Alexis and her mom, Andrea McArdle, at Kids With Heart benefit, 1995

Andrea and Alexis - Daily News 1997...and at Macy*s search for a new Annie.

Alexis outside the stagedoor in June 1997

Alexis at the Broadway Flea Market 1996 (bottom left: Alex Strange)

Alexis at the flea market in 1998

Alexis and Christopher Trousdale

Alex Strange, Alexis, Chris Trousdale, and Kimberly Hannon

Above and below: Alexis in LA - summer 1999
Both photos ©Andrea McArdle, property of Kathy Morton, DO NOT take from this site.

Alexis at the Broadway Flea Market - September, 2000
©baybeejune@aol.com

ANNIE'S LEGACY LIVES ON BROADWAY STAGE

BY MICHAEL RIEDEL

Andrea McArdle has a new role: stage mom.

The Broadway actress, who shot to fame in 1977 as the star of "Annie," now spends her days shuttling her 8-year-old daughter, Alexis, to and from the Imperial Theatre, where the youngster is appearing as Cosette in "Les Miserables."

"I have become a glorified limo driver," jokes McArdle, whose other Broadway credits include "Starlight Express," "Jerry's Girls" and the recently shuttered "State Fair."

"After doing this for a week, I have a new appreciation for what my own mother did for me when I was a kid."

This is Alexis' first foray into show business. She was bitten by the performing bug four years ago, when McArdle herself did a turn in "Les Miz" as the doomed prostitute Fantine.

Alexis sat through the musical every night and learned Cosette's song "Castle on a Cloud" by heart, says mom, who is married to composer Edd Kalehoff. About two years ago, she started asking her parents if she could try out for the show.

Having been through the rough-and-tumble of the acting life, McArdle was reluctant to let her daughter enter the profession.

But Alexis persisted, so McArdle had her audition for "Les Miz" executive producer Richard Jay Alexander.

"I don't hire kids just because they have a famous relative," says Alexander. "These days, there isn't a producer alive who would gamble on a person with no talent. Alexis gave an excellent audition. She has a pretty voice, she's smart and she's focused.

"I was a little nervous about her first performance last week," he continues, "but she seemed very comfortable on stage. And unlike other Cosettes I've hired, she didn't throw up before her song."

With her round face, sad eyes and long thin hair, Alexis bears a remarkable resemblance to the image of Cosette that adorns the advertisements for "Les Miz."

Bouncing into the Edison Cafe for a turkey sandwich after a matinee, she points to a "Les Miz" poster on the wall and says, "That's me. I'm in that show!"

Asked if she feels like a star, she nods her head and says, "Un-huh," without elaborating.

Her mother, meanwhile, is adjusting to life in the wings. She knows how not to behave, having been around many monstrous stage mothers during the run of "Annie."

One mother, she recalls, tried to further her daughter's career by taking up voodoo. McArdle says the woman stuck pins "in a doll that looked like me."

Another woman, furious that McArdle was getting more attention than her daughter, who was playing one of the orphans, tricked McArdle into picking up a piping hot glue gun.

"These people were sick," says McArdle.

"They really messed up their kids. Believe me, that's not going to happen with Alexis. We aren't putting any pressure on her at all. And the minute she starts putting too much pressure on herself, she's getting out of the business."

The Morning Call (Allentown)
December 20, 1996, Friday
MOTHER AND CHILD REUNION; ANDREA McARDLE AND DAUGHTER SHARE THE STAGE IN 'LES MISERABLES'
BY: SALLY FRIEDMAN

"Mom, is this the last interview we have?," wondered the small 9-year-old girl who was clearly tiring of the media fuss swirling around her.

Indeed, little Alexis Kalehoff may be in show business, but the spirited and irrepressible daughter of Andrea McCardle had frankly had it with reporters' questions on a recent visit to Philadelphia to tout the opening of "Les Miserables" at the Forrest Theatre. (The show, starring both mother and daughter, opened Wednesday night and continues through Jan. 25.)

Although the routine was all-too-familiar to Alexis' famous mom, herself a child star who charmed the nation with her portrayal of "Annie" on the Broadway stage and in London, Alexis decided that playing with the hair dryer in a deluxe hotel suite at the Downtown Marriott and jumping on the queen-sized bed was infinitely more interesting than fielding questions.

While McCardle will make her "Les Miz" debut as Eponine in the Philadelphia production, her daughter is already a veteran of the show. The youngster has been playing the child role of Young Cosette and Young Eponine on Broadway while mom acts as coach/driver/cheerleader in the wings.

For the record, mom also has had her turn in the epic play as Fantine, and has hardly been resting on her laurels since "Annie." She has starred in "Starlight Express," "Evita," "Grease" and "Annie Get Your Gun" in various regional theater productions, and in "State Fair" on Broadway.

So how is it for a child star to be raising a child star?

"Wonderful. Fun. Sometimes difficult," said McCardle, who now lives in New Rochelle, N.Y., and has grown into a slender, poised woman of 32. "Alexis has been backstage since she was five months old, so this is really in her blood."

Still, on Alexis' opening night on Broadway last August, McCardle and her mother were nervously sitting in their seats wondering how they'd ever make it through the night when McCardle thought she heard Alexis scream "No!" behind the closed curtain.

"It was such a terrible, awful moment," recalled McCardle, who later learned that no such thing had happened. "It made me realize how truly terrified I was for her."

And what mother wouldn't be, watching an 8-year-old's Broadway debut?

"I must admit I gave Alexis pointers along the way," said McCardle, who has emphasized to her newly minted actress daughter, for example, that no matter what happens, you push on. "I told her that if you forget your lines or think your voice sounds funny, you just keep going."

As it turns out, McCardle needn't have worried. Her daughter electrified an opening night audience, and subsequent ones, with her considerable charm and vocal powers.

"She's good. She may even be great," said Alexis' proud mom. "But the main thing is that she's also a wonderful kid with a great sense of humor and curiosity and just a nice disposition."

And terrific genes.

Along with mom's musical legacy, Alexis also has that of her father, Edd Kalehoff, a Philadelphia native and musical prodigy who composed the ABC-TV pigskin anthem, "Are You Ready for Some Football?" as well as the song "Philadelphia -- Get To Know Us!"

Kalehoff also produced his wife's latest CD of Broadway hits, "It Might As Well Be Spring," a recording on which Alexis makes her debut.

But with all the incredible highs amassed by this remarkable musical family, the Philadelphia production of "Les Miserables" still has special meaning.

"Coming back to my own home town and performing with my daughter -- well, that's about as good as it gets," said McCardle.

That daughter was last seen jumping up and down on a hotel room mattress and waiting eagerly for lunch with mom.

"Now is it time to eat?," Alexis asked.

And when it finally was, a small actress with a megawatt smile was beaming.

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