NEW YORK (AP) ?

Stars rarely cede the spotlight, even briefly. But after Heather Headley made the successful (and rare) leap from Broadway luminary to pop star ? her 2002 album, ?This Is Who I Am,? was a best-seller that made her a fixture on R&B adult-contemporary radio and garnered her a Grammy nomination ? she took time off to enjoy her personal life. Specifically, her new marriage to former New York Jets player Brian Musso.

The recess left her and her fans hungry for more. Her follow-up disc, ?In My Mind,? hit the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at No. 5 its first week, and she?s gearing up for a tour with fellow R&B singers Anthony Hamilton and Van Hunt.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, the Tony Award-winner talks about what she did in her time off, what kind of music she?s drawn to and how her Trinidadian roots shape her attitude.

@EDITRULE:

AP: What took you so long to get back into the studio?

Heather: I was in it. It was just we were kinda going over time and trying to figure some stuff out. One thing is that I got married. So I took few months to try and learn how to cook and clean. My aunt?s always telling me ?You need to learn how to cook? and I was like, Oh, no... I?ll have somebody cook for me. Then all of a sudden I get into this house and he has friends and they all like to eat.

AP: So, how?d that go?

Headley: Brian?s fine, it?s been fun, he?s easy to deal with and so I just think I?m very grateful for that time that we had to just figure each other out and figure out life and stuff like that `cause I just think, you know, this business is so hard on relationships.

AP: Any kids planned?

Headley: We?re thinking about it. The in-laws and my mother (are getting) a little concerned. They want their grandchildren and so, we have to do that.

AP: What was the inspiration behind this album?

Headley: I wanted it to be just great songs. And I think for me... I was missing songs. You have the Jill Scotts, the India.Aries, the Alicia Keys, and Mary J. Blige and Mariah, but it was a time in there that I?d turn the radio on and I was like, I wanna hear a song. So we kinda went in and said we want big songs. We want to sing ballads about love and, you know, just relationships. So we just kind of got together with some great people and just went from there.

AP: Have you experienced what you sing about in the song ?In my Mind??

Headley: Yeah. (It?s) like being married to somebody for a while and that being your only love, your first love, and who you gave yourself to, and then he divorces you and goes on with another woman and in your mind, it?s like, That was my soul mate, we were supposed to live forever, we were supposed to die together.?

AP: During your hiatus, were you ever influenced by what was already out there before you completed this album?

Headley: Yeah, I think you get that way and there are times that the record company wants certain things. Radio is a different thing. Radio changes and certain things get play and you?re like, Where do I fit in? You know, I had a lot of days that I?m like, I don?t know what to do because I was just like I don?t fit in. There?s no way they?re going to play what I want to sing on the radio. But I think, you know, it was something that I did on stage and I think I take it now, just to thine own self be true and don?t compromise. ... I think (fans would) say, ?What is Heather thinking?? if you go sing some crazy song.

AP: You moved to the United States from Trinidad at age 15, how was the transition?

Headley: I call it a culture slap. I feel there?s a different respect value in Trinidad. If a teacher walks in the room, you stand up. You Say ?Yes, Miss, Yes, Sir.? The village raises you, you have this respect. I?m glad that I learned my foundation there and I have that sense of culture and sense of island.

AP: Any more Broadway in the future?

Headley: I hope so. We?re looking at some scripts right now. ?Aida? (for which she won her Tony), needless to say, was really, really good to me. Disney spoiled me. I loved the cast, I loved everybody I worked with, I loved doing it. So I think the next show that I do, I want to be able to latch onto it as much as I did ?Aida.? So I?m just trying to make sure it?s the right part.

AP: Would it be something brand new or something already in production?

Headley: I don?t know. There?s a part of me that likes the whole brand-new thing, getting a character and doing it your way. I just want to be in a great show. In ?Aida? we looked into the audience every night and saw people crying and laughing and hugging on their loved ones and I love that experience.