Soap Opera Digest, January 2003:

Common assumption would have had special guest star Gloria Stuart -- Oscar-nominated for her role in Titanic -- stealing GH's blast-to-the-past New Year's Eve episode. But while Stuart's turn as Catherine, a former speakeasy owner with a tragic tale to share with Carly and Ric, was certainly charming and moving, it was Tamara Braun who lent the outstanding gravity, heart, and color essential to conveying the proper emotion in the special, black-and-white show.

Given the daunting task of carrying a large part of the episode on her shoulders, Braun -- who portrayed not only her own character but that of "Young Catherine" during the flashback scenes -- handled it all with natural grace. Rapt and subdued as Carly listened intently to Catherine's recounting of the doomed, 1926 New Year's Eve celebration in her club, Braun was then adorable and engaging in flashback as the idealistic flapper whose world was about to shift irrevocably at the stroke of midnight. We didn't know this woman, Catherine, but Braun's easy touch made her story one we couldn't help but be profoundly moved by. And once those long-ago bullets had flown and the lives of Catherine's loved ones had forever changed, it was back to the future and the basement of Kelly's, where a tearful Braun conveyed a depth of feeling that made us believe that she, too, had been moved by the tale she'd been hired to tell.

What this episode did was provide a spectacular showcase, not for the beautiful period costumes and props that envoked an era gone by, but for the many layers of Braun's talent. She is, as proven once again, an actress whose appeal is timeless.




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