Andrea Prestinario
By Jen Banowetz
September 2025 View more Spotlight
Paramount’s first star lands back on the Aurora stage
Andrea Prestinario can pinpoint exactly when she discovered her career path.
It was 1993. She was 11, and her local children’s chorus was performing with Donny Osmond in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Chicago Theatre. “I remember the moment I was standing backstage looking onto the stage from the wings and was like, ‘This is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.’ And here I am.”
She’s been doing musical theater ever since. In fact, Prestinario was Paramount Theatre’s very first leading lady when it started its Broadway Series back in 2011—as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Now living and working in New York, she’s landed back as Beverly—American Airlines’ first female captain—in Paramount’s current production of Come From Away (with plenty of local family and friends cheering in the audience).
Q: Tell us about your very first show with Paramount.
A: Tim Rater had the idea to make it into an artistic season, and that first production, there was a lot of pressure for it to be good. A lot of people were doubting us, a lot of people were like, “Who’s going to go to Aurora?”
It’s been it’s been incredible to watch the evolution. It’s unbelievable…The production values are insane. The excellence is definitely top-tier…I just feel like a proud mama of Paramount having been able to see its development and growth over the last 14 years.
Q: What are some favorite aspects of your career?
A: I love musical theater because as much as people think, “Oh, it’s just creative,” it actually uses both sides of the brain. You have to nail your mark at downstage center zero and then you have to hit the note, but that you also get this exploration of character that you get to develop.
The other thing is I just love the process in putting together a production and how everyone understands their role, and it’s all committed to the pursuit of the success of this production. It’s just a beautiful process to be able to go to work and be with everyone who loves what they do and is there because they want to be there. I love being around creative people. I love being around artists. I love being around passionate people. Those are my values.
My father said to me, “It doesn’t matter what you do in life as long as you do something that makes you happy,” so I really took that to heart…You get one precious life you might as well spend your time doing things that you love, that you’re passionate about. And yes, it’s very hard to be an artist—the inconsistency of finances and the rejection and the toll it takes on your body. It’s a labor job, but it’s also service. We are in service to the audience. So that’s a real gift to be able to use my gift in service to other people.
Q: Any advice for 11-year-olds now who want to break into theater?
A: I just feel like these young kids don’t know how to face adversity. This is more a commentary on Gen Z and younger—I think they’re all very fragile, and this industry is tough. You have to have both this tough-as-nails exterior and face a lot of adversity to be successful and also your heart has to be completely open at the same time, so it’s a vulnerable position to be in. People show up to the theater because they want to feel, so they expect you to be open and vulnerable, and that’s a hard thing to do—people don’t always realize that it’s not just about singing and telling a story; it’s that you’re bringing so much of yourself to it. I would encourage young people to understand that it’s more than just telling a story and singing notes—that the business part is really, really tough.
Photo: Amy Nelson
