‘Gilmore’ girl Graham is Broadway’s newest doll

By KRISTEN A. LEE

NEW YORK — At Lauren Graham’s first rehearsal for her Broadway debut in “Guys and Dolls,” the star of TV’s long-running “Gilmore Girls” felt a twinge of insecurity when the actors were asked how many times they’ve been cast in a Broadway show.

“I was like, ‘Oh no,’” she recalled, groaning, as those around her chirped: “Eight! Eleven! Five!”

When Graham said “one,” her cast mates applauded.

Now on view at the Nederlander Theatre, this latest revival of “Guys and Dolls” stars Graham as the long-suffering, slightly dizzy fianc e of Nathan Detroit, a sweet-natured gambler played by Oliver Platt.

“I had to get over feeling kind of apologetic that I haven’t done more of this,” Graham said, “because that just gets in your way. But I feel glad to be surrounded by people who have so much more experience. I feel it helps me.”

During an interview in her cramped dressing room just days before her Broadway debut, Graham was unruffled — even as the cast and crew rushed to make final adjustments to the show.

Casually dressed in slim-fitting jeans, a long-sleeved white T-shirt and minimal makeup, she prepared a mug of hot chocolate during one of her short breaks. She barely took a sip before dashing out again — summoned back to rehearsal by a stagehand.

The TV veteran is not, in fact, a newcomer to theater. Her r sum includes numerous college, graduate school and summer stock stage credits. Most recently, she appeared in a 2002 production of the comedy “Once in a Lifetime” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts.

But after Graham returns to her dressing room, she admits to some fleeting moments of anxiety. “What we just did is change a whole little dance number, which took me, like, two months to learn,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Wh-wh-wh-why are we doing this?’ I still go through the same panic, forgetting that it’ll be fine.”

Choreographer Sergio Trujillo said the leggy 5-foot-9 Graham — who’s not a trained dancer — is a hard worker with natural ability. “She just had to learn to trust me and learn that I was on her side and I was going to make her look good,” he said.

As directed by Des McAnuff, the revival is set during the 1930s — the period when Damon Runyon wrote the stories on which “Guys and Dolls” was based. The character of Adelaide, often played as a nightclub singer, is imagined in this production as a burlesque performer.