Kristen in the book

Kristen Lee Kelly her Broadway debut in Rent. Off-Broadway she has performed in Rent, Loved Less, Blaming Mom and The Apollo of Bellac. Her regional credits include The Diary of Anne Frank, The Heidi Chronicles, Oleanna and Dream of the Red Spider. She appeared on television in The Kennedys of Massachusetts.

Before Rent, I sang with this blues band called the Reputations. But I just sang ooohhhs and aaahhhs in the backround and wore really tight black dresses. We played at little clubs like Kenny's Castaways and the Rock 'n' Roll Cafe. In high school I wanted to be Stevie Nicks more than anything in the world, so I would perm my hair and frost my hair. I used to write her lyrics down on rainbow stationary and put them on my wall. I thought I was being really deep!
At the time Rent happened, I was still waiting tables, and a couple days after I'd gotten the part, the restaurant manager came up to me and said, "You're not folding the napkins right." I remember looking at him, and the concept of "No Day But Today" really hit home. I quit a couple days later, not knowing we were on out way to Broadway. Any doubts I had about Rent, the money was so on, went completely out the window.