10 on Tuesday with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS' Dana Winkle

Dana Winkle has a dream role at the moment. As part of the ensemble of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, she performs nightly to the music of George Gershwin with Paris literally as the backdrop. We pulled her away from her cafe au lait and croissant for 10 on Tuesday....here's what she had to say:

1) Show you first auditioned for (and did you get the part)? My very first audition was for a youth theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. I was cast as a fairy and Egeus, and understudy to Helena and Titania--I was instantly in love with theatre, and I guess you could say that's where my career as an understudy began (currently covering 2 roles in An American in Paris!).

2) Where Are You From? Clark, NJ, but I've been a New Yorker for years!

3) When did you know you wanted a career on the stage? With the amount of time I spent as a child/teenager in dance class, doing plays and musicals, and belting show tunes in my bedroom, it really was the only option.

4) What's your dream role/production? I've been lucky enough to play or understudy a lot of amazing roles, but ones I'd still love to play are Fantine in Les Miserables, Violet in Side Show, Diana in Next to Normal, or any role opposite my husband, Brian Ogilvie.

5) Favorite post-performance haunt? My couch, next to my husband, with ice on my feet and a glass of red wine in my hand.

6) Living or dead, who would you drop everything to see perform? My husband. (Editor's note: awwwww)

7) What's your guilty pleasure/vice? Wine.

8) What do you value most about acting? How it helps you empathize with other people, and how it inspires you to see the world from different perspectives.

9) What is the one song you never want to hear sing again at an audition? I can't name one--every actor brings something unique to every work, so how could you get sick of any one piece?

10) Fill in the blank: "The thing I'd never change about theatre is ....... " The live aspect, with its potential for the unexpected and unplanned.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS plays the Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph) through Aug. 13. Tickets, $27-$98. Call (800) 775-2000.

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