I'm making choices with this role but I can't seem to commit to any of them completely because I want to try them before I move forward, to see whether they work/how effective they are. But there's no time for that. We open in two days. Choices must be made immediately and fully and right now. And that is so stifling, I'm stymied. I can't seem to make any choice at all. I feel like I'm standing there completely naked in the middle of a walk-in closet full of clothes, not knowing what to wear, trying on things and taking them off as I look at each outfit in a full length mirror. That could take hours. What I need to do is put on an outfit and run out the door.

And I can do that---but there are variables. Like what am I getting dressed for and who's gonna see me in this get-up and how long do I have to stand around in these pumps.

When I got this part, I thought I was going to do a little workshop for a little theater festival in midtown, that it would be this innocuous little effort that would distract me from my stuff and goings on, if only for a little while. Kind of like summer camp and meeting new people and going to play practice. Fun, right? It's always fun in theory, isn't it. Once we got going, I realized that this was to be a full performance, with lights and costumes and that I had to be completely off book-music and lines- within two weeks. Today, the director announces that we're headlining the news section of Playbill.com-and as I read the print out, I thought, why wouldn't we? All of the other actors in the show have Broadway credits. Oh, and by the way, so does Brian Lane Green, the guy who wrote the show. He was nominated for a Tony a few years back. I'm thinking, Broadway caliber showfolk putting on a new idea by a Tony nominee in the heart of the traditional theater community? I'd be curious to see that, if I wasn't in it.

Every decent actor has a foundation of some sort--that is, technique. In any decent wardrobe, there are basics. Certain things that you can throw on and look great in, no matter what the occasion, no matter lousy you think your body looks, no matter how bad you feel. As a matter of fact, there are some outfits that can lift your spirits somehow and make you feel better.

In situations like this, the bottom line, really, is that no matter how much time I'm given or what the set up and the situation is, I know exactly what I'm doing. As an actor, when I get dressed, I'm going to look great, no matter what I wear.

And why? Because I've got great clothes.