NR: How long did it take before you got the job?

TR: Well, then there was the period after that audition...It was probably four weeks total, and completely grueling. There was the call the next day after the first time I sang but then it was a week until the next audition but now I thought, "Let's be reasonable. I can't go through what I went through last week." When I went in that week, everybody was there. Frank (Wildhorn) was there. Pierre Cossette was there and Nan (Knighton). I could see Ron Melrose saying nice things about me in Frank's ear, and I could see Peter, literally just beaming at me like he was my favorite uncle. He was just "lovely papa" which is what I had wanted the whole time. Then I had to go back to the movement call, and I didn't choke like I usually do. I left there, thinking "This is it. I'm going to be on Broadway." I was crying, I wanted to see Chris. I just felt it, I knew it was true.

A week passed. I was trying to pretend that it was OK, but starting to lose hope. I went to my class with Craig Carnelia and someone who had been at the call back with me said, "Oh, my friend Alison heard on Friday." This was Monday night. It was Alison Lory. Alison heard on Friday that she got it. And that was it. I couldn't believe it, because I was so sure. I was destroyed, and I went and I worked for three more days at the restaurant. I was doing lunch on Thursday. This was as low as you can get. I had turned 30 the day before I found out that I didn't get it. Even though I was getting married in six months, it didn't matter. I was destroyed. I was doing the lunch shift and I had told everybody that I appreciated their support but I couldn't talk about it anymore. After I finished my lunch, I went to check our machine and Pimpernel had called. I was right by the dishwasher, covered with seafood, as depressed as I could get when I called them back. There's Ron Gubin on the phone and he said, "Where are you right now? Why is it so loud?" I said, "I'm at my restaurant. I just worked lunch." And he said, "Well, how'd you like to come work on Broadway?" So, it might be that I wasn't the first choice. I don't know. I don't care. I think they also knew they wanted Alison quickly because she was filling a specific part. I don't even know and I don't care. It was huge, and it really has changed my life.

NR: What did that feel like? Was it what you expected? How did it change your life?

TR: It was so thrilling, and you have to understand that I was getting married September 20th. My birthday was July 6th so I found out about getting the show on July 10th. We were in the middle of planning my wedding. I had just turned 30 and decided my life was over, when in fact it was just beginning. I was ecstatic.

NR: So, you were in rehearsal when you got married, right?

TR: That was the thing. Of course I wanted the job. We were a week before we opened for previews. We started tech rehearsals two days after I got married. I got married on Saturday, September 20th and we started tech rehearsals on the 22nd.

NR: Was anything different than you expected?

TR: Yes and no. I'd certainly heard for a long time that there were a lot of people on Broadway who were bitter and took it for granted and complained a lot. There was really none of that in the beginning of our show. I think it has a lot to do with it being a new show and everyone was excited to be there. Everyone was thrilled and there was a lot of really great energy in the beginning. I was relieved that other people were as excited as I was and thinking "This is incredible." So, it made it easier for me to really have that experience.

NR: What's the difference between doing a show on Broadway and the other regional shows you did?

TR: Well that is an interesting thing. There does seem to be more at stake but when you're on stage there is no difference. That was a weird thing that happened. Our first preview was a little bit of a letdown because we were working so hard just to pull the show off, like you are anytime you open a show and you're not ready, which is every time. I was so focused in doing what I was supposed to do on stage that I never realized I was on Broadway. But what I do is in curtain call, I just remind myself where I am and enjoy curtain call. Because, if you're on stage thinking, "I'm on Broadway" you're not doing your job. I did have a moment on the opening night, which was so huge and outrageous. When I walked out for my solo there was a moment or two - I'd stand in the doorway and there were two bars before I came in. It was opening night and just for a moment I let myself recognize what was going on, and the fear was so intense that I almost couldn't take a breath in to sing my solo because all of a sudden the magnitude of what was happening, the years of preparation - I almost couldn't breathe. So, I knew that I could never do that again. I could never think about that when I was in the process of doing my show.

NR: Is it more fun doing the show than the cabaret act?

TR: No. Well...the cabaret act is certainly more fulfilling.

NR: Can you tell me something about it?

TR: The one I'm doing right now, I've done a few times. Most of the cast has seen it because I did it last year. It's called "Why Walk?" which is "Why walk when you can fly?" I do other people's songs. I don't do my own stuff. It's a mixture of musical theater and some pop, there's a Don McLean song and a Billy Joel song, but there's also Sondheim and a Gladys Knight song. For me, I don't like cabaret where the story you put on forces the material to fit the story you've written, as opposed to what the material was written for. So, I basically put together the songs I liked, the songs I knew I wanted to sing, and I shaped something around it. There's not a story line per se, although I tell stories, and it's connected, and the songs go together in groups. What I respond to in cabaret is people being themselves and sharing the experience of the song as it should be, and their own take on it.

NR: Do you have any plans to do it again?

TR: Yes. My teacher is Craig Carnelia and he helps me with the show. I think I'm shooting for May if I can get a date.

Interview conducted and photographs by Nancy Rosati.