Actor

10 series in the catalog

Anthony Crivello (born August 2, 1955) is an American actor, known for his performances on both stage and screen. He appeared in the original cast of several Broadway shows, including playing Grantaire and Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman, Eddie Fuseli in Golden Boy, Dante Keyes in Marie Christine, and the Killer in The News. He also originated the title role in The Phantom of the Opera: The Las Vegas Spectacular and stayed with the cast through its closing six years later. He starred as Che in the original Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber Tim Rice’s Evita directed by Hal Prince. In 1993, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman also directed by Hal Prince.

Early life

Crivello was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Josephine (née Mussomeli) and Vincent J. Crivello. He graduated from Saint Rita's Grade School on Milwaukee's East Side, and then All-Boys Catholic Saint Thomas More High School in 1973. In high school he participated in varsity football, varsity soccer and wrestling. During that same time, early in his career, he appeared in 12 high school and community theatre productions, including three at Sunset Playhouse, directed by Alan Furlan and Mary H. Strong. He married actress/commercial talent agent Dori Rosenthal on May 14, 2005, and they have two children together. He was inducted into the Saint Thomas More Alumni Hall of Fame in 1995.

Career

He is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio (NYC/LA). His former acting teachers include: Tony Greco, Estelle Parsons, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Bain, Martin Landau as well as Michael Howard, Terry Schreiber and Mary H. Strong. His vocal coach for over thirty years is Anne Perillo/DePaul University. He studied comic improv with Del Close at The Second City in Chicago.

Crivello is an Honored Member of Marquette University's Century of Scholarship. He was the recipient of Marquette University's College of Speech & Communications 2003 Communicator of the Year Award. He is listed in Who's Who in America, and is a member of the Saint Thomas More High School Alumni Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Marquette University Hall of Fame with his image displayed in Johnston Hall in the Diederich College of Communication on the campus of Marquette University.

In 2008, Crivello was the host of his own radio show on FOX SPORTS/ 920 AM Las Vegas called Tony Crivello and The Sicilians. Mr. Crivello has also moonlighted as a ring announcer & commentator for ESPN2's Kickboxing Championships, and owns stock with the NFL's Green Bay Packers.

Theater

Crivello got his Equity Card at age 19, playing Conrad Birdie in a production of Bye Bye Birdie by Milwaukee's Melody Top Theatre. He broke into the Chicago theater scene in 1979, originating the role of "Felix 'The Filth Fiend' Linder" in the original cast of John R. Powers' Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? at Chicago's Forum Theatre. Shortly thereafter, in 1980, he was cast in a national touring company of Evita by director Harold Prince, where he played "Che". Prince eventually cast Crivello replacing Mandy Patinkin in the original Broadway production of Evita in 1981; it was Crivello's Broadway debut.

After completing his “Evita” run, he appeared off-Broadway in Wendy Kesselman's The Juniper Tree as well as The Lincoln Center production of Shakespeare's Measure For Measure directed by Mark Lamos.

He appeared in the musical The News starring as “The Killer”, first in Jupiter, Florida receiving a Carbonelle Award for “Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor.” He performed that same role at Westport Country Playhouse, and then on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre. He was an original Broadway cast member of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's Les Misérables for directors Trevor Nunn and John Caird and producer Cameron Mackintosh, first as Grantaire, and ten months later taking over the leading role of Javert. (He would later play Grantaire once again in a special tenth-anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London in “The Dream Cast/10th Anniversary Production of Les Miserables in Concert.)

He starred on Broadway as "Valentin" in the Kander and Ebb Terrence McNally musical Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993 directed by the incomparable Harold Prince. For his performance, he was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award while in try-outs in Toronto. He then originated the same role in London's West End Production of “Kiss” prior to its Broadway engagement. For his portrayal, Crivello won Broadway's 1993 Tony Award as "Best Featured Actor in a Musical." In 1999, he starred in Michael John LaChiusa's Marie Christine directed by Graciela Daniele at The Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre on Broadway opposite Audra McDonald and Mary Testa. Two years later, he received a Los Angeles Ovation Award nomination, a Garland Award nomination, a Robby Award nomination, and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Award nomination for "Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical" for Do I Hear a Waltz? at the Pasadena Playhouse directed by David Lee.

Crivello starred in the Goodman Theater of Chicago production of The House Of Martin Guerre for which he received Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award for his portrayal of Martin Guerre directed by David Petrarca. In August 2005, he appeared at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California in a workshop production of Zhivago, a musicalisation of the Boris Pasternak novel by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon, and directed by Des McAnuff. He starred in the Steve Martin adaptation of The Underpants at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by John Rando, as well as David Ives' adaptation of A Flea in Her Ear for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre directed by Gary Griffin for which he received his second Joseph Jefferson Award nomination. He starred in the John Caird and Paul Gordon musical Jane Eyre, first in 1994 while in development in Wichita, KS and then in the 1996 Toronto staging of “Jane Eyre.” Mr. Crivello received a second Dora Mavor Moore nomination in Canada for his portrayal of Edward Fairfax Rochester with that production.

In 2006, he was cast by director Hal Prince as one of two actors rotating in the title role in the Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera. Subsequently, he was cast as “The Phantom", and by September 2012, he appeared in over 2,400 performances.

He appeared in the Lincoln Center 75th Anniversary revival of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy at the Belasco Theatre in New York City, produced by Lincoln Center Theatre in 2012–2013, acting alongside Tony Shalhoub, Seth Numrich, and Yvonne Strahovski, Michael Aronov and directed by Bartlett Sher. In 2014, he appeared in the Kevin Murphy / Laurence O'Keefe Heathers Off-Broadway in New York City at New World Stages, and directed by Andy Fickman.

In 2015 and 2016, Crivello starred in producer Hershey Felder's production of Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara directed by Taylor Hackford, and written by Hackford, Vanessa Claire Stewart and Jake Broder. The musical was performed at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago, as well as the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Stewart played the role of Keely Smith to Crivello's 'Las Vegas Lounge Legend' Louis Prima and Crivello received this third Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for his work.

In 2017, Crivello portrayed the Marquette University Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame 1977 NCAA basketball championship coach / NBC broadcaster Al McGuire in the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre one man play McGuire, written by HOF broadcaster Dick Enberg. Crivello received critical praise for his work in the show and won the 2017 Wisconsin Footlights Award for Outstanding Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. An eight-minute presentation of McGuire was presented at the 2017 Wisconsin Sports Awards on May 20, 2017, at the University of Wisconsin Field House. Crivello reprised his…