Product Code Database
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 his Broadway acting debut in the original production of Tony Kushner's two-part epic play Angels in America (1993–1994), for which he received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play nomination. He has since acted in acclaimed Broadway revivals of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart (2011) and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (2017).
Mantello has transitioned into a career as a Broadway director, winning the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Take Me Out (2003) and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Assassins (2004). He has directed notable productions such as Wicked (2003), Glengarry Glen Ross (2005), The Humans (2016), Three Tall Women (2018), and The Boys in the Band (2018).
Mantello studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts; he started the Edge Theater in New York City with actress Mary-Louise Parker and writer Peter Hedges. He is a founding member of the Naked Angels theater company and an associate artist at the Roundabout Theatre Company.
Mantello began his theatrical career as an actor in Keith Curran's Walking the Dead and Paula Vogel's The 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."Burdette, Nicole. "Joe Mantello" , BOMB Magazine, Summer 1992
Mantello directs a variety of theatre works, as The New York Times noted: "Very few American directors – Jack O'Brien and Mike Nichols come to mind – successfully jump genres and styles the way Mr. Mantello does, moving from a two-hander like Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune to the huge canvas of a mainstream musical comedy like Wicked, from downtown stand-up ( The Santaland Diaries) to contemporary opera ( Dead Man Walking) to political performance art ( The Vagina Monologues)."Green, Jesse. "Surviving 'Assassins'". The New York Times, April 11, 2004
A Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Lips Together, Teeth Apart directed by Mantello was scheduled to open at the American Airlines Theatre in April 2010, when one of the stars, Megan Mullally, suddenly quit. The production was postponed indefinitely due to her departure.Jones, Kenneth. "Broadway Won't See Lips Together, Teeth Apart This Season" playbill.com, March 25, 2010
Mantello directed the Jon Robin Baitz play Other Desert Cities at the Booth 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 of The Normal Heart in April 2011,Gans, Andrew. "Larry Kramer's 'The Normal Heart', Starring Joe Mantello, Opens on Broadway April 27" playbill.com, April 27, 2011 for which he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play.Jones, Kenneth and Gans, Andrew. "2011 Tony Nominations Announced; 'Book of Mormon' Earns 14 Nominations" playbill.com, May 3, 2011 Mantello had previously been nominated for the Tony Award for his role as Louis in Angels in America.
He directed the Off-Broadway world premiere of the musical Dogfight in the summer of 2012 at the Second Stage Theater.Healy, Patrick. "New Musical Set in 1960s Coming to Second Stage Theater". "The New York Times", January 31, 2012 In January 2013, he directed the Broadway premiere of Sharr White's The Other Place at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. In 2014 he directed Sting's new Musical theatre The Last Ship. He directed the Harvey Fierstein play Casa Valentina, which premiered on Broadway in April 2014.Purcell, Carey. "MTC To Present Broadway World Premiere of Harvey Fierstein's 'Casa Valentina'" playbill.com, September 9, 2013
Mantello acted in the revival of The Glass Menagerie which opened on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in February 2017. Directed by Sam Gold, the play starred Sally Field as Amanda Wingfield, with Mantello playing Tom.Gans, Andrew. "Dates Set for 'Glass Menagerie' Broadway Revival With Sally Field and Joe Mantello" Playbill, June 6, 2016McPhee, Ryan. "Read What Critics Had to Say About the Broadway Revival of 'The Glass Menagerie' " Playbill, March 9, 2017
In 2018, Joe Mantello was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 2022, Mantello was featured in the book 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre.
