Christy Carlson Romano
The joyous, often hilarious Tony-winning musical at the Golden Theatre, Avenue Q, has a new leading lady. Christy Carlson Romano — who created the role of Mary Phagan in Jason Robert Brown's Parade and who played a lengthy stint as Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast — returned to Broadway at the end of September in the dual roles of the charmingly shy Kate Monster and the lusty, man-stealing Lucy, which were both originally created by Tony nominee Stephanie D'Abruzzo. Romano, an Emmy nominee for her performance in the title role of the animated Disney series "Kim Possible," is scheduled to stay with the award-winning Jeff Marx-Robert Lopez musical through Nov. 23. Earlier this week I had the pleasure of chatting with the good-spirited Romano, who has been performing since she was six years old; that interview follows.

Question: How did this engagement in Avenue Q come about for you?
Christy Carlson Romano: We were in the middle of the strike, and I got a call. I was basically looking for work, and my people were like, "We came across this really great opportunity for you. What do you think about it?" And I was like, "Are you kidding me?" The opportunity to go back to Broadway was a really, really great idea, so here I am. . . . The audition was really interesting. I never had really touched a puppet [before].

	Christy Carlson Romano with Avenue Q's Lucy
	photo by Aubrey Reuben

Question: Once you got the part, what was the rehearsal process like? Did the show send you to study puppeteering?
Romano: [The show has] been on for a while and so many people have come through that I learned through everybody else. Everyone else around me knew what they were doing, so I sort of just caught it very quickly. It was really a seamless kind of rehearsal process. I had a great time. Everyday I looked forward to coming to work. I knew that this was definitely something very different for me. It's something I've never done before. I love going to work!

Question: How long did you have rehearsing?
Romano: I had about three-and-a-half weeks.

Question: That's pretty fast to learn the show and to learn how to use the puppets.
Romano: Yeah, it was. It's fairly quick, and I asked, "Guys, are you sure I'm ready?" And they said, "Yeah, absolutely." And I was like, "Okay, cool!" [Laughs.]

Question: What was your first night like onstage?
Romano: I didn't mess up. I hadn't been in front of an audience since Belle [in Beauty and the Beast], so it was really like, "Oh, my God, I can't believe I'm actually doing this." And I hadn't been in front of an audience when we were rehearsing, so it was an adrenaline rush, I can tell you that much. I really was focused on hitting all my marks, and I did.

	Christy Carlson Romano and Kate Monster in Avenue Q
	photo by Carol Rosegg

Question: Do you have a preference for playing Kate or Lucy?
Romano: It seems like Lucy is the one I enjoy doing, but I love Kate Monster. Both characters are at completely different ends of the spectrum in terms of feminism. Each of them is representative of a stereotype in our society. I have always played the kind of girl that everyone can relate to. I think that, as an actress, it's really fun to branch out, and Lucy gives you the ability nightly to do something completely different. Even with my voice, she kind of pulls it down. She's very, very low, so it's just very fun. She's a great character.

Question: Do you have a favorite moment in the show for either of the characters?
Romano: I do, I do. My favorite for Lucy and Kate is when . . . I have to speak for both of them when they're both onstage, which is really interesting. They're called the crossovers. I cross over with one puppet, but I'm speaking for the other while I'm walking from one side of the stage to the other behind the stage. I'm doing a monologue and [the microphone is] picking me up, and I've never done anything or seen anything like that before, so it's really interesting. But my favorite moment is when the penny hits Lucy in the head, and she dies. [Laughs.] I'm like, "That is genius!" . . . It's like, "Oh man karma's a bitch." [Laughs.]

Question: You also get to sing what I think is the best song in the show, "There's a Fine, Fine Line."
Romano: It is really a great song. I auditioned with that and "Special." That song, to me, at the time was just a really personal song. Every night I get to sing that. It's just such an important song for a girl to sing. [Laughs.] Every song is a lesson, and that lesson is a very important lesson for people to learn about relationships. There is a fine line between friendship and love, and I think that Kate is such a romantic and she has so much integrity and respect for herself that she breaks up with Princeton, so that she can hold that line. And, that's quite a lesson to learn. That's the beauty of Avenue Q. You think that it's just puppets, but … my publicist came and said, "I forgot there is so much heart." I was like, "There is. There's a lot of heart in [the show]."

Question: My next question was going to be, why do you think the show has remained such a crowd-pleaser? Do you think its heart is a big part of it?
Romano: Perhaps. Yeah, the integrity of the show and the fact that it works on so many levels, I think, really helps. I've seen that in different projects that I've been able to be a part of, like "Kim Possible" and "Even Stevens." A lot of my projects are accessible to families and to people of many different ages. I think that Avenue Q does the same thing because it's so funny. It's just a cult classic, and anyone can come and laugh at the same things. That's a really unique experience in the theatre. . . . Everybody laughs at the puppet sex, and everybody laughs at the George Bush line. People really unite. That's a special experience, and it's been going on for five years. It's a great show.

Question: Speaking of the George Bush line, do you know if there are any plans to alter it next month after the presidential election?
Romano: I don't think there is at this point. I'm sure they will alter it. [Director] Jason [Moore] and [co-creator] Bobby [Lopez] are very connected to the show. They were at my opening night, so I'm sure they're already thinking about it. They're such geniuses, I'm sure they'll come up with something real quick.

Question: Is Jeff Marx still involved as well?
Romano: Yes, they all are.

	Christy Carlson Romano as Beauty and the Beast's Belle
	photo by Ondrea Barbe

Question: Since we've never spoken before, I wanted to go back a bit. Where were you born and raised?
Romano: I was born and raised in Milford, Connecticut. When I was six years old, I hopped on a train with my mom and started commuting back and forth to start my career. I went to Professional Children's School in the city.

Question: How old were you when you attended the school?
Romano: I guess sixth grade. Before that it was kind of rough. I was on a couple of different national tours. I did Will Rogers Follies. I started with Annie at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, and then I went to Will Rogers Follies with Keith Carradine.

Question: How old were you at that time?
Romano: I was eight. I was a swing. I was a working swing for three other characters. I was in that for a year-and-a-half and then went to The Sound of Music. I played Marta. I believe I was 11.

Question: That was the tour?
Romano: Yeah. And then I did Ruthless in summer stock. I continued to work, and then my next big chapter was doing Parade. I did a lot of independent movies around New York [with] independent filmmakers like Hal Hartley. I did "Everyone Says I Love You" with Woody Allen. I did another movie where I had leukemia, with Armand Assante, called "Looking For an Echo." And then Parade happened. After Parade Livent went bankrupt, and they closed. My mom and I took the money [I had made]. I was 14 at the time. We went to L.A., and that's when I booked the pilot for "Even Stevens." A year later, on my 16th birthday, was the day that we started shooting "Even Stevens."