by ALEX GIBBONS

Over a veggie burger and fries at the Bedford Café in Bedford Park, Julie Wallach loudly, almost theatrically, retells the highlights of her Bronx childhood.

Amongst her escapades of playing in open fire hydrants and walking to Arthur Avenue for homemade Italian ice, Wallach specifically recalls the senior skate at her high school, the Academy of Mount St. Ursula, a day when seniors roller-skate down the Grand Concourse together.

“So you have to picture this: a bunch of seniors wearing the Catholic school uniform and hats that we decorated ourselves roller-skating down the Concourse. I was holding on to cars, railings, anything to help me balance,” Wallach said. She added, “I’m lucky I didn’t kill myself!”

The multi-talented Wallach, whose burgeoning career in show business is pushing her toward midtown Manhattan, still resides where she grew up.

“I like leaving the hustle and bustle behind and coming back to the Bronx,” she said. “I really do consider this my home.”

Wallach is a director, actress, comedienne, stage manager, writer and producer of both theater and film. These days she’s working on a screenplay, filming comedy sketches and directing a show for a Manhattan theater festival, which she is sure will be “a smash hit.”

In the interview, she opted not to disclose her age, saying she usually gets cast for roles younger than she is and she doesn’t want her actual age to sway directors. Her bright pink top and wavy blonde hair only augment her youthfulness as she tells the story of her Manhattan career and her Bronx roots.

Wallach underwent a thorough Catholic education first at St. Philip Neri School and then at Mount St. Ursula. After taking improvisation classes at Lehman College when she was 13, Wallach signed up for weekend acting classes in Manhattan.

Drama came naturally to Wallach, says Michael Henry, her former teacher at Mount St. Ursula.

“Julie could tell a story,” he said. “Julie would come in, I guess this is part of where her acting comes from, and she could tell a story about dropping a book. But you would put everything down and listen to everything she said because everything came from the heart.”

After high school, Wallach attended Fordham University’s College of Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Since graduating in 2001, Wallach has started an improvisation league with which she performs at Manhattan comedy clubs such as Caroline’s Comedy Club and Gotham Comedy Club. She writes original sketches and plans to film her improvisation shorts to start a Youtube.com following.

While her career forms downtown, the Bronx continues to shape everything she does.

“I grew up surrounded by such a mix of ethnicities and religions. I have friends from every religious and ethnic background,” she said. “It helps me as a writer and as an actor. I can understand other people’s upbringing, how it’s different from mine.”

This Bronxite’s big break might be next. She is directing a show for the Strawberry One Act Festival in Manhattan in mid-August.

“The Session” is a dark comedy set in 1982. It follows a Jersey City psychologist and an overbearing mother as they discover the consequences of pushing a Mafia captain too far.

“It starts off with a bang and goes up from there,” said Chris Ferretti, the show’s playwright and main actor.

Ferretti chose Wallach to direct his play after being impressed with her work as stage manager for the show’s previous off-Broadway run at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre. “Her vision is in complete sync with me as the playwright,” he said. “It’s about bringing the characters to life, really exploring and exhausting every single possibility, so that the audience sees something really happening, not something rehearsed.”

If the festival audience votes the one-act show “the overall best play,” the Riant Theatre Company will develop it into a full-length play. The directors, actors, managers and playwright can also win monetary awards.

Feretti and Wallach both hold high hopes for the play’s reception. Ferretti said, “Once other people see my writing and Julie’s direction, look out!”

Ed. Note: Julie Wallach’s play “The Session” will be shown for the Strawberry One Act Festival at St. Clement’s Theater, 423 W. 46th St., on August 13 at 7 p.m. For tickets, call (646) 623-3488 or visit therianttheatre.com online.