Robert Cuccioli

Robert Cuccioli (born May 3, 1958) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Fany Award for outstanding actor in a musical.

After beginning his career Off-Broadway at the Light Opera of Manhattan in the 1980s, Cuccioli starred as Lancelot du Lac in national tours of Camelot in 1987 and first appeared on Broadway in 1993 as Javert in Les Misérables. He has appeared in numerous New York and regional productions since then, including his long-running stints on Broadway in Jekyll & Hyde (1997–1999) and as the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (2012–2014). Cuccioli has also appeared in films and on television.

Life and career

Cuccioli was born in Hempstead, New York.^[1] He attended St. Mary's High School in Manhasset, New York,^{[citation needed]} and college at St. John's University in Jamaica, New York, earning a degree in Finance.^{[citation needed]}

While working as a financial consultant at E. F. Hutton in the earlly 1980s, he joined the off-Broadway Light Opera of Manhattan, where he performed for three years, working his way up to principal roles,^[2] such as Count Danilo in The Merry Widow, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance and Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore.^[3]

Broadway and national tours

Cuccioli starred as Lancelot de Lac in U.S. and Canadian national tours of Camelot in 1987, with Richard Harris. He first appeared on Broadway as Javert in Les Misérables in 1993 and continued to appear in the musical as a replacement until early January 1995, when he began rehearsals for the pre-Broadway national tour of Jekyll & Hyde. In 1997, Cuccioli was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in the dual title roles in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, also winning the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the Fany Award for that role. On September 26, 2005, he starred as Dr. Johnson in the special benefit performance of On the Twentieth Century at the New Amsterdam Theatre.

Cuccioli returned to Broadway beginning August 7, 2012, when he took over from Patrick Page in the dual role of Norman Osborn and his alter ego The Green Goblin in the rock musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.^[4]

Off-Broadway and regional theatre

Aside from Cuccioli's early tenure at the Light Opera of Manhattan, his other notable off-Broadway appearances include Nathan in the long-running revival of The Rothschilds (1990); the highly successful 1991 Kander and Ebb revue And The World Goes 'Round, which garnered him an Outer Critics Circle Award in 1991; and he played the title role in the Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit musical Phantom at the Westchester Broadway Theater in 1992–93, a role that he has repeated. In 2000, he played Macheath in The Threepenny Opera.^[5] He was also seen as Karl Streber in Temporary Help in 2002 and in Mirette by Harvey Schmidt with York Theatre in 2005.^[6]

Cuccioli's U.S. regional theatre credits include Ankles Aweigh at the Goodspeed Opera House in 1988, Jud Fry in Oklahoma! at the Paper Mill Playhouse in 1992,^[5] Archibald Craven in the Sacramento Music Circus production of The Secret Garden (1999), The Actor in Enter the Guardsman at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival (1999 and again off-Broadway in 2000),^[6] King Marchan in Victor/Victoria at the Paper Mill in 2000,^[7] Nick Arnstein in Funny Girl at the Paper Mill in 2001, Antony in Antony and Cleopatra at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival (2002), Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music at the Paper Mill in 2003, and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at the