Guthrie Theater

What's your hometown?

Minneapolis !

First show you saw at the Guthrie?

When I was a freshman in High School my Shakespeare class got tickets for King Lear with Richard Ooms. It was the first Shakespeare I'd seen on stage and was horrifically enthralled by the brutality of the story (and all that blood that had to be mopped up between acts).

First show you were in at the Guthrie?

Third

First show you were ever in?

Charlotte 's Web as Wilbur the Pig at the Mayflower Theater Project. I wore a pink t-shirt, tapered jeans and a plastic pig nose. The stage was an unfinished plywood platform in the corner of the Youth Room of Mayflower Congregational Church. The project was started by Mary Keepers and it was my home for 6 years.

What's the best advice you've received from a fellow actor?

So many pearls:

Just live up there... Be generous with everything... If you're chicken s*** you'll never get anywhere... Relax and be specific... The people auditioning you want you to be the perfect thing; they're not looking for you to be bad... Trust... Breathe...

What's the worst advice you've ever received from a fellow actor?

I just try to block that crap out.

Cue or Target Lounge?

Cue. Especially the late night happy hour. $3 for a designer burger?!? Yow!

What is always in your dressing room?

The dressing room has a way of altering the volume of things that I bring. I come to Tech with my make-up case and one, little toiletries bag. I leave after closing with 3 shopping bags full of accumulated stuff. I nest. And then I have to take the nest home with me. And then the nest sits in the 3 shopping bags for as many weeks or months as it takes for me to let the show go and unpack the friggin' bags.

Favorite place at the Guthrie?

The Dowling Studio Lobby. Talk about killing the winter doldrums-- except that window in the floor freaks me out. Blech.

Where else do you go to see theater in the Twin Cities?

All of them.

What's your dream role?

Kaiser.

Is there a local actor you haven't worked with, but want to?

Sally Wingert was my childhood hero, so working on Third with her is such a dream come true. (Stop blushing, Sal). So, now... Mark Rylance. (Hee. He's not local, but I've never seen such a generous actor. Go see Peer Gynt.) Local... there are so many! I'm so proud to be a part of this community and I look forward to working with as many local actors as I can. Apparently this question has turned me into Miss Congeniality.

Favorite movie?

Singing In the Rain. Seriously.

What's the last book you read?

Right now I'm reading A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle. Falling Man by Don DeLilo is next in the pile.

What's on your iPod?

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Martin Sexton - Live Wide Open

Alan Lomax - Collection Sampler

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

Ella Fitzgerald - Jazz 'Round Midnight

Yann Tiersen - Amelie Soundtrack

Keorner, Ray & Glover - Blues, Hollers & Rags

The Boarding Party - 'Tis Our Sailing Time

Tom Waits - Alice

John Roberts & Tony Barrand - Dark Ships in the Forest

Bruce Springsteen - The Seeger Sessions

Tori Amos - Boys for Pele

Gillian Welch - Revival

Willie Nelson - Stardust

Smithsonian Folkways - Classic Maritime Music

Etc.

Relationship status?

On July 7, 2007 I married Per Halaas.

If you could have dinner with any playwright, living or dead, who would it be?

Wendy Wasserstein-I have some questions.

Best State Fair food?

I'm allergic to chocolate (I know), so strawberries and cream have always been a favorite. I would really love to have a deep fried Oreo. That sounds sick.

Ever been arrested?

Nay.

What's your drag name?

Kate Eifrig.

What's the most cringe-inducing thing you've ever said or done in front of Joe Dowling?

I'm not sure I've been around long enough. However, he was at my callback for Third and I got all tongue-tied. It was like Oz was in the room.

Any place in town where you're considered a "regular"?

Bryant Lake Bowl, Seward Luce, The Muddy Pig, Cupcake, Second Moon, Borealis Yarn...

Dogs or cats?

I have 2 kitties (Olive and Lily), so I feel a loyalty.

Shaw or Chekhov?

Chekhov. I wish I could play every character in English and Russian.