John Cariani

John Edward Cariani (born July 23, 1969) is an award-winning American actor and an accomplished playwright. Cariani is best known to television viewers as the unwavering forensic expert Julian Beck in Law & Order. On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role as Motel the Tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. As a playwright, he is best known for his first play, Almost, Maine, which has become one of the most frequently produced plays in the United States. He has starred on Broadway in the Tony Award winning musical Something Rotten! as Nigel Bottom.

Early life

Born in Brockton, Massachusetts, Cariani was 8 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 1987, he attended Amherst College,^[1] where he was a member of the Zumbyes,^[2] Amherst's oldest a cappella group, and the Glee Club. After graduating from Amherst College in 1991 with a B. A. in history, he studied acting and directing at now defunct StageWest in Springfield, Massachusetts.^[3] He then moved to New York to pursue acting.

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 1999 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.^[4] In 2000 Cariani was cast in the independent film, Scotland, PA. In 2001 he had a small role in the independent hit, The Shaft and then played a villain in Warner Brothers' film Showtime. In 2002 he joined the cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing the role of forensic expert Julian Beck from 2002-2007.

In 2004 Cariani made his Broadway debut in a revival of Fiddler on the Roof, starring Alfred Molina.^[5] He won an Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Featured Actor In A Musical,^[6] and a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Motel the tailor.^[7]

In 2009, Cariani joined the cast of the television show Numb3rs on CBS as physicist Otto Bahnoff.

From 2011-2012, he appeared in several sketches on IFC's Onion News Network, playing the role of "Michael Falk, Autistic Reporter."

In 2012 he starred opposite Ed Asner in the independent film Elephant Sighs. That same year, he guest-starred on the Showtime series, Homeland. In 2014 he had a guest starring role on The Good Wife, and later in the year played the role of "Zookeeper" in Sony Pictures Deliver Us From Evil.^[8]

In 2015, he originated the role of Nigel Bottom in the Broadway musical Something Rotten!, for which he was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical.^[9] He left the production in July 2016.^[10]

He is performing in a new musical based on the film The Band's Visit, with the book by Itamar Moses and music and lyrics by David Yazbek. The musical opened at the Off-Broadway Linda Gross Theater, produced by the Atlantic Theatre Company, on November 11, 2016, closing on December 23, 2016.^[11]

Playwriting

As a playwright, Cariani is best known for his first play, Almost, Maine^[12] which premiered at the Portland Stage Company in 2004 and became the company's most successful production to date garnering critical acclaim and breaking box office records. It was named "one of the ten must-see shows" in The Wall Street Journal's regional roundup for 2004/2005 regional theater season.^[12]

Almost, Maine opened Off-Broadway in 2006 at the Daryl Roth Theatre. Since then, Almost, Maine has become one of the most frequently produced plays, produced by over 2500 theater companies in North America to date.^[12] In 2014, The Washington Post reported that Almost, Maine had replaced Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as the most frequently produced play in North American High Schools.^[12][13] Almost, Maine has also been translated into nearly 20 languages.

Cariani starred in the Transport Group's 2014 Off-Broadway revival of Almost, Maine.^[14] The production was named one of the ten best of 2014 by The Advocate,^[15] and was also recorded by the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.^[16]

Cariani's second play, cul-de-sac premiered Off-Broadway in April 2006 in a Transport Group production,^[17] with Cariani performing as Joe Jones. The New York Times described cul-de-sac as "charming, witty and macabre."^[18] A production was presented at High Point University in April 2016, and the play was performed at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (New York City) in October 2016. Playbill reported that he was in the process of revising the piece.^[19]

Cariani's third play, Last Gas premiered at Portland Stage Company (Portland, Maine) in 2010.^[20] 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."^[21] Last Gas became the biggest selling three-week run in Portland Stage Company's history. 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."^[22] The play ran at Opera House Arts, Stonington Opera House, Maine, in 2013^[23] and at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York in the winter of 2014. It was published by Dramatists Play Service in 2014.

Love/Sick is Cariani's most recent play. It premiered at High Point University in the fall of 2010, then was presented at the Portland Stage Company in the spring of 2013,^[24] and was produced by Hartford TheaterWorks in 2014. The play ran Off-Broadway in February 2015 at the Royal Family Performing Arts Space.^[25]

Filmography

Film roles

Television

Stage appearances

Awards and nominations

Playwriting bibliography

References

External links

• John Cariani at the Internet Movie Database
• John Cariani at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Cariani at Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Almost Maine at dramatists.com