IN 90 MINUTES of Accidental Nostalgia: An Operetta About the ...

f Accidental Nostalgia: An Operetta About the Pros and Cons of Amnesia, Cynthia Hopkins confesses her way through a series of monologues and songs, baring her physical body and the soul of a semi-autobiographical neurologist who is self-treating her psychogenic amnesia, dealing with memories of an abusive father and embarking on a search for an absent mother. Before it's all over, she's adopted a new identity and is living in Morocco.

Much of the insight into the life and thoughts of Hopkins' character occurs through her singing, backed by her band, Gloria Deluxe. (Fans of Will Oldham and his Bonnie Prince Billy will be seduced.) Despite the fact that the show is inspired in part by her own experiences with psychogenic amnesia, the 31-year-old songwriter admits to having been in performance situations that felt "a lot more scary than this." She cut her teeth entertaining the generally indifferent, occasionally crazy customers of New York's MTA.

"I think the way in which it's more difficult than other things I've done is that I'm responsible for much more of it than usual," she explains. "I feel like if it's being judged, then I'm being judged. But you just try not to think about it that way."

Hopkins credits her work with Big Dance Theater for teaching her a lot about putting together a production such as this. She had only a loose idea about what the piece was ultimately going to be, so the songs and plotline grew up in tandem, in a very gradual, organic process. After early showings at Dixon Place and Galapagos, the show underwent significant development during a three-month residency at AS220 in Providence in the spring of 2002.

The reviewer for the Providence Journal who saw the show in last December's incarnation wrote that Accidental Nostagia felt "very New Yorkish, muti-layered, self-confessional, with a wry sense of humor."

The cast and crew have had four weeks in-house to polish the production that will be seen at St. Ann's, which has allowed Hopkins and the designers, Jim Findlay and Jeff Sugg, ample time to tighten and tweak. Though the piece is now more finished than it has ever been, Hopkins expects that the show will continue to evolve as long as she performs it.

I don't want to make too big a deal about her decision to shed her clothing on stage, an act that metaphorically blends right into the plot line, but considering how demanding the show seems to be on her already, I'm curious how she handles so much vulnerability night after night.

"I don't find physical nudity vulnerable at all," she says. "The only thing I find vulnerable is when I don't know what I'm doing as a performer. And I'm finally getting to the point in this piece where I don't feel that at all. I feel certain about the uncertainty."

St. Ann's Warehouse, 38 Water St. (Front St.), Dumbo, 718-254-8779, Thurs.-Sat., 8; Sun., 7, $25.