Hometown: Trenton, NJ
Education: Baruch College
Select Credits: Theatre: Thrill Me (Richard Loeb), Aida (Radames); Voiceover: Hippo in Scholastic’s "Rabbit and Hippo In Three Short Tales", the narrator of Julianne Moore’s "Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully", and description for seeing impaired children for NBC’s "Tree Fu Tom".
Why theater?: When it's working you have a room full of people—audience and artists—using their collective imaginations in different ways to create an experience that will literally happen once in a lifetime. Theater is a medium for social change, and the only place in the world where it's perfectly acceptable to break out into song for no reason.
Tell us about The Gospel According to Josh: I'll talk about it in the third person so it's less awkward, since the show is technically, in part, about me. It's a 30 character, one man show, based on a book of the same name. "By the time Josh Rivedal turned twenty-five, he thought he’d have the perfect life—a few years singing on Broadway, his own television show, and his face on the cover of the National Enquirer as Bigfoot’s not-so-secret lover. Instead, his resume is filled with minor league theatre and an appearance on "The Maury Povich Show"—a career sidetracked by his father’s death and a messy lawsuit from his mother. Tortured by his thoughts, he finds himself on the ledge of a fourth floor window, contemplating jumping out. In turn he must reach out to the only person who can help him before it’s too late. The Gospel... is a true life tale of one young man’s passage into manhood—his twenty-eight year Gentile bar mitzvah."
What inspired you to write The Gospel According to Josh?: I was working in a solo show writing class taught by playwright Matt Hoverman. Collectively, he, and comedians Mary Dimino, PJ Walsh; my own dead father, and my want for a new creative outlet all inspired the writing of The Gospel...
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: When it creates change in the audience. I'm not interested in art for the sake of art. It can be play, musical, or dance piece but there has got to be a story involved and it has to be about the audience and not how smart the writer or director is or how talented the performers are. Richard Branson. Justin Timberlake. Tyler Perry. Fusion art (of any kind). People who take risks and succeed or fail.
Any roles you’re dying to play?: One that I've written for the stage, being produced at the end of 2015.
What’s your favorite showtune?: "This Was a Real Nice Clambake"
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Alex Timbers (theatre), Pharrell Williams (music), Wes Anderson and Quentin Tarantino (film)
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Ryan Gosling; "The Gospel According to Josh"
What show have you recommended to your friends?: Beautiful:The Carole King Musical
What’s the most played song on your iTunes?: "All of Me" by John Legend
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Boy Band music
What’s up next?: I'm taking The Gospel... back on the road this Fall/Spring '14-'15. I'm curating and publishing an inspirational compilation book series: The Good News Project (GNP)—Volume 1 is being published October '14. Volume 2 is being published in February '15. My first book "The Gospel According to Josh: A 28-Year Gentile Bar Mitzvah" is having special international re-releases in August 2014, in the United Kingdom and Australia.
