Actress Returns To Interlake, Divulges Secrets To Success

Broadway actress Kay Story shared insider secrets with inquisitive students at Bellevue's Interlake High School this week.

Story, who is appearing in "Annie" at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, graduated from Interlake in 1990.

She brought cast member Michael Gold to visit drama and music students.

There is no magic to becoming a professional actor, they both said, just hard work and self-confidence.

"Find yourself and communicate it during auditions," Story said.

Yes, she acknowledged, she had been scared when she went to New York.

"When I was your age, I thought I had potential," Story said.

At the side of the room, her former drama teacher, Diane Lacker, enthusiastically nodded and grinned.

"I thought when I auditioned they'd see I had that magic something - that potential - but they didn't. Instead I worked really hard for six months before I got a part," Story said.

(She has appeared on Broadway in "Jekyll and Hyde" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel.")

The questions ranged from practical ("Did you have a place to live when you went to New York?) to personal ("How much money do you make?").

Enough money, said Gold, that he's saving to buy a house.

Dreams don't end, they told students. You just go on to more.

Gold wants to start his own business. Story wants to be a rock star.

By the way, Story's role as Daddy Warbucks' secretary in "Annie" carried another Bellevue actress to stardom.

Ann Reinking had the same role on Broadway a couple decades ago.

Ugly traffic: With a 30-minute-plus backup from downtown Bellevue to Interstate 90 on Wednesday afternoon, one delivery-service courier had several drivers shaking their fists.

He zipped around the slow-moving traffic and used the car-pool lane. He was alone in a van.

"We certainly don't condone that," says MC Delivery operations manager Rob Robinson of Tacoma.

"No matter how bad traffic is, we want our drivers to obey the law. I apologize for any inconvenience he caused anyone."

Color, please: Judy Gowdy of Bellevue, while ice skating at Sun Valley, fell and broke her left wrist.

The physician gave her a list of color options for the cast.

She asked to see samples before picking the hand-to-elbow covering. The doctor laughed and said he had already noticed her profession.

Gowdy is an interior designer.

Her choice? Go-with-everything black.

Sweet deal: Bernard Callebaut, a Canadian candymaker behind Bernard C. Chocolates, will treat you to a sample of his wares Tuesday.

He will visit the new Bellevue store (205 Bellevue Way N.E.) between 4 and 6:30 p.m.

Callebaut will demonstrate truffle making from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Williams Sonoma store in Bellevue Square.

One last grin: A Toyota 4-Runner, spotted at the University of Washington, carried a thick layer of Seattle winter dirt, muting the black paint job.

In the dust someone had scrawled: "Also available in black."

Sherry Grindeland's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in The Seattle Times Eastside edition. Reach her by phone at 206-515-5633 or 425-453-2130, e-mail at sgrindeland@seattletimes.com, fax at 425-453-0449 or mail at Seattle Times Eastside bureau, 10777 Main St., Bellevue, WA 98004.