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  The evolution of...

Mariann Aalda's stand-up comedy -- as a divorced, middle-aged, happy-but -horny ex-homemaker...



attempting to map out a new path to romance, love and (hopefully :-) great  sex, through the hazardous terrain of midlife dating -- began in 2003 with the creation of her one-woman show and comedy CD, Black Don’t Crack…But Don’t Try and Spread It Too Thin! She continued developing the character as a founding member of LA's 3 Blacque Chix, in the comedy cabaret, Herotique-Aahh... and perfected it in the “sexistential” musical- comedy, "MOIST!"

with Iona Morris

as Ginger Peechee-Keene, aka "The Little Woman Gone Wild!"

   
    Although a veteran stage actress, Mariann is recognized by fans  primarily for her work in television, starring as
  • “DiDi Bannister” on the ABC soap opera, *Edge of Night
                                            
  • three seasons as “Ellen Parker,” opposite O.J. Simp- son, on HBO's *First & 10, 

  Redd Foxx and Della Reese...
   
    Additionally, she spent two years as “the tragically disfigured ‘Lena Hart’” on the NBC soap opera Sunset Beach; co-hosted Designs for Living on USA, and guest-starred on shows too numerous to mention. 


  However, she is most notoriously recognized, for her recurring role as buppie-from-hell, “Lita Ford,” on CBS' Designing Women  -- opposite Meshach Taylor, with whom she also co-starred as “Julie Pinderhughes,” the clueless mom in the urban comedy cult film, Class Act...

Class Act
*        *        * 
“Meshach Taylor and Mariann Aalda...
the film’s funnier episode.”
- Janet Maslin, NY Times.


 

(Click on photo above to watch on-camera reel)
 
       Recognized primarily from her work in network television, Mariann is an accomplished actress with a penchant for creating quirkily comedic and dramatically complex characters, having trained in legitimate theater  (and journalism) at Southern Illinois University; New York’s prestigious Negro Ensemble Company (Laurence Fishburne and director Robert Townsend were classmates); Joe Papp's Public Theatre, and Woody King’s New Federal Theatre, where she made her stage debut with the legendary Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee in Take It from the Top.

      Her comedy skills were honed as a writer-performer with the NYC sketch troupe, Off Centre Theatre, which also launched the comedy career of John Leguizamo...and touring with the improv group, The Proposition, where Jane Curtin got her pre-SNL start. A regular on the New York stand-up circuit she is also a frequent comedy-guest  on the radio.
     *        *        *   

       
       As a long-time activist in women’s and children’s issues, Mariann produced the motivational, self-help CD "My Kid Is My Guru: Christopher’s Wisdom,"  a multiple platform series about learning to re-parent yourself as an adult through parenting your child;   contributed to Gil L. Robertson’s award-winning anthology, "Not in My Family: AIDS in the African- American Community;"  is a frequent motivational speaker to women’s groups, and was cited by the California State Assembly and named VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR by the Los Angeles Dept. of Children's Services for her work with at-risk youth. 


               (Click on photo above to read column/book excerpt)

Partnered with writer-actress-producer, Karen Greyson, in PeopleLikeUs Productions, she has developed several "family friendly," multi-cultural, multi-generational sitcoms -- from treatments to pilot scripts -- and co-wrote a humor-infused, online ethnic etiquette advice column which is being turned into a book: "When Not To Call a Spade a Spade: The New Rules of Ethnic Etiquette." After twenty years  living and working in Los Angeles,  she moved back to New York in the fall of 2007.   As the writer-creators and stars of  the "sexistential" musical comedy,  "MOIST,"  she and Iona Morris are currently prepping with producers to bring their joyful celebration of the "mature" woman to  Off-Broadway in the summer of 2008.

        *        *        * 
And now..." A BLAST FROM THE PAST!"

    As a "pioneer" in daytime television  (as one of the few African-American contract  players and -- even more rare -- with a "front burner" storyline) Mariann considers her portrayal of "DiDi Bannister," on EDGE OF NIGHT, the Procter & Gamble soap opera which aired on ABC, to be one of her proudest legacies.  From 1981-1985, she was partnered with the wonderful actor, the late Irving Allen Lee as "Calvin Stoner," in bringing to life the poignant love story of "Calvin & DiDi" -- the hotshot police detective and feisty, young defense attorney...


Recently added to AOL's CLASSIC SOAPS, click on the photo of
"Calvin & DiDi" above to see scenes from that ground-breaking storyline!
  *        *        *  

      To keep in touch with all the loyal soap opera fans who have kept up
with her daytime career from her early days on ABC's Edge of Night to her
role as "the tragically disfigured Lena Hart" (see on-camera reel) on
NBC's Sunset Beach, Mariann  also writes a weekly column for an online soap mag.
To find out "whatever happened to" Lela Ivey ( EON's "Mitzi Martin!"),
click on the photo above to read an excerpt from the archives.


 At a 2007 Edge of Night  reunion, here is Aalda with Terry Davis,
 David Allen Brooks & Kerrie Emerson. Click on the photo to find
out what's up with another former Edge cast member!
*        *        * 
           Today, with another P&G soap opera alumna, Iona Morris, ("Fiona Griffin," As The World Turns) -- who is also the daughter of prime-time television pioneer, Greg Morris, star of the 70's TV classic, Mission Impossible -- Mariann has returned to her theatrical roots to blaze a new trail...bringing attention to -- and gaining admiration for -- the sexual vibrancy, vitality and viability of The Seasoned Woman! 
    To find out more, click here to go to the website: www.moistonstage.com ...and/or click on the photo below to see clips from the show!





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