Connie Nelson: I was born in Nashville, Tennessee. We moved to Dallas, actually Irving, Texas, when I was a teen. I went to Irving High School my junior and senior years before going on to Southern Methodist University. I had a fabulous drama coach in high school by the name of George Morrow, who encouraged me to continue with acting as a possible career. SMU and Julliard were the top destinations for aspiring actors at the time and I was fortunate to be accepted into the professional actor training program at SMU. Wonderful professors Joan Potter and Jack Clay were my guiding forces there.

CN: Why does anyone choose acting? I wanted to be an actor as a child. I want to be an actor today.

CN: My first show at Theatre Three was The Runner Stumbles directed by Jac Alder. I played sister Rita. It was my first leading role in professional theatre, and I was very excited. Terrified might be the more accurate word, but the experience is still very vivid in my memory. Jac and I were talking about it last night. Dallas was hit with a huge snow storm during rehearsals, very much like the one we are experiencing now. Theatre Three became my first professional playground, and I am forever grateful for that.

CN: I love the intimacy of T3. It is a wonderful space to work in. I think the closeness, the physical proximity of the audience, prepared me for work in television and film.

CN: Well, I love the people. I love my friends here. It feels like coming home. There is a feeling of family here -- it's always felt that way to me.

CN: This is my sixth time to tackle Ayckbourn, and I absolutely relish immersing myself in the worlds he creates for his characters. I love the ease and simplicity of his writing. His themes are subtle and complex. He is a true comic genius, and I think that audiences are drawn to his work because he writes about "everyman". He is as technically intricate as Stoppard, if you stop to think about it. He seems less high brow than Stoppard, I think because Stoppard writes about politicians, artists and intellectuals, and Ayckbourn writes about the average woman/man. Despite the word play in his titles, he rarely uses verbal jokes in his plays. Character and situation are his forte, and it's from this forte that the comedy flows. This is the challenge for the actor, and it is why I am so drawn to his work. If we do our job, the audiences will have a wonderful time and so will we (the actors)! Looking again out my window at the Dallas snow...brrr...I look forward to a warm, happy, funny time here with my T3 family and with this wonderful cast that Jac has assembled.

CN: Speaking of the cast, I am so delighted to be working with my dear friend and SMU alum, Terry Vandivort, again. We have worked together so many times over the years in Dallas as well as in an off-off-Broadway production of Kennedy's Children many years ago. Jerry Crow, another dear friend and SMU alum, who is appearing in Theatre Too's upcoming show, Bill W. & Dr. Bob, was in that very same production. The last productions at T3 that Terry and I appeared in together were The Gingerbread Lady and Into the Woods. We also worked together at Dallas Shakespeare in Othello and Midsummer Night's Dream. The late great comic writer, Larry Gelbart said, "One doesn't have a sense of humor, it has you." Humor has Terry Vandivort. He makes me laugh on stage and off. I trust his funny bone and look forward to this romp with him every single night! What a gift Jac Alder and Alan Ayckbourn have given us!

CN: Tough question. Everything changes. When I walked through the stage door the night we had our first table read through of the play, I was flooded with memories. So many people have walked through those doors over the years. Some of them have left us. Oh, dear, I'm feeling sentimental and will try not to wax too poetic here. Dallas has certainly changed over the years that I have been away, but then again it's the same. If we don't change, we don't grow. The important stuff never changes. I fear if I don't shut up, this will get very corny. Next question, please.

CN: I had lived in New York for about four years and moved back to Dallas in 1985. My first show back in Big D was once again at Theatre Three, this time in A...My Name is Alice, and after a long run, I began working in most all of the theaters in the area, including Dallas Theatre Center and Shakespeare Dallas. In 1994, Julia and Gretchen Dyer approached me about playing the lead in their film Late Bloomers. A miracle happened. We shot the film, were accepted as one of not so many official selections at the famous Sundance Film Festival (1996), and after the film opened the next summer (1997), doors opened for me in New York. It was an exciting time. My husband, David, and I decided to make the official move to NYC the following year. I have been so very fortunate to work in theatre, film and television since moving there. "Law & Order" is a wonderful set to work on. I've earned the title "repeat offender", which is Dick Wolf's moniker for those actors who have had multiple guest star appearances. I also had the privilege of creating the role of Detective Gwen McGorry on the HBO series "OZ". Walking onto Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson's set felt more like walking into a theatre company than a television or movie set. Very friendly. And I am privileged to have worked with some amazing actors, Harold Perinneau (Lost), Kirk Acevedo (Fringe), Lance Reddick (The Wire), and Joel Grey to name a few. But you know what? I can't compare those experiences to those I've had doing regional theatre and for me it all began right here.