MARIA CIACCIA

Maria Ciaccia (pronounced "Cha-Cha") has appeared internationally in opera, musical comedy, television and cabaret. Her credits range from Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly and Violetta in La Traviata to Rose in Gypsy and Gigglin' Gertie in Oklahoma. As a co-producer, her projects include Buried Treasure, The Whimsical World of Opera and Hollywood High Notes.  The latter two productions toured the east coast for several years.

Interested in film history and an avid memorabilia collector, Maria began writing in 1986 as a contributing editor to Hollywood Studio Magazine.  As head writer for The World Times, she interviewed such celebrities as Zsa Zsa Gabor, Rod Steiger, James Earl Jones, Olympia Dukakis and countless others from the world of film, television and stage.  Her work has been published in The Washington Times, Soaps in Depth magazine and many others.  She is a frequent guest on television, appearing on E! Entertainment’s Mysteries and Scandals, World of Gray, and Skip E. Lowe.  She created, wrote and appeared in her own TV pilot, Boomers, in 2001.

Maria's first book, Bloomin', received rave reviews nationwide. Publishers Weekly called it “warm and witty,” and declared, “Ciaccia is privy to the realities of show business and the insecurities of superstars.” Her second book, Complete Preparation: A Guide to Auditioning for Opera, written with Joan Dornemann of the Metropolitan Opera, has been a perennial seller.  New York Opera Newsletter said, “Maria Ciaccia has done an excellent job of capturing the gift Ms. Dornemann gives to singers.”  With the photography and text book, Dreamboats: Hollywood Hunks of the '50s, Maria further explores the world of show business, interviewing many celebrities of that era.  As a researcher, she contributed to the biographies of Louise Brooks, Audrey Hepburn, Garbo, Harlow, Clara Bow and Tony Curtis’ autobiography.  She is currently helping to prepare the lectures of the legendary theatrical teacher, Stella Adler, for publication by Knopf.

A resident of New York City, Ms. Ciaccia wrote a weekly column, Where Are They Now?, for People Magazine Online for four years.  During that time, she also wrote feature stories for the online magazine and covered the Daytime Emmy Awards.  She also had a column on thatglow.com, a now-defunct site for pregnant women.  Ms. Ciaccia today writes a humorous and detailed General Hospital Daily Recaps column for About.com as well as interviews with the stars of the show, a weekly column about the soap opera, and Letterman-style “top ten” lists.  She writes for blogcritics.com and has also cowritten a screenplay, Staged Mother, with Barnet Shindlman and Michele Farinet.