Her Big Break

Little did Zinoman know that Debelack had auditioned in New York for an earlier production of the play. For the actress, that reduced the thinking-it-over period to about 11 seconds. "She said, 'All those parts I didn't get?' " Zinoman recalls. " 'Now, all those people can't get this one.' "

Over a leisurely conversation with Debelack, you get a clear sense of how long she's been waiting for someone like Helen. Born in a northern suburb of New York, Debelack grew up with three elder brothers in Minnesota and Texas and finally in Seattle, where in high school she became a standout competitor in oratory and forensics contests. In her senior year as a theater major at Western Washington University, she went to nearby Seattle and got a part in a professional production of "The Music Man." (She also is a singer, and has developed her own cabaret act, "I Never Drink Alone," that she performs around town.)

Stuck in retail sales after graduation -- "Lane Bryant, the store for fat girls," she says -- she came to the District at the invitation of her brother Drew and sister-in-law Linda Macri, who added a wonderful, life-changing Christmas present after she moved in with them. They paid for acting classes. She went to Studio, and slowly found her way into the insular Washington theater scene, landing parts in a number of shows by subversive (and currently dormant) Cherry Red Productions.

Alas, like so many good actors in this city and virtually every other, she must accept menial jobs to survive. Still living with her brother and his family, she works for a small law firm in Silver Spring. That helps her keep it real when she's advising her pupils at Studio: "It's always the hard part. I tell them: 'Don't quit your day job.' "

As limits go, she says she's aware that size can be an impediment for an actress (although her social life is full, and she's been with her boyfriend for two years). And like many who have struggled with their size, her weight can cycle up and down. "I had a personal trainer, and then I gained it all back, and more," she says.

Like Helen, too, Debelack's had her share of men with the values of, well, pigs. One fellow she had been seeing confessed to her, "I want to date someone who looks good in cute shorts in the summer." Her response? "Okay. See ya."

Interestingly, Pierce -- who plays the guy who, in Debelack's words, "breaks my heart every night" -- expresses his own misgivings about having to bare himself to an audience. "I have my own kind of personal body issues," says Pierce -- who in fact has the body of a trim athlete -- "and the last scene was a particularly hard one for me because I didn't want to appear shirtless. It was funny during rehearsals -- I was much more uncomfortable than Kate. She was all ready and like, 'I'm going to do this.' "

Debelack does give off ready-for-the-next-challenge vibes. She is not sure where Helen leads her next, but she is hoping that what she does in "Fat Pig" shows people her range. "The question is, will this translate to other things? Is this going to open more doors?" she asks. She knows not to quit the day job. But playing Helen has given her new reason to be optimistic about the night shift.