Dying For It Star Clea Lewis on 'Smushy' Parties, Purple Eyeshadow & More Things She’s Living For Right Now

Clea Lewis has been cracking us up on stage and screen for years, including five seasons as Ellen’s pal Audrey on TV’s Ellen, a stint on Broadway in Absurd Person Singular and more. Now she’s keeping the gags coming as the “unapologetically narcissistic and self-obsessed” Kleopatra Maximovna in Dying For It at the Atlantic Theater Company, opening January 8, 2015. Broadway.com asked the star to share the seven things she's absolutely living for while starring in the riotous new adaptation of the Soviet-era comedy The Suicide by Moira Buffini.

1. MoMA
Iʼm a member, so I try to swing through whenever I am in Midtown. I am currently obsessed with the Matisse cut-outs, the colors are astonishing! The sculpture garden used to be a great place to flirt, but now everyoneʼs on their iphones.

2. THE 10-PERSON DINNER PARTY
I like to smush people around the table. Itʼs a great way to catch up with friends, and to introduce interesting combinations of people. I always just do a big one-pot dish, a green salad, and a baguette. Then I buy cookies for dessert.

3. SNOW DAYS
I love cold weather and snow. Iʼm the only one who didnʼt complain last year when we got 30 inches. I complain all summer long, and then when the temperature dips below 50 I feel so much better. I live for when my kids get a snow day and we drink hot cocoa for breakfast and go sledding in Riverside Park.

4. THE AMTRAK TRAIN TO MONTREAL
We go every year to visit my brother. It goes all the way from Penn Station to Central Station in Montreal and it takes 10 hours! We donʼt bring any electronics, we just read, play cards, and go for Cokes and chips in the dining car.

5. ANYTHING TYPEWRITER
My husband just wrote a childrenʼs book about an old typewriter, called The Lonely Typewriter. They are so beautiful and sturdy. When I worked on Woody Allenʼs Writerʼs Block, also at the Atlantic Theater, our poster was a photograph of the actual typewriter Woody used to write the play!

6. THE RUSSIAN SAMOVAR RESTAURANT
I love having an excuse to go drink infused-vodka martinis at this old-school Theater District restaurant and bar. Itʼs so good for getting into character! I like the lemon, and when Iʼm feeling spicy the horseradish.

7. PLAYING THE IT-GIRL OF THE RUSSIAN SLUMS
Inhabiting Kleopatra is a blast. She is so unapologetically narcissistic and self-obsessed, which is of course fun to indulge in. But she is also truly passionate and a romantic at heart. I am hoping to help bring purple eye shadow back into vogue.