10 on Tuesday with AN AMERICAN IN PARIS' Gayton Scott

Currently appearing as Madame Baurel in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, we recently caught up with Gayton Scott for 10 on Tuesday. Here's what she had to say:

1) Show you first auditioned for (and did you get the part)? It was a European tour of King Lear, for Cordelia. A big cattle call and I actually did get it!!

2) Where Are You From? Manhattan till I was 6 years old, then right up the Hudson River in Irvington, NY.

3) When did you know you wanted a career on the stage? I always thought I would be on the stage in some capacity. My dad was an actor so it seemed like a doable thing to do! But it wasn't until I was a little older that I really committed to it.

4) What's your dream role/production? Hmm . . Rosalind in "As You Like It", but I'm afraid that ship has sailed!! Regina or Birdie in "The Little Foxes," Beatrice in "Much Ado,"... there are so many I'll stop!!

5) Favorite post-performance haunt? I don't really know Chicago that well, but I am loving your city!! It's so beautiful! But there is a place that's always jammed up by where I'm living called Big Star, so I'll go with that!

6) Living or dead, who would you drop everything to see perform? Wow, that's a tough one!! Again there are so many!! Definitely Shakespeare, I would have loved to have seen the late Laurette Taylor, also Duse and Daniel Day Lewis is on that list too!!

7) What's your guilty pleasure/vice? Ah, anything dairy!! Cheese, ice cream!!

8) What do you value most about acting? I think the communal element of it. The telling of the story that one night for those people. Even though in the theatre there is repetition, it's different every night depending on the energy of the audience.

9) What is the one song you never want to hear sing again at an audition? Gosh, I don't know!! I feel like if you do what you do and are committed to it, go for it!!

10) Fill in the blank: "The thing I'd never change about theatre is ....... " That it's one night only! And that the story has its journey. We start at the beginning and work thru to the end.

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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