"Can we still be friends?" an interview with kristin green

How long have you been performing? 
Does sitting alone in my room with my stuffed animals as an audience count? If so, then from whatever age I developed the cognitive skills to come up with stories and imagine being someone else. My debut (public) performance was when I had my first piano recital at age 5, and from then on I was always doing something with piano lessons or school plays.

How did you get involved in music/theatre?
For music: My grandma and one of my many uncles play piano, and I remember watching them when I was reeeally young and being mesmerized by their hands and feet working the keys and pedals at the same time. We had an upright grand in our house, so I would sit at it (my feet were probably barely even hanging over the end of the bench) and mimic them as best I could. I took lessons from age 5 to 18 and continued playing just for fun until So Long, Stargazer formed in 2014. The scariest part about that was singing - until that point, other than a couple of musicals in high school and college, I *never* sang in public. 6-year-old me cried the day I realized that no, my bedroom was not soundproof and yes, my entire family could hear me belting out "Part of Your World." I'm more comfortable with it now... maybe resigned to it is more accurate.

​For theatre: Again, I was making up characters and stories or mimicking what I saw in movies and TV shows since I can remember. I think I lived in my own little world in my head and in my notebooks for a very long time... OK, fine, I still do. But I'd only ever "acted" in grade school plays that everyone participates in until my sophomore year of high school when I decided to join Today Productions (a community theater group in Toledo, Ohio)... as part of the stage crew. I didn't think I wanted to be on stage with people looking at me. Or maybe I just didn't have the courage for it at the time, I don't know. But after doing crew for one show and watching the actors perform on stage every night, I knew that's where I wanted to be. I auditioned as an actor the following years and majored in theatre at OSU and, after a few years off, am now performing with It's All Been Done Radio Hour and in Theatre Roulette and whatever else I can worm my way into. My aversion to attention/being looked at always loses out to the pull of performing.

What's your favorite thing to do when you're not on stage?
I really enjoy the bike trails around Columbus. I bought my first grown-up bike (ie: not from Target or Walmart and not under $99) a few years ago, so now I have to use it, right?
Taking my dog to parks is also up there - he says that Whetstone and High Banks have the best smells.
My absolute favorite thing though is talking and laughing with a small group of close friends while playing a game or watching TV/movies. And if it's at a location where pants are optional, even better, 

Do you have any pets?
I have a dog, a white shiba inu named Fynn, which is short for Professor Finnegan von Keyser Wait For It... Soze. He'll be famous before I am. (IG: professorfynn)

What's your biggest pet peeve? 
To relate this to performing, I can't stand it when people equate acting with lying. "Oh, you act? You must be a really good liar then, haha." Get out, get out right now. I'm sure someone could find an article on some study that argues for a correlation between the 2, but I will always believe the best acting = being as honest as you dare to allow yourself to be and that the best actors are the most empathetic people among us. 

General pet peeves: line-jumpers, chronic plan cancelers, and that person in every group who is "fine with anything" but then is the first to complain about everything. (To That Person: You're high maintenance. Embrace it. Be proud!)

If you were a dessert, what kind would you be? 
Probably Black Rock Dessert. I really want to go to Burning Man.

Oh, wait... never mind. Definitely ice cream. Talenti Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip when I'm feeling fancy. 

What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done (that you're willing to admit)? 
I don't get embarrassed very easily, but I've done plenty of weird stuff that I'm sure should qualify. The time I rode my bike to my classmate's house, snuck into his backyard, and hopped around in a blue crayon costume comes to mind. I think there was a song that went with it too. "I'm a little crayon, catch me if you ca-an..." This was on a dare (thanks, Becky). I'm not sure if he ever knew that it was me (hi, Adam). 

What is the best Halloween costume you've ever worn? 
Leela from Futurama. Purple hair AND a ray gun? Yes, please. Every day.

What's your go-to highlighter color? 
Green. It's brighter than purple or pink but not as jarring as yellow.
 
Have you had any weird dreams recently?
Yes. It involved a house party, a lot of people that I know, and not a lot of clothing. So maybe I'll just stop right there.

F***, Marry, Kill: Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum, Chris Pratt
F Ryan Gosling, M Chris Pratt, K Channing Tatum*

*Dear Mr. Tatum...Channing...can I call you Channing? I've just murdered you, so I would think so - 

It's nothing personal. It's just that of the 3 options given, yours is the work with which I am least familiar. I am told that were I better acquainted with you, my decision would most likely be different. I am open to that opinion, as I don't like to make decisions with limited information. Especially important ones like whom to murder. Therefore, I reserve the right to bring you back from this hypothetical death I've fated you to. Maybe in zombie form? That's always popular.

So in the words of Todd Rundgren, can we still be friends?

Love, Kristin