Carolee Carmello Shares Her Cozy Addams Family Digs

Carolee Carmello, the flame-haired two-time Tony nominee, certainly knows how to make herself at home in a Broadway dressing room. The constantly working actress has inhabited a series of them in such diverse shows as City of Angels, Falsettos, 1776, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Parade, Kiss Me, Kate, Urinetown, Lestat and multiple stints in Mamma Mia!. Now Carmello has moved into a rosy (“the color is calming,” she notes) dressing room at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where she is appearing as Alice Beineke, an uptight suburban mom at odds with the kooky, macabre family of the title, in the new musical comedy The Addams Family. The performer welcomed Broadway.com to her girly digs to show off five of her favorite personal items. Take a look!

Photo by Jenny Anderson for Broadway.com


“I included my wig [on this list] because whenever I am trying to figure out a character or work on a new part, the hair is always the key for me. Even from the very first audition, I like to figure out what the hair is going to be. Everything falls from the hair. I work from the outside in.”


“My family photos are here to remind me of the most important part of my life. They put everything into perspective.” [Pictured: Broadway actor Gregg Edelman and children Zoe and Ethan.]


“My laptop is my entertainment when I am offstage during the show: I like to play Scrabble and check my email. Right now, I am helping to work on a new website: www.caroleecarmello.com, which is launching in April, so I’m using it for that, too.”


“My running shoes are important because on these long days at the theater, I like to go running on my dinner break. It clears my head and forces me to use my dinner break for more than just eating dinner.”


“I made this silly, little table skirt about 11 or 12 years ago when I was doing 1776 at the Gershwin, and I’ve used it in all my dressing rooms since then. It’s kind of sentimental, but it also makes for great storage and hides a myriad of sins.”