Earlier this year I had the distinct pleasure of scoring one of the first interviews with actress Jessica Leccia who over the better part of a year has so beautifully played one half of the Guiding Light super couple affectionately referred to as Otalia. Jessica (as Natalia Rivera) along side veteran soap Goddess Crystal Chappell (as Olivia Spencer) has given a voice to so many who have for far too long been without. The love story of Olivia and Natalia has transformed the canvas of television in an unassuming way by redefining what it means to be a family on television. They did it with grace and style and a true love for one another. This wasn’t a ratings stunt. It was, is and always will be a beautiful love story.
Revisit the interview and enjoy the fun, kind hearted, ever grateful spirit of Jessica Leccia.
If you’re a fan of daytime television and have been following Guiding Light’s break through storyline over the past year between Olivia Spencer (Crystal Chappell) and Natalia Rivera (Jessica Leccia) affectionately know as Otalia, then you most definitely know about the fan forum Big Purple Dreams. BPD was created by a group of soap fans wanting a place of their own to gush over the burgeoning epic love story they were witnessing over at Guiding Light. Though Guiding Light is winding down and about to take its final bow, BPD is running strong and has no intentions of fading quietly once the show goes off the air. It’s become more than a fan forum, it’s a community of people who love and respect not only the story of Olivia and Natalia but also one another and have come together as a family.
Revisit the interview with the girls of Big Purple Dreams and see just how far this community of loving, passionate, die hard fans has come over the past year.
The name Orlagh Cassidy is a hard one to forget. You may recognize the name because of its unique Gaelic beauty but you’re not quite sure where you recognize it from. Well if you are a fan of Guiding Light you will recognize the name Doris Wolfe, Springfield’s feisty and oh so politically driven Mayor. The character of Doris Wolfe is played by the beautiful and enormously talented Orlagh Cassidy. Orlagh came onto the scene in 1998 as Doris Wolfe, the hard hitting District Attorney in Springfield. She eventually worked her way up the ladder not just politically but socially when she married tycoon and town Wackadoodle, Alan Spaulding. Now as Mayor of Springfield, Doris is responsible for stirring up the pot and unleashing the firestorm, the phenomenon, the love story that is Otalia. It’s because of Doris’ political drive and ambition that the “My Two Mommies” presentation of one Emma Spencer was broadcast across the Springfield airways setting the stage for the domino effect of events that have taken place over the few months. Doris unwittingly pulled the wool out from under Olivia and Natalia and forced them to take a long hard look at their relationship, redefining who they are as friends, a couple…a family.
Doris Wolfe is the character you love to hate. The woman walks around with bodyguards, drops bombs on an unsuspecting, painfully clueless police chief (“Man up Frank…Your ex-fiancé has the hots for Olivia”) and is a closeted lesbian wearin’ a hat at ladies night! Some may say bitch…I say kindred spirit. This woman is a rock star!
I recently had the pleasure to chat briefly with the one and only Orlagh Cassidy. She was kind enough to take some time out of her very busy schedule to answer a few questions about her character Doris Wolfe and Doris’ role in the Otalia storyline. Orlagh also indulged me a little with a few silly random questions just to let us take a peek into her personality outside of Doris and Guiding Light. Thank you Orlagh!
Calling all Crystal Chappell and Otalia fans! Come one, come all, today is a day you have all been waiting for. What day is that Tiffany? Well I’ll tell you dear friends. Crystal Chappell Podcast Day! That’s right folks, your favorite Guiding Light Goddess will be a guest on a very special edition of The Big Purple Podcast, the official Big Purple Dreams fan forum podcast, today May 7, 2009. BPD’s fearless leader and sexy voice Goddess herself, Destini, will be hosting the podcast this afternoon and assures me that it will be posted to The Big Purple Podcast site this evening.
When I talked to Destini last night I asked her what she hoped to get out of the podcast and she told me “I’m very excited to have this opportunity to chat one-on-one with the original Goddess herself, Ms. Crystal Chappell. It’s something the fans over at BPD and I have are looking forward to. My only concern is that I fear Crystal may try to kill me dead.”
