Some Baton Rouge sparkle on Broadway

In this multi-hyphenated world, it seems any actress can slap her name on a clothing line and call herself a designer. True artistic ability, however, cannot be contained to one stage. Case in point: Broadway actress Ana Maria Andricain. The Baton Rouge native plotted a course from St. Joseph’s Academy to Broadway, performing such roles as Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Eva Perón in Evita during the past 18 years. But a successful stage career isn’t her only gig. Backstage, the actress creates jewelry for her company, Jewel of Havana, which began as a way to fill time between rehearsing scenes for Beauty and the Beast. “Actors will read magazines or crochet or do some kind of hobby backstage,” Andricain says. “So I was making jewelry in my dressing room.”

When transit workers went on strike two weeks before Christmas in 2005—stalling all subways in New York City—stranded cast members (and last-minute shoppers) came a-knocking. Andricain’s hobby became an “accidental business.” “I started getting custom orders for opening nights on Broadway and the Tony Awards, and it grew and grew like that,” she says. Her classic, streamlined collection is available in boutiques, online and at retail shows like Hollydays. Andricain is currently hustling between 12-hour rehearsals for a new Broadway show, Happiness, but her jewelry collection is having its own turn in the spotlight.