Joe Mantello | |
|---|---|
 Mantello atWicked 10th Birthday 2016 | |
| Born | Joseph Mantello (1962-12-27)December 27, 1962 (age 63) Rockford, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
| Partner | Jon Robin Baitz (1990–2002) |
| Awards | |
Joseph Mantello (born December 27, 1962) is an American actor and director known for his work on stage and screen. He first gained prominence for hisBroadway acting debut in the original production ofTony Kushner's two-part epic playAngels in America (1993–1994), for which he received aTony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play nomination. He has since acted in acclaimed Broadway revivals ofLarry Kramer'sThe Normal Heart (2011) andTennessee Williams'The Glass Menagerie (2017).
Mantello has transitioned into a career as a Broadway director, winning theTony Award for Best Direction of a Play forTake Me Out (2003) and theTony Award for Best Direction of a Musical forAssassins (2004). He has directed notable productions such asWicked (2003),Glengarry Glen Ross (2005),The Humans (2016),Three Tall Women (2018), andThe Boys in the Band (2018).
Mantello was born inRockford, Illinois, the son of Judy and Richard Mantello, an accountant.[1][2] His father is of Italian ancestry and his mother is of half Italian descent.[3] He was raised Catholic.[4]
Mantello studied at theNorth Carolina School of the Arts; he started the Edge Theater inNew York City with actressMary-Louise Parker and writerPeter Hedges. He is a founding member of theNaked Angels theater company and an associate artist at theRoundabout Theatre Company.
Mantello came to New York from Illinois in 1984 in the midst of theAIDS crisis, having overcome a youthful feeling, he admitted to a reporter in 2013, that "for some reason I was deeply ashamed of the theater early on. I think it had to do with this growing sense I was gay, although I couldn’t have put a word to it back then. Where I grew up, boys played sports. When [teacher] Mrs. Windsor wrote in my yearbook, 'Have you ever considered a career in the theater?' it was literally like she wrote the word 'faggot'."[5]
Mantello began his theatrical career as an actor in Keith Curran'sWalking the Dead andPaula Vogel'sThe Baltimore Waltz. On the transition from acting to directing, Mantello said, "I think I've become a better actor since I started directing, although some people might disagree. Since I've been removed from the process I see things that actors fall into. Now there's a part of me that's removed from the process and can stand back."[6]
Mantello directs a variety of theatre works, asThe New York Times noted: "Very few American directors –Jack O'Brien andMike Nichols come to mind – successfully jump genres and styles the way Mr. Mantello does, moving from a two-hander likeFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune to the huge canvas of a mainstream musical comedy likeWicked, from downtown stand-up (The Santaland Diaries) to contemporary opera (Dead Man Walking) to political performance art (The Vagina Monologues)."[7]
ARoundabout Theatre Company revival ofLips Together, Teeth Apart directed by Mantello was scheduled to open at theAmerican Airlines Theatre in April 2010, when one of the stars,Megan Mullally, suddenly quit. The production was postponed indefinitely due to her departure.[8]
Mantello directed theJon Robin Baitz playOther Desert Cities at theBooth Theater in 2011. He returned to acting for the first time in over a decade with the role of Ned Weeks in the Broadway limited engagement revival ofThe Normal Heart in April 2011,[9] for which he was nominated for theTony Award as Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play.[10] Mantello had previously been nominated for the Tony Award for his role as Louis inAngels in America.
He directed the Off-Broadway world premiere of the musicalDogfight in the summer of 2012 at theSecond Stage Theater.[11] In January 2013, he directed the Broadway premiere ofSharr White'sThe Other Place at theSamuel J. Friedman Theatre. In 2014 he directedSting's newmusicalThe Last Ship.[12] He directed theHarvey Fierstein playCasa Valentina, which premiered on Broadway in April 2014.[13]
Mantello acted in the revival ofThe Glass Menagerie which opened on Broadway at theBelasco Theatre in February 2017. Directed bySam Gold, the play starredSally Field as Amanda Wingfield, with Mantello playing Tom.[14][15]
In 2018, Joe Mantello was inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.[16] In 2022, Mantello was featured in the book50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre.[17]
From 1990 to 2002, Mantello was in a relationship with playwrightJon Robin Baitz.[18][19] As of 2018, he lives with Paul Marlow, who owns a custom clothing company inManhattan.[20]
| Year | Title | Credit(s) | Playwright | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Walking the Dead | Stan | Keith Curran | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1992 | The Baltimore Waltz | Third Man | Paula Vogel | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1993 | Angels in America: Millennium Approaches | Louis Ironson | Tony Kushner | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 1994 | Angels in America: Perestroika | Louis Ironson Sarah Ironson Council of Principalities | ||
| 2010 | The Normal Heart | Ned Weeks | Larry Kramer | John Golden Theatre, Broadway |
| 2017 | The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | Tennessee Williams | Belasco Theatre, Broadway |
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Cookie | Dominick | |
| 1997 | Love! Valour! Compassion! | N/a | Director |
| 2020 | The Boys in the Band | N/a | Director and producer |
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Three Hotels | N/a | Director; Television movie |
| The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Mickey | Episode: "Here's Why You Can Never Have Too Much Petty Cash" | |
| 1991–98 | Law & Order | Public Defender / Philip Marco | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Sisters | Adam Olderberg | Episode: "Moving Pictures" |
| 1995 | Central Park West | Ian Walker | 3 episodes |
| 2014 | The Normal Heart | Mickey Marcus | HBO television film |
| 2020 | Hollywood | Dick Samuels | 7 episodes |
| 2022 | The Watcher | John Graff | 5 episodes |
| American Horror Story: NYC | Gino Barelli | 10 episodes | |
| 2024 | Feud: Capote vs. The Swans | Jack Dunphy | 7 episodes |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |