With hair in rollers and stage makeup on, Kimberly Dawn Neumann sits while chatting on the phone backstage at Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre before the curtain rises on "A Chorus Line."

"Cassie is one of those roles, even though you're prepared to do it and you're in great shape, it just kicks the crap out of you," she said.

Backstage, she's not on the phone getting last-minute dance advice, she's actually moonlighting.

"I'm getting my certification as a dating and relationship coach right now," hence the phone calls, she said. "I'm finishing my seminars. I should be done in December."

And that's just the tip of Neumann's ambitious iceberg.

With four Broadway shows to her name, as well as lead roles in regional theaters around the country, Neumann is also a writer — with scores of magazine articles and two published books.

"My friends call me the Carrie Bradshaw of Broadway," she said, referring to the lead character in the HBO hit series "Sex and the City,"

"Carrie wrote for Vogue, and I wrote for Cosmo, but other than that, the title really holds true."

Neumann's writing career began almost as early as performing. "I've always done both, but I was dancing at 3."

She began by writing in journals, " 'Today, Shannon gave me 13 cents.' That was my first journal entry. My family has been given explicit orders that if something happens to me, to burn them (the journals)," she chuckled. "But it was a great creative outlet."

Neumann danced her way through school but decided in college to major in journalism. "I wasn't willing to give up education," said the once valedictorian of her class, "and dancers often do when they go to ballet school."

"I was a contract dancer for the opera," she said, "so I ended up dancing at Kennedy Center all through college while getting my journalism degree."

True to form, Neumann made a goal to be published before graduation.

"It was an article on how to recycle your Christmas tree for Your Health magazine."

In 3½ years, Neumann was through college, was dancing and added another activity to her already full plate: aerobics.

"My mom would say, 'Oh honey, you're so busy,' but I took home the bronze in the National Competitive Aerobics Championship."

Her varied backgrounds served her well when she moved to New York City. "I was doing she-fitness modeling, and I just said to one of the editors, 'You know, I could be writing your articles for you.' "

With a knack for turning physiology terms into laymen's terms, she started getting work for women's magazines such as "Cosmopolitan," "Redbook," "Marie Claire" and "Fitness," to name a few.