Katie has been a member of the Ensemble since the very beginning of SP1. She's very sweet and friendly and I'm so glad that I finally got a chance to interview her.

NR: Can you tell me something about your background? Where did you grow up?

KN: I was born in New York so I contend I was bit by the "Broadway Bug" early on. I grew up in southern California, Orange County. It was one of those things where I started singing around the house to Olivia Newton-John with a hairbrush for a microphone. Then, in the third grade, for the first time they were letting third graders try out for the school musical which was Annie. I tried out and I got Annie, and that was it. In terms of theater background, very early on I got a taste of it and have never looked back.

NR: Did you do community theater?

KN: Yeah, and a lot of things in school. I did it through college too. I know a lot of people either discover it in college or maybe even afterwards. It was nice because in college I always knew where I wanted to go next. I have a lot of friends who have majored in something and don't know where they're going.

NR: That's great. Is this your first Broadway show?

KN: Yes.

NR: Was it anything like you imagined it to be?

KN: That, and more. Not only was it my debut but it was an original show, which is just so exciting, to be creating something. It was just such an incredible cast, and you know the scale of it all at the Minskoff, making an original album, and doing the Tony awards in June. It was really incredible. It was a lot like walking on air a lot of the time.

NR: And who would believe that all of these things would have happened?

KN: Well, you know we had what seemed like a tug of war at times. We would hear, "OK, we're not doing as well as we hoped" but then all of the fans were so incredible and we had the most amazing producers that just hung in there and said, "We really believe in this show. We're going to keep it going." And, God bless them, they did it in such a style as to create a resurrection of sorts and here it is with the new production with Bobby (Longbottom) directing. It did even better than we could have dreamed and the fans were still there. And we're all still here in a new theater.

NR: And the League is still growing. There are over 600 members now.

KN: You guys are so great. It's amazing.

NR: There are people in the League now who only know this new version. They found it in Texas or Atlanta.

KN: (laughing) Creating new migrations every day as they come to New York to see it again.

NR: And they aren't comparing the current leads to the ghosts of the former people.

KN: That's right. I think what's interesting too is for those who fell in love at the start and to see it go through all the changes must be as fascinating for all of you as it is for us.

NR: It is. It's completely fascinating.

KN: My favorite part of working on any show is the rehearsal process, the exploration and discovery of characters and what the show is about. It's funny because we've had the chance to do that here. It's renewed every year and of course we joke about it - the yearly incarnation.

NR: I think you and Terry Richmond are the only two women who have been in the ensemble since the beginning. Is that true?

KN: Yes, the only two women. Charles West and David Cromwell are the only others from the very beginning who are still here.

NR: Yeah, but Charles is not even ensemble anymore. He's Jessup now. How on earth do you keep from being bored to tears, being a soldier and a maid and a tart, over and over again.

KN: It's a whole other skill set. It takes technique. You know that this is your job and you find new ways to create nuances, but of course within the parameters of what you have to do. As ensemble, there's a little less room for really changing things. You need to stay pretty true so that the principals can have leeway with their roles.

NR: When you walk out as a soldier with a gun, there's not a lot you can do.

KN: Exactly. There's a lot of precision too with Bobby's direction, no doubt about it. (laughing) Of course I've tried to create my "soldier characters," but there's a little conflict there. I'm being in character but I need to hide my gender.

NR: Well, you're tall. That helps.

KN: It does. A lot of it is just very technical - hitting the marks, being where we need to be so we support the production the way it needs to be supported.

NR: And you can still make that interesting, or is it just a job?

KN: It's a challenge. I try not to make anything "just a job" because I think at that point you shouldn't be doing it anymore. If you're there, then you need to be a creative person and doing your job to the fullest. You have to really be a part of the ensemble.

NR: (teasing) Well, very likely there's someone in the audience who hasn't seen it before.

KN: Exactly! Exactly. It's always new for someone. I know that for myself I've done other projects while I've been doing this show and that has kept me "artistically alive" which is great too. You know about Ron's (Melrose) piece, Early One Morning, and I've done a couple of radio shows too. They were great because we'd rehearse Sunday nights and we recorded it live in front of an audience on a Monday night. I did that twice and that was great because, as I said, I love the discovery and working on a character. I come from a background and my training is in straight theater as an actor. That helps me when I'm in the ensemble because that's how I'm approaching it. Say we're in the prison - I've got something going on, a story for myself. I can change that story too, so that keeps it interesting.

NR: Now you have all new leads. How did the dynamics change? There are different people to react to.

