Currently starring with Chuck Wagner (see interview pg 1) as Emma in the touring musical Jekyll & Hyde, Ms. Rivette is a very sweet and very personable individual. She visits the Jekyll & Hyde messageboard (where have you heard this before?) as well as her own, because as you know, EVERYONE has a messageboard nowadays. :) She also answers her fan mail on the day all theatres are dark. I hope you like this great interview, and don't mind my stupidity on one question, it was an honest mistake! ENJOY!
HER BIO:
Andrea Rivette (Emma Carrew) has always been in love with the theater. Born and raised in New York's Hudson Valley, she has been performing since the age of 4. Her first stage role was at age 7 when she 'distinguished' herself as The Harp in Jack and the Beanstalk at an area summer stock theater. She then embarked on a program of rigorous training in classical ballet under the aegis of Mme Seda Servillo of the Kirov Ballet. After being cast in a production of Carousel, Andrea began to focus her energies on singing and decided to pursue a career in the musical theater. She went on to play a variety of roles including "Mabel" (Pirates of Penzance), "Tuptim" (The King and I), "Luisa" (The Fantasticks) and the "Baker's Wife" (Into the Woods). Two favorite roles followed: "Magnolia" (Showboat), and "Christine" (Phantom). Shortly after relocating to New York City, Andrea joined the cast of Miss Saigon as the understudy to "Ellen", the American GI's wife. After a year and a half on the road and six months on Broadway, she assumed the role of "Ellen" in the Second National Company to critical acclaim. Andrea is excited to be joining Frank Wildhorn and the Jekyll and Hyde company, and looks forward to making her contribution to the show! Recently engaged, Andrea resides in NYC with her fiancé, Charles Pistone.
THE INTERVIEW:
Gracie: For our readers, what was the name given to you at birth?
Andrea: Andrea Elizabeth RivetteGracie: How old were you when you decided to become an actress?
Andrea: Gosh...I have always loved performing...even if I was just dancing around the house! I used to put on shows for my parents to the cast recordings...I got to be every character that way!! what made me determined to become a performer was seeing the original cast of LES MIS on bway in 1987...then I KNEW I had to be on BWAY....and in that show! Still hasn't happened unfortunately…perhaps the closest I will get to it is Miss Saigon...I can live with that I guess....Gracie: When did you discover your talent in performing, and was it you that discovered it, or someone else?
Andrea: Like I said I always performed...I guess I sort of discovered it...my parents always supported me and encouraged me....Gracie: How much, if any, encouragement did you get from friends and family?
Andrea: SOOO much!!!! If it weren't for the love of my family, friends and fiancé I would never be where I am today. (On a VERY bumpy flight to Seattle, ugh!) Note: The aforementioned day is today, July 20, 1999.Gracie: Are you an only child? (If not, how many siblings?)
Andrea: I have three brothers and one sister.Gracie: Did you always want to be a performer, or did you want to be something else first?
Andrea: I started out as a ballet dancer for many years...but I always adored musical theater....I developed a chronic knee problem which forced me to cut my dance career short...so then I really began to focus on singing and musical theater.Gracie: What has been your favorite role so far? (What role do you look forward to playing one day?)
Andrea: I would have to say that Emma is one of my favorite roles...definitely...the best songs and the prettiest costumes and the most wonderful performers I have ever had the blessing of working with... (Chuck, Brian, Sharon, Dennis, James...etc!!!) I really want to do Les Mis! But I don't know if that will happen...belle is another dream role of mine...but mostly I want to get back to NYC and concentrate on doing new projects and meeting everyone I can in the industry…Gracie: What is the highest note you can hit?
Andrea: I try not to focus on that kind of stuff...I just sing...when I know what the notes are I get freaked out! I know I mix belt an F in this show and I have to go to a high C....there are some nights I wish I didn't know that!! I have been known to get to F above high C....but not lately after belting out these Wildhorn tunes 8 shows a week!Gracie: When you were younger, did your parents have any aspirations for you, or did they let you decide your own life?
