John cariani actor biography
John Cariani
American actor and playwright
John Cariani | |
|---|---|
Cariani in at the premiere of Enfermo Amor in Mexico City | |
| Born | () July 22, (age&#;55) Brockton, Massachusetts, United States |
| Education | Amherst College |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, playwright |
| Known&#;for | Law & Order, Almost, Maine, Fiddler on the Roof, Something Rotten!, The Band's Visit |
| Spouse | John Lloyd |
John Edward Cariani (born July 22, ) is an American actor and playwright.
John Edward Cariani (born July 22, ) is an American actor and playwright. Cariani is best known as the forensic expert Julian Beck in Law & Order. On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role as Motel the Tailor in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.Cariani is best known as the forensic expert Julian Beck in Law & Order. On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role as Motel the Tailor in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. He is also known for his roles in Broadway shows Something Rotten! and The Band's Visit, and for writing Almost, Maine, one of the most produced plays in American high schools.[1]
Early life
Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, Cariani was eight when his family moved to Presque Isle, Maine.
He attended Presque Isle High School where he was active in the music and theater programs. After graduating in , he attended Amherst College,[2] where he was a member of the Zumbyes,[3] Amherst's oldest a-cappella group, and the Glee Club. After graduating from Amherst College in with a B.A. in history, he studied acting and directing at now defunct StageWest in Springfield, Massachusetts.[4] He then moved to New York at age 27 to pursue acting.
Career
Cariani spent his early years in New York working with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and acting in Off-Broadway plays, television commercials, and films.
His first break came in when he was cast in the Off-Broadway play It's My Party (and I'll Die If I Want To), starring F.
Murray Abraham and Joyce Van Patten.[5]
Cariani broke into film and TV in when he was cast in the independent film, Scotland, PA,[6] opposite Christopher Walken and guest-starred on the TV series Ed[7]
In , he landed his first major film role opposite Robert De Niro in the Warner Brothers film Showtime ()[6]
In , he joined the cast of Law & Order, playing the role of forensic expert Julian Beck from to [8]
Since then, he has appeared in several TV shows, films, plays and musicals, both on and off-Broadway, and in regional theaters across the country.
Playwriting
As playwright, Cariani is best known for his first play, Almost, Maine, which was developed at the Cape Cod Theatre Project in [9] It premiered at Portland Stage Company (in Portland, Maine) in [10]Almost, Maine opened Off-Broadway in [11] and was featured in Smith and Kraus' New Playwrights: Best Plays of .[citation needed]
The play was published by Dramatists Play Service in [12] and has since become one of the most popular plays in the United States with nearly professional productions and over community, university, and high school productions to date.[13]
Over the past decade, it has become one of the most frequently produced plays in North American high schools.[10][14][15]
In , Transport Group revived Almost, Maine Off-Broadway to critical acclaim.[16]The Advocate named the production to its "Best Theatre of " list,[17] and Lincoln Center recorded the production for its Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.[18]
Dramatists Play Service recently published its 80th Anniversary Edition, a boxed set of 8 definitive titles representing each decade of the Play Service's history.
Almost, Maine was selected to represent DPS' eighth decade.[19]
In , Cariani adapted Almost, Maine into a novel, Almost, Maine: A Novel, published by Macmillan.[20]
Cariani's second play, cul-de-sac premiered Off-Broadway in April in a Transport Group production.[21] The New York Times described cul-de-sac as "charming, witty and macabre."[22] The play was reworked and presented at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (New York City) and at High Point University (High Point, NC) in and received further development at the Cape Cod Theatre Project.[23] It received a professional production at Half Theatre in Poughkeepsie in
Cariani's third play, Last Gas premiered at Portland Stage Company (Portland, Maine) in [24] Cariani noted that "Almost, Maine is almost a love letter to northern Maine and Last Gas is a more realistic look at that part of the world."[25] It has been described as "a bittersweet romance about two people who lack the courage to admit they love one another it's an undeniable winner despite its predictable twist."[26] The play ran at Opera House Arts, Stonington Opera House, Maine, in [27] and at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York in the winter of It was published by Dramatists Play Service in
LOVE/SICK is Cariani's most recent play.
It premiered at High Point University in the fall of , then was presented at the Portland Stage Company in the spring of ,[28] and was produced by Hartford TheaterWorks in The play ran Off-Broadway in February at the Royal Family Performing Arts Space.[29] The Huffington Post gave the Off Broadway production a positive review: "Sometimes playwright John Cariani looks at the world — actually the worlds of love and relationships — through rose-colored glasses.
Just as often he views those worlds through lenses tinted a middling-to-dark-gray or maybe a jaundiced yellow. … While poking fun at the happily-ever-after notion by means of a strong dose of happily-never-after, Cariani shoots his cockeyed valentines with a quiver full of funny lines. He knows how to keep audiences laughing while passing along disappointing news."[30]
LOVE/SICK has been performed in Riga, Latvia [31] and Mexico City and was recently made into a Spanish language feature called Enfermo Amor on Vix+.[32]
Two new vignettes from LOVE/SICK premiered at Stonehill College in Easton, MA for a filmed version of the play, directed by Cariani.