| 1991 !scope="row" | Walking the Dead | Stan | Keith Curran | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1992 !scope="row" | The Baltimore Waltz | Third Man | Paula Vogel | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1993 !scope="row" | Louis Ironson | Tony Kushner | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1994 !scope="row" | Louis Ironson Sarah Ironson Council of Principalities | |||
| 2010 !scope="row" | The Normal Heart | Ned Weeks | Larry Kramer | John Golden Theatre, Broadway |
| 2017 !scope="row" | The Glass Menagerie | Tom Wingfield | Tennessee Williams | Belasco Theatre, Broadway |
| 1990 !scope="row" | Imagining Brad | Peter Hedges | Players Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 1991 !scope="row" | Babylon Gardens | Timothy Mason | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1992 !scope="row" | Three Hotels | Jon Robin Baitz | Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway |
| 1994 !scope="row" | Love! Valour! Compassion! | Terrence McNally | New York City Center, Off-Broadway |
| 1995 !scope="row" | Love! Valour! Compassion! | Terrence McNally | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 1996 !scope="row" | Blue Window | Craig Lucas | New York City Center, Off-Broadway |
| 1997 !scope="row" | God's Heart | Craig Lucas | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Off-Broadway |
| 1998 !scope="row" | Mizlansky/Zilinsky or "Schmucks" | Jon Robin Baitz | New York City Center, Off-Broadway |
| 1999 !scope="row" | The Mineola Twins | Paula Vogel | Laura Pels Theater, Off-Broadway |
| 2001 !scope="row" | Design for Living | Noël Coward | American Airlines Theatre, Broadway |
| 2002 !scope="row" | An Evening with Mario Cantone | Mario Cantone | |
| 2003 !scope="row" | Take Me Out | Richard Greenberg | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway |
| 2004 !scope="row" | Assassins | Stephen Sondheim John Weidman | Studio 54, Broadway |
| 2005 !scope="row" | Glengarry Glen Ross | David Mamet | Royale Theatre, Broadway |
| 2006 !scope="row" | Three Days of Rain | Richard Greenberg | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway |
| 2007 !scope="row" | Blackbird | David Harrower | New York City Center, Off-Broadway |
| 2008 !scope="row" | November | David Mamet | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway |
| 2009 !scope="row" | 9 to 5 | Dolly Parton Patricia Resnick | Marquis Theatre, Broadway |
| 2010 !scope="row" | The Pride | Alexi Kaye Campbell | Lucille Lortel Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 2011 !scope="row" | Other Desert Cities | Jon Robin Baitz | Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Off-Broadway |
| 2012 !scope="row" | Dogfight | Benj Pasek Justin Paul Peter Duchan | Second Stage Theater, Off-Broadway |
| 2013 !scope="Row" | The Other Place | Sharr White | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway |
| 2014 !scope="row" | Casa Valentina | Harvey Fierstein | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway |
| 2015 !scope="row" | Airline Highway | Lisa D'Amour | Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway |
| 2016 | Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway | ||
| 2018 !scope="row" | Three Tall Women | Edward Albee | John Golden Theatre, Broadway |
| 2019 !scope="row" | Hillary and Clinton | Lucas Hnath | John Golden Theatre, Broadway |
| 2020 !scope="row" | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Edward Albee | Booth Theatre, Broadway |
| 2023 !scope="row" | Grey House | Levi Holloway | Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
| 2024 !scope="row" | Little Bear Ridge Road | Samuel D. Hunter | Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago |
| 1989 !scope="row" | Cookie | Dominick | |
| 1997 !scope="row" | Love! Valour! Compassion! | Director | |
| 2020 !scope="row" | The Boys in the Band | Director and producer | |
| 1990 !scope="row" | Three Hotels | Director; Television movie | |
| 1991–98 !scope="row" | Law & Order | Public Defender / Philip Marco | 2 episodes |
| 1993 !scope="row" | Sisters | Adam Olderberg | Episode: "Moving Pictures" |
| 1995 !scope="row" | Central Park West | Ian Walker | 3 episodes |
| 2014 !scope="row" | The Normal Heart | Mickey Marcus | HBO television film |
| 2020 !scope="row" | Hollywood | Dick Samuels | 7 episodes |
| 2022 !scope="row" | The Watcher | John Graff | 5 episodes |
| 2024 !scope="row" | Jack Dunphy | 7 episodes |
|
|
