interviewing Shirley MacLaine, whose birthday happens to be today, April 24, 2011. Ironically it’s also Easter Sunday, the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and Shirley MacLaine is a big believer in reincarnation and life after death.

At 77 years old she has not only had many past lives, but she has enjoyed many incarnations in this lifetime as an award-winning actress, dancer, honorary mascot of the Rat Pack, best-selling author, political activist, metaphysical student and teacher, and let’s not forget Warren Beatty’s older sister.

Steve Harvey: The Differences Between the Sexes

By Marsala

Steve Harvey - Up Close & Personal I had a hard time deciding what celebrity to interview for the February 2011 issue of Luxury Las Vegas magazine. Should it be a football player in honor of the Super Bowl; someone who is in love or an expert on love to celebrate Valentine’s Day, or an African-American to commemorate Black History month?

Then I turned on Good Morning America and saw comedian, actor, author, host of Family Feud and the morning radio program, The Steve Harvey Show, and relationship guru Steve Harvey. After listening to him speak for a few minutes I knew I’d found my guy.

It’s true that Steve has never played professional football, though he looks like he could be a running back for his hometown team the Atlanta Falcons; but he is most definitely a proud black man who has plenty to say about love and the differences between the sexes

Elizabeth Taylor: The Gifts She Left Behind

By Marsala

By now a lot of you may be tired of the many tributes and film clips that have paid homage to Elizabeth Taylor since she passed away from congenital heart failure on March 23, 2011. Before you dismiss this as just more of the same, let me say that this post isn’t only about Elizabeth Taylor, it’s also about you, the shining star in your own life.

Although I am a “Celebrity Scribe” I’m not interested in fluff or gossip. I’m all about seeking, understanding and incorporating the life lessons that are always present. So I invite you to read yet one more piece about Elizabeth Taylor, but this time filter it through a different set of eyes, a different perspective. Think of her life as a 79-year-old treasure map that offers up a bountiful trove of wisdom that might be useful in your own life. [Read more…] about Elizabeth Taylor: The Gifts She Left Behind

Kristin Chenoweth: A Stand for Equality

By Marsala

It’s rare that an entertainer has an equally successful career on Broadway, in movies and on television. But then Kristin Chenoweth is rare! In the horse-racing world, she would be what’s known as a Triple Crown Winner, except for the fact that Kristin also has a recording career which makes her…well, a Quadruple Crown Winner!

On TV, Kristin is most notably known as Deputy Press Secretary Annabeth Schott on the last two seasons of The West Wing; she earned an Emmy playing Olive Snook on Pushing Daisies, the wonderfully quirky comedy about a pie maker who can touch dead people and bring them back to life; and she has made several guest appearances on the hit show Glee.

On Broadway she earned a Tony in 1999 for her role in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown; in 2003 she originated the role of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in the hit show Wicked; and in 2010 she starred in the revival of Promises Promises with Sean Hayes.

When it comes to movies, Kristin has been in Bewitched, and too many others to mention here; but suffice it to say that comedy is her forte, with the exception of movies like Running with Scissors, in which she played Annette Bening’s lesbian lover, and Into Temptation, where she played a suicidal prostitute – two roles many of her fellow Christians were not happy about. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Wisdom Gleaned from the 83rd Academy Awards

By Marsala

There are life lessons to be found everywhere, including the 83^rd Academy Awards, which took place on February 27, 2011.

I’m not here to pass judgment on who won or who should have won; what gowns I liked or didn’t like; or whether the evening was boring or not. There are enough people critiquing and criticizing the hosts, the presenters, the performers, and the winners.

I’d much rather share with you those Oscar moments that in some way inspired, informed, or touched my heart. Perhaps they will yours too.
[Read more…] about Wisdom Gleaned from the 83rd Academy Awards

Olivia Newton-John: You Can’t Help but Honestly Love Her

By Marsala

A lot of A-list celebrities hail from Down Under, including Simon Baker, Cate Blanchette, Toni Collette, Russell Crowe, Portia de Rossi, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Miranda Kerr, Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger, Elle Macpherson, Geoffrey Rush, Keith Urban, Naomi Watts, and Sam Worthington.

But none are more beloved by fellow-Australians than Olivia Newton-John, the first Aussie to capture American hearts with hit songs like “I Honestly Love You” (1974) and “Have You Never Been Mellow” (1975).

In 1978 Olivia was catapulted into super-stardom when she appeared in Grease as Sandy Olsson, the goody-two-shoes-girl-next-door who trades in her wholesome “Sandra Dee” image for some skin-tight, black spandex pants, red peep-toe high-heeled sandals, an off-the-shoulder top, teased hair, and horror-of-horrors, a cigarette, in order to win the heart of the leader of the T-Bird gang, Danny Zuko, played by John Travolta.