KN: Well that keeps it interesting. That's definitely one of the variables that has kept it a journey. I really love our new leads. I liked our old leads too, and of course Doug (Sills) is just incredible and those are very tough shoes to fill, but I think Ron (Bohmer) is terrific. All three of the leads come from a strong acting background and they're very good to work with backstage. They're very nice people. You have to say that cast changes has kept things interesting. The "backstage life" is always changing.

NR: Now, tell me about your show with Ron Melrose.

KN: It's a one-woman musical and there aren't that many out there in the world. It's called Early One Morning and the character is Mary Magdalene. It's definitely of a religious nature but I think it's so amazing that whether friends from a Jewish background, or from a secular background, come to see it, they've all taken away something because it's also about watching this human being grapple with some huge issues and crises of faith. It was such a gift when I met Ron and he said, "Would you like to work on this piece?" I heard it for the first time and I said, "Absolutely! Are you kidding? Is there any doubt?"

NR: He wrote everything and that's him playing on the CD, right?

KN: He wrote everything.

NR: It's just the two of you?

KN: Exactly. He's a brilliant musician, musical director and composer. He's so wise, both on an emotional plane and just in terms of how he puts things together intellectually. In terms of being a man writing for a woman, it's so sensitive. It just taps into all of the emotions.

NR: It is wonderful. I didn't get a chance to see the show but I have the CD.

KN: Well I think we probably will perform it again, but it's tough. Ron gets even more busy when we're going through a changeover in Pimpernel than I do. We had a two week run at the Lambs Theater back in March and April. It was really nice to get it on its feet because we had performed it once before, just a "one night only" sort of thing when we were rehearsing The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was great because a lot of the cast and crew came to see it, as well as friends of both Ron and myself from "the outside world." (laughing) It was so successful, but then we got sucked into putting together Pimpernel. Then the Lambs had shown some interest in it and that was just wonderful so we had looked forward to that. Then we released the CD simultaneously which is extremely exciting. For awhile it was available at Colony, and then it was on Amazon.com but now it's at the Virgin Megastore and it's at Tower in Lincoln Center. I'm thrilled, I'm really thrilled.

NR: Have you considered doing a cabaret show or do something else like this?

KN: I've been thinking about it and my dear friend, Mary Mitchell Campbell, (who actually played the show at the Lambs because Ron had to play Pimpernel), suggested it. We talked about it a lot. I think it would be a great idea and I have some repertoire that I've been putting together. Nothing to announce as of yet.

NR: Do you have any dream roles that you'd still like to play?

KN: Dream roles - absolutely. I think number one on the list is probably Eva Peron. Also, the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods is a big one for me. I'd really like to play Fantine. Les Miz has been going for a quite awhile but it's always been a role that sort of resonated with me. I may be a little too young still, but I'd like to play Mother in Ragtime. I could go on...I won't bore you.

NR: What do you try to have time to do other than work?

KN: I'm very athletic so I love to roller blade, run, work out in general. About a year ago I did the Artist's Way which is a book by Juliet Cameron. It's about rediscovering the artist in you, not just as a working, performing artist, but sort of being an artist in all the rest of your life. It got me starting to sculpt some things, learning to play the guitar. (laughing) I'm not very good yet! Actually I've done a little song writing on the side and that's one of the reasons I'm learning guitar, so that I can help myself with that.

NR: If you sculpt anything you should put it in the Broadway Cares Auction.

KN: (laughing) There you go! I don't know if it's ready for an audience yet! (serious again) It just really helps me to stay a creative person all the time. I love to see theater and movies. Theater's a little tougher when you're working, but never look a gift horse in the mouth. It's good to be working. I do see the Actors' Fund Performances or things that have Monday nights. When I was doing Early One Morning, I had matinees off and so I got to see some things.

NR: You got two whole weeks off for that. That's unusual, isn't it?

KN: I hoarded my vacation. They haven't ever given leaves of absence from Pimpernel. It's just not part of their policy so I knew that that was going to be the case. I just didn't take vacation. I saved up till I had two weeks' vacation and it really worked out. It was perfect. I was very pleased that they allowed me to take the two weeks' vacation together back to back.

NR: That's great. Well, good luck with everything. I know we're running short on time so I'll let you go back upstairs. Thank you so much.

KN: You're welcome. Thank you.

I wish I could have had more time to spend with Katie but she had to get ready for a performance. She was one of those familiar faces that it was such a joy to see when I went to the Neil Simon for the first time. The CD she made with Ron is truly wonderful and I highly recommend it. Hopefully they will do Early One Morning live again and I'll be able to see it.

Questions suggested by:

Renee Girard, Jan Combopiano, Colleen Rosati, Kelly Honig, Stacy McInnis, Stephanie Henkin, Andrea Galeno