10 on Tuesday with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS' Don Noble

Don Noble might be spending his time on stage in "La Ville-Lumière" in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, but based on his 10 on Tuesday answers, we're inclined to think the Highlands of Scotland are never far from his thoughts. Here's what he had to say:

1) Show you first auditioned for (and did you get the part? When I was 14 I auditioned for my high school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and got the part of Bottom. I'm sure it was a terrible production but I remember it as magical. I'm still good friends with some of the other cast members, and two of them came down to see An American In Paris when we were in Seattle this spring.

2) Where Are You From? Originally, Scotland. I was born in Aberdeen and my family is Scottish. But I grew up in Canada, on Vancouver Island on the beautiful west coast of British Columbia.

3) When did you know you wanted a career on the stage? I was consistently told that stage acting wasn't a career, but I never wanted anything else. I just kept chasing it. I don't think I really knew it was a career until I was already doing it.

4) What's your dream role/production? No idea. I'm terrible at casting myself. When I look back at some of my favorite roles, I probably wouldn't have cast me in them. Surprise me!

5) Favorite post-performance haunt? A good pub. In New York it's usually St. Andrews on 46th St.

6) Living or dead, who would you drop everything to see perform? The young Peter O'Toole.

7) What's your guilty pleasure/vice? British arctic explorers from 1818 to the 1850's. Obsessed. Also a really good single malt.

8) What do you value most about acting? The audience. The way we can all be connected emotionally and intellectually for an instant in the beauty of a theatrical moment.

9) What is the one song you never want to hear sing again at an audition? "Sixteen going on seventeen."

10) Fill in the blank: "The thing I'd never change about theatre is... Accessibility. I'd hate for it to become an elite art form that people feel excluded from."

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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