Andrea: They were very encouraging of anything I announced wanting to be...my mom tried to point out what a hard life it is and how sensitive and emotionally driven I am and how it would be hard for me...she was right.Gracie: If you had the decision today to change roles to Lucy instead of Emma, would you? Which do you think is more fun and why?
Andrea: This is a hard question to answer...I LOVE MY role...I like being the good girl and I get the prettiest costumes in the show!!!! AND I get to have Chuck and Brian be in love with me without the influence of HJ7!!! ahaha! I was originally seen for Lucy two times...but I felt that I was much more suited to Emma vocally so I told them....and then they saw me for that role too! I guess it would be fun to switch. While I can sing Lucy's songs....I feel that Miss Brown really gives the tunes the quality and edge people are looking for...I am afraid I don't belt out a tune the way she can, especially not 8 shows a week...So I guess I will stick with Emma for a while! Don't hear that wrong...its not that Emma is easier to sing...its not...its a very rangy role and I have to sing a few different styles in the show...its just that it really sits in the strongest part of my voice!Gracie: (Along the same lines...) Would you prefer to be the damsel in distress, or the villainous type?
Andrea: I think that both are challenging…the villain is more fun while the damsel gets the sympathy from the audience...its nice to be liked by the audience...that's one reason I didn't like playing Ellen very much, even though I sang it really well…the audience couldn't stand her, no matter who was playing her!Gracie: (My apologies for this next question, I was mistaken, and feel quite the fool now for asking!) You just recently dyed your hair blonde, and before that you were a brunette. Would you ever go red? (Had you been a brunette all your life?)
Andrea: I did NOT dye my hair blonde!! my wig in the show was changed to blonde!!!!! I am still a brunette by day!!! and having FUN! I would go red...I love red hair! I have been a brunette my whole life and will continue to be one!!Gracie: Who have you looked up to, if anyone, as perhaps a mentor or inspiration...friend, family, another actor, teacher?
Andrea: I have always admired Judy Kuhn...I just love her voice...my voice has many of those qualities...so many say....that's why I sought out her voice teacher to coach me when I was doing the Ellen understudy on bway...he is amazing and helped me with this Emma stuff too while I was auditioning....Gracie: Have you ever turned down a role given to you? If so, how did that feel?
Andrea: I don't recall ever turning down work...I have been passed over for MANY jobs though!Gracie: What is your favorite musical of all time?
Andrea: Of all time???? well....I guess I would have to say LES MIZ…before LES MIZ...I guess it was probably carousel or showboat...I am also quite fond of the Yeston Kopit PHANTOM.Gracie: Do you prefer the older musicals from way back when or the newer ones? (Performing or enjoying.)
Andrea: See above!! I love all things musical theater...they both present a certain challenge...I am not crazy bout RENT though...sorry!Gracie: (And the infamous question) You have 3 days in which to have lunch with anyone you wish that is living, dead, and fictional...who would you choose?
Andrea: My family ..All of them including Charlie, his two kids and his family…since they will soon be my family...I miss them...
You can be a guest at both Andrea's homepage and the Jekyll & Hyde board as well as see other pictures on her homepage. To read up on Miss Saigon, Jekyll & Hyde, Phantom of the Opera and many many more fun-filled and action packed musicals, visit your local library's website, because who are we kidding? You're not going to actually go out there and pick up books on that subject from the library! That's absurd! (And it's what Barnes & Nobles is for!) The pictures on this website are curtesy Andrea Rivette's page, and used with the permission of Andrea herself. (I kept the email for those of you sticklers out there!) Answers and questions were not falsified in any way, shape, or form, neither were they transferred from a distant foreign planet. Any and all questions or comments will be read and responded to at the email address below.
Places to go...people to talk to
There's no place like home! *mine*
The OTHER interview page...Chuck Wagner
Jekyll & Hyde...coming to a city near you!
Andrea, the whole Andrea, and nothing but!
