Westpoppn

Growing up she looked a lot like her dad who is from Mexico. She loved to sing and dance following in her paternal grandfather’s footsteps, a singer and mariachi violinist. Although she barely knew her grandfather as he died from lung cancer when she was two years old, she has fond memories of them kneeling down to pray together. She did played his violin for many years and still dust it off sometimes.

As an early member of the Los Angeles Children’s Choir, Echeverria sang with music luminaries such as Barry Manilow, Melissa Manchester, Peabo Bryson, Patti Austin, Michael McDonald, Doc Severinsen, Yo-Yo Ma, and André Previn. She was part of a small group that sang at the wedding of Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter and she performed on the soundtrack of the Dustin Hoffman/Geena Davis movie Hero, singing with Luther Vandross.

A fan of Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett, she performed in three operas at the Los Angeles Music Center while still in middle school. It was during one particular opera that she met the Soprano diva backstage who was a total force of nature. Her personality bowled Echeverria over as much as the diva’s stunning voice. It was during that show that she realized that she was drawn to acting as well, not just music.

Echeverria’s big break came when she was in college, when visiting director and film composer Elizabeth Swados came to direct an original musical, soon casting Echeverria. Everything came together at that point as she realized that acting was a possibility now. Swados asked her to take a semester off and perform in a show she was directing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in NYC. Echeverria took the leap of faith marking the beginning of her life as an actor. She is also grateful to her mentors which include her parents, maternal grandmother, teachers, especially her drama teacher, Tina Cocumelli. She is also grateful to Elizabeth Swados and Marcus Stern as they were both instrumental in guiding her towards life as an actor. At NYU, Zelda Fichandler, Deb Lapidus, and Ron van Lieu were all vital to her growth.

After college Echeverria applied to graduate schools in acting and received a fellowship to get an MFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

In one of those rare occurrences, she booked her very first TV audition through an agent for a Lifetime series called Strong Medicine. Other television credits include: Shameless, Pure Genius, The Mentalist, Southland, ER, Canterbury’s Law, Law & Order, Rescue Me, Beyond Therapy and most recently, Goliath.

Film credits include: The Bye Bye Man and Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalkers Nightmare. One of her favorite recent projects was a new musical she workshopped at Sundance, where she played legendary Broadway star Chita Rivera’s daughter.

Theater credits include The Public Theatre’s The Bacchae at Shakespeare in The Park, directed by Joanne Akalaitis and in which Marisa sang music by Philip Glass. Marisa was also the dance captain of this production.

Awards include Outstanding Individual Performance in the Rap/Hip Hop musical Kingdom in NYC.

Favorite past times include skiing, yoga and tennis and is fully bilingual in English and Spanish. Her charity work and support include Immigrant Families Together, Planned Parenthood, Young Storytellers and the World Wildlife Fund.