What's Up, Katie Finneran? The Tony Winner on Love and Promises

It’s only a few days old, but 2010 is already looking like it will be a banner year for Katie Finneran. The Tony winner (she won in 2002 for Noises Off) is back for her third stint in the off-Broadway hit Love, Loss and What I Wore and is also readying a return to Broadway in the spring revival of Promises, Promises opposite Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes. The amiable actress took time out from shooting a recent episode of Mercy to talk to Broadway.com about all of the important things in life: clothes, jewelry and musicals.

This is your third cast of Love, Loss and What I Wore. Do you feel like you have a home there off-Broadway?
Definitely! I live very close to the theater, and it’s the best job ever because it’s so close by. It’s easy: throw on a black dress, some makeup, do my hair a little bit, open up the book and read with a bunch of great women. It’s so much fun.

Are you surprised at the response the show is receiving?
Yeah. Who knew? I think there’s some magical appeal to the Ephron sisters. They can tap into the most basic familiar feelings of women, and it just unites everybody. The laughs are so satisfying.

Everyone always says they relate to having a closet full of black clothing. Do you feel that way, too?
I actually stopped wearing black a couple of years ago because I went to see a color specialist and they said that black very rarely enhances a person’s coloring. They did this whole test where they put up different colors to your face in natural lighting. It was a kind of revelation. I was like, “Oh my God, I have my malaria!” or “Oh my God, I’m the most beautiful woman in the world!” depending on the color. I’m a fall: I look best in greens, browns, oranges and reds. That’s so much better on me than black.

Are you excited to do Promises, Promises?
I’m so excited, I can’t even tell you! I haven’t done a musical in a while. I’ve done a lot of workshops of musicals, but I haven’t done a full musical probably since Cabaret. There is nothing like it. You can’t be in a bad mood when you’re doing a musical. There’s a great song that I do with Sean [Hayes] and possibly a song with Kristin [Chenoweth], though I’m not sure if that’s going to happen since it wasn’t in the original production.

Your part won Marian Mercer a Tony Award in the original production, but it’s not a very big part, is it?
Neil Simon wrote the book, and he’s written such a great part. It really stands on its own without the music. As for Marian Mercer—little bit of trivia—we’re the only two actresses to do John Guare’s play Bosoms and Neglect in New York as well as Promises, Promises. She did that on Broadway as well and I did it 10 years ago. I thought that was cool.

The part famously calls for a drunk scene. Tell me about playing tipsy.
I think it’s just being as physically relaxed as possible. It’s the social lubricant that makes you uninhibited. I don’t like to play drunk, but I am thinking of it as that warm sensation that makes you cozy inside. It’s a really sweet scene.

What are you obsessed with these days?
I have to tell you that I’m kind of obsessed with Susan Blackwell and her show [on Broadway.com]. I want to get her number and tell her how much I love her. If she ever wants me to be on that show, I will do the catering. It trumps Glee, and you can print that.

Any other obsessions?
I started working with metal about a year ago. I’m a goldsmith now. I make jewelry, and I love it. I am obsessed with it because it’s dirty and there’s fire involved. I have videos of me melting gold. It’s the most exciting, dirty, yummy, industrial feeling job. It’s a wonderful hobby.

Do you have a resolution for 2010?
I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions. I think if I need a resolution, I wouldn’t wait until the first to do it. But I think I’m going to make as much gold jewelry. That’s it. I’m going to make and wear as much gold jewelry as I can get on my body.

Katie Finneran vows to be King Midas in 2010!
That’s right. I want to look like a rapper.