AWARD WINNING ACTRESS and ENTREPRENEUR, GINA TOGNONI, RETURNS TO THE BAY VIEW ACADEMY STAGE TO SPEAK WITH STUDENTS

East Providence, RI –  Award-winning actress, entrepreneur and Bay View Academy alumna, Gina Tognoni ‘92, lost many important mementos when her garage flooded during Hurricane Sandy, but two things survived. She opened a speech to Bay View Upper School students, faculty and staff on Friday, October 18th, standing on the stage in Bay View’s Mercy Hall, with those two things in hand: her cheerleading letter  and her 1992 St. Mary Academy - Bay View Commencement program.

“Bay View has always held a very special place in my heart,” Gina explained. “When I was asked to come back and visit, I was filled with immense gratitude. I was honored.”

Gina, who is a featured alumna in Bay View’s 2014 annual lottery calendar, spoke about her Bay View experience and her struggles as a student. She admits that she wasn't an A student, and wasn't always even a B student, but said that she always found the assistance she needed in her Bay View teachers.

“I never felt ashamed to ask for help,” she said. “It was good to be excellent here.”

Gina’s return to Bay View’s stage was 25 years in the making. She got her start as a performer in Bay View Academy’s annual spring cabaret production, Manhattan at the Bay, and went on to become a two-time Daytime Emmy Award winning actress (winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series). Gina spoke about her beginnings under the direction of Bay View’s Christine D. Kavanagh (Barrington, RI) and Diane Gualtieri (Warwick, RI). Speaking to Chris from the stage she once performed on, Gina said, “You were my hero. I wanted to be you. You and Miss Diane so passionately taught us girls to lose ourselves in the music and dialogue. That lesson came back to me again and again. You taught us not to hide.”

Gina is best known for her roles as Dinah Marler on Guiding Light (CBS) and Kelly Cramer on One Life to Live (ABC) with additional television credits that include The Sopranos, Law & Order SVU,Fastlane, This Time Around and Phenomenon. She also co-starred in the Emmy Award-winning web series, Venice. Her film credits include In the Family (which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, 2012) and Pride & Loyalty.

In addition to her work as an actress, Gina has dedicated herself to several philanthropic causes including speaking to and mentoring children throughout the country regarding involvement in the arts and actively supporting several charities including the American Red Cross, the Hoboken Homeless Shelter, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Hands On Network, with whom she traveled to St. Louis, Missouri and Biloxi, Mississippi to improve the condition of schools and rebuild homes for those who were devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Gina spoke to her Bay View audience about her eventual move away from soap opera acting in 2012 and her new endeavor, Sole 9, a shoe company that is committed to the principle that “if we walk in love we can create a life that is positively powerful.” She explained that she wanted to design shoes (something not foreign to her as the Tognoni family has been in the shoe business for nearly four decades) with special messages inside, “to remind women of what’s positive.” Her shoes have “power words,” such as fearlessness, joy, peace, gratitude, gentleness, goodness and love. “These words,” she explained, “are seeds that sit in all of us and when we nurture those seeds anything is possible.”

According to its website, Sole 9 “works with regional and national domestic violence organizations to shelter, educate and clothe women in need right here in the USA. Comfort is good. Giving is great.” As Gina explained, she chose this cause to support because, “survivors have to heal from the inside out and that’s what Sole 9 is all about.”  

Gina held her audiences’ attention throughout; the only sounds in the room were her confident voice and the collective spurts of laughter as a result of her finely-honed sense of humor. Her warmth and honesty kept all engaged during the 45-minute presentation, which she ended with a two way question and answer session, asking the students “what challenges do you face?” and “what are you grateful for?” A sophomore spoke about a challenge she struggled with at her previous school which led to the arrest of two male students. A senior spoke about being grateful to Bay View for fostering a “smart is cool” environment. Students wanted to know what it is like to act on television, what episode of Law and Order SVU she was in, and what the cafeteria was like when she was at Bay View.

Colleen Gribbin, Bay View’s Upper School Principal, took the opportunity at the end of Gina’s speech to remind students that whether they are athletes or performers, star students or struggling, “whoever you are, there is a place for you in this world and this world needs you more than anything. Gina is a living example of that. I hope you take away how positive life can be, even in the midst of all your trouble.”