Sitting pretty on cloud nine

From an early age, Burbank resident MariAna Tosca was exposed to the Hollywood elite while watching her mother sew costumes in their home for such celebrities as Elvis Presley and Danny Kaye, so it’s no wonder it kindled a passion for the theatrical life.

At 5, she starred in her first film “Exploring The Ocean” for which she was paid a whopping $5. Since then, she has gone on to portray everything on stage from the evil sorceress Medea to a baker’s wife in “Into The Woods.”

“I didn’t decide to become an actress, it was more like it picked me,” Tosca said. “There’s a certain thing that happens to most actors; that when you’re doing the right thing, it kind of overpowers any choice that you might have as far as a career goes.”

Tosca can be seen this weekend in her first leading role in Majestic Films’ PG-rated romantic comedy “Christmas In The Clouds,” a film which is being hailed by many critics as a sweet-spirited poignant comedy with a predominantly American-Indian cast.

“The film is definitely geared to those who like their films on the warm, gentle side and the cinematography is absolutely exquisite,” she said.

Along with Tosca, the film stars Academy Award-nominee Graham Greene of “Dances With Wolves” and “The Green Mile,” Wes Studi of “The Last of the Mohicans” and “Geronimo,” M. Emmet Walsh of “The Milagro Beanfield War” and “Raising Arizona,” Sam Vlahos of “Born In East L.A.” and “The Milagro Beanfields” and leading man Tim Vahle as Ray Clouds On Fire, along with many other cast members.

Writer-Director Kate Montgomery, in her feature debut, offers the audience a humor-filled glimpse into contemporary Native American life and pokes fun at stereotypes in a lighthearted tale of love, bingo, tribal enterprise and mistaken identity.

The tale takes you on a journey of a young widow, Tina Pisati Little Hawk (Tosca), who arrives at the ski resort uninvited and incognito where she hopes to meet her mysterious pen pal Joe Clouds On Fire (Vlahos) while at the same time a prestigious travel guidebook critic Earl (Greene) has arrived to review the hotel.

The identity mix-up leads to a comedy of errors for all concerned.

The film, shot entirely at the world-renowned Sundance Resort in Utah owned by actor Robert Redford, is only the second motion picture to be shot there in 33 years and has continued to chalk up numerous awards since its premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 1999.

Vahle, who is Choctaw and Cherokee, has guest starred on television shows such as “ER,” “Becker” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

He calls Tosca’s performance as Tina Pisati superb.

“She and I had known each other before this project when we were cast in an industrial film together,” Vahle said. “When they cast me for Ray, they called me in for a chemistry reading and when she saw me, she basically jumped onto me, so it was almost effortless to play off of one another in the film.”

Andrew Cordoba, who directs productions both in the United States and Canada, worked with Tosca on the stage production of “Medea” at the L.A. Theatresports Theatre.

“I saw her in a play years ago and, when Medea came up, I knew she was who I had to have in the role, so we waited to do the production for a few seasons until she became available,” Cordoba said.

“There was something about her that was absolutely captivating and mesmerizing and what’s so wonderful about her is that although she’s intensely beautiful, she’s also extremely talented and that’s exactly the presence we wanted for Medea.”

As for Tosca’s downtime, there’s not a lot of it.

When she’s not on stage or on a film set, she’s running her business Canine Cinema, a service that allows pet owners to have filmed, edited footage shot of their pets to keep for posterity.

She also spends countless hours as a volunteer at the Glendale Humane Society, a no-kill animal shelter, filming dogs in hopes of expediting their adoption time.

Tosca’s short film clips, which can be seen on the society’s website, have tremendously increased the pets’ adoption rates, said Alyce Russell, shelter director.

“She does such a lovely job and we have many people that say it’s so much better to see more than just a photo of the dog, to see them sitting on someone’s lap or kissing them or just jumping around is really helpful when they’re looking for a pet,” Russell said.

“She’s just such a lovely person and puts in far more time than our volunteer requirements.”

FYI