Personal life
Cariani and his husband John Lloyd, a retired NYPD detective, have been together since and live in the Bronx.[33][34]
Filmography
Film roles
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kissing Jessica Stein | Chuck | ||
| Scotland, PA | Ed the 'not-too-bright' Cop | ||
| The Shaft | Security Guard Gary | ||
| Showtime | Charlie Hertz | ||
| Robot Stories | Salesman | ||
| The Reunion | Scott | Short | |
| Messengers | Derek the Cop | ||
| High Street Plumbing | Big Boy | Short | |
| Certainty | Odd Interviewer | ||
| Henry | Henry | Short | |
| Elephant Sighs | Joel | ||
| Sleeping With The Fishes | Louis Belsky | ||
| Deliver us from Evil | Zookeeper | ||
| Child of Grace | Ollie | ||
| Paper Dreams | Ethan | ||
| Thrasher Road | TSA Supervisor | ||
| Nasa Seals | Josh Peters |
Television
Stage appearances
Awards and nominations
Playwriting bibliography
References
- ^Considine, Basil (30 September ).
"Actor-playwright John Cariani on The Band's Visit, The Final Frontier, and more". Interview. Twin Cities Arts Reader. Retrieved 1 October
- ^Williams, Roger M. (Winter ). "One Up on Shakespeare". Amheart Magazine. Amherst College. Retrieved March 17,
- ^"Zumbyes alumni".
. September 28,
- ^Burns-Fusaro, Nancy (February 2, ). "10&#;questions with playwright John Cariani".
Clear: John Cariani is a Tony Award nominated actor and an accomplished playwright. As an actor, he is best known for his roles on NBC's Law & Order (as Forensics Tech Beck), on CBS' Numbers (as Professor Otto Bahnoff), and on IFC's The Onion News Network (as reporter Michael Falk).
The Westerly Sun.
- ^Jones, Kenneth; Lefkowitz, David (August 4, ). "Abraham and van&#;Patten are couple with no time to lose in It's My Party&#;". Playbill.
- ^ ab"John Cariani Credits" , retrieved June 23,
- ^"Cariani Film and TV" , retrieved June 23,
- ^"A Romantic Comedy for Guys"The New York Times, March 23,
- ^"Cape Cod Theatre Project History "
- ^ ab"Almost, Maine Awards-Accolades-Honors"
- ^"Almost, Maine Off-Broadway"
- ^"Almost, Maine John Cariani"
- ^"Almost, Maine About The Play"
- ^"Official Site, Almost, Maine".
. Retrieved March 17,
- ^Rampell, Catherine (October 27, ). "Theater censorship is alive and well". John Cariani is a Tony Award nominated actor and an accomplished playwright. As an actor, he is best known for his roles on NBC's Law & Order (as Forensics Tech Beck), on CBS' Numbers (as Professor Otto Bahnoff), and on IFC's The Onion News Network (as reporter Michael Falk).
Washington Post.
- ^"Almost, Maine". Transport Group.
- ^"New York Theater ". The Advocate.
- ^Gans, Andrew (February 25, ). "Transport Group's Almost, Maine will be taped for archives; One scene will be filmed two ways".
Playbill.
- ^"The 80th Anniversary Collection"
- ^"Almost, Maine A Novel"
- ^"cul-de-sac". transportgroup. 20 April
- ^Horn, Miriam (May 3, ). "cul-de-sac: A study in suburban doldrums".Theatre actor biography John Cariani is a Tony Award-nominated actor and an accomplished playwright. He made his Broadway debut in the revival of Fiddler on the Roof and received an Outer Critics.
Review. The New York Times.
- ^Considine, Basil (30 September ). "Actor-playwright John Cariani on The Band's Visit, The Final Frontier, and more". Interview. Twin Cities Arts Reader. Retrieved 1 October
- ^Feeney, Steve (November 7, ). "Last Gas a full tank of unfulfilled desires".
Theater Review.
John cariani actor biography John Edward Cariani (born July 22, ) is an American actor and playwright. Cariani is best known as the forensic expert Julian Beck in Law & Order. On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role as Motel the Tailor in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.Portland Press Herald.
- ^Considine, Basil (March 26, ). "Playwright John Cariani talks Almost, Maine and Love/Sick". .
- ^Morphy, Marcia (January 13, ). "Geva's Last Gas an everyday love story". Review. Democrat and Chronicle.
- ^"Talk back to Maine playwright John Cariani".
. February 6,
- ^"That Thing Called Love". Press Herald.
- ^Clement, Olivia (February 6, ). "John Cariani's Love/Sick, co-starring the playwright, begins tonight off-Broadway". Playbill.
- ^"First Nighter: John Cariani's Love/Sick"
- ^"Chekhov Theatre"
- ^"Tráiler: Enfermo amor"
- ^Gates, Anita (May 29, ).
"Love Is Out of This World. Far Out". Interview. New York Times. Retrieved April 19,
- ^Rudetsky, Seth (April 17, ). "StarsInTheHouse #59 Friday 4/17 at 2PM: Broadway Cast Reunion: Caroline, or Change". Interview. youtube. Event occurs at Archived from the original on Retrieved April 19,