January 19 will mark Shari Belafonte's first GH appearance as the new Janice Lomax, mayor of Port Charles. "In truth, I had never thought about doing one," she says of making her soap debut. "But when my manager first asked me if I'd be interested in doing this, I thought, 'You know what? I bet you can teach this old dog a couple of new tricks!’ " Her husband, Sam Behrens, who played Jake Meyer on the show from 1983-87, encouraged her to take the gig. "He was very much like, 'Oh, you're going to have a good time,' " Belafonte reports. For more with the actress, check out the issue of Soap Opera Digest on sale Friday.