Well there you have it folks! Be prepared to lose your minds when Destini (sexy voice #1) and Crystal Chappell (sexy voice #2) go head-to-head today May 7, 2009 and please don’t forget to be on the look out tonight for The Goddess Edition of The Big Purple Podcast. Let’s hope that Destini survives being Chappelled!
I realize that is a bold statement to make and an even bolder headline to lead off with but when it’s the most accurate way to describe one of the finest actresses in television today I say go big or go home. But maybe that’s just me.
If you’ve been following the current Guiding Light storyline with Crystal Chappell (Olivia Spencer) and Jessica Leccia (Natalia Rivera) as Otalia, then you are well aware that yesterday’s episode and what transpired. It was the beginning of the heartbreaking admission of love, from Olivia actually TO Natalia; we have all been waiting so patiently for. Natalia and Frank have hastily moved the wedding up because Rafe was released early for good behavior but only for a week before he heads to a halfway house to finish out his time. So Olivia steps in and within a few hours throws together a wedding and begins to move out of the farmhouse (aka the Farmhouse of Love).
It’s not until towards the end of the episode that things begin to really heat up and where my bold yet accurate headline comes into play. We cut to Olivia (Chappell) at the cemetery near the church placing long stem red roses at the base of Gus’s headstone. She’s trying to tell him about how his gift of a heart was actually a gift of life, a family and a great love…Natalia’s love. She blames him for giving her this great love because now she doesn’t know what to do with it. She’s going to stand next to Natalia and watch her marry someone else, losing her forever. Olivia comes to the realization that she has learned to truly love someone unselfishly. While confessing her feelings to Gus, Natalia shows up to make peace with Gus so she can move on and start a new life. She see’s Olivia and after a few minutes of the two of them discussing how it is the right thing to move on and how each of them are about to embark on a new life, Olivia begins to break down. She can no longer contain her overwhelming emotions. Her love for Natalia over comes her and she begins to passionately cry devastating tears. Natalia pushes Olivia to tell her why she is so upset and though Olivia tries desperately to move past her feelings, her raw emotions finally over take her and she screams out in frustration “I’m in love with you!”
As most of you already know, last Wednesday Guiding Light, the longest-running scripted program in broadcasting history, was canceled. Fans of the show and quit frankly, the cast and crew were shocked and devastated by the news. The rest of last week was a difficult one that had everyone involved scrambling to make sense of the situation and wondering if there was anything that could be done to in fact save this beloved show. It is after all an American institution, an icon if you will.
Now that we’ve had a few days to snap out of our grief and start thinking clearly, we as fans can stand up and take this fight to the streets. We are determined not to go down without a fight. A show that has been part of the very fabric of our lives for 72 years isn’t going to brushed aside and put out on the curb like yesterdays trash. We’re standing up and yelling at the top of our lungs KEEP THE LIGHT ON!
Guiding Light has many passionate, loyal, loving fans ready to stand by its side and do whatever it takes to make this a successful campaign. One such fan has taken her voice and laid out her feelings in an open letter to all those in the industry who might actually have the foresight to pick up this rare jewel, brush it off and help it to shine bright once again. I hope you will read her letter and follow her lead! The only way to save Guiding Light is to be vocal.Write, call, email and let your voice be heard!
If you’re a fan of daytime television and have been following Guiding Light’s break through storyline over the past year between Olivia Spencer (Crystal Chappell) and Natalia Rivera (Jessica Leccia) affectionately know as Otalia, then you most definitely know about the fan forum Big Purple Dreams. BPD was created by a group of soap fans wanting a place of their own to gush over the burgeoning epic love story they were witnessing over at Guiding Light. First came the Otaliafan channel on YouTube then the forum and after a few months, this little engine that could is nearly two thousand members strong and growing!
Recently I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with the three podcast mavens, Mel aka the cheerleader, Christi aka flowchart and Destini aka the sexy voice that lead this band of loyal, enthusiastic, and intensely passionate soap fans. The following is what took place or at least what I was allow to print…they’re a saucy bunch and I loved every minute of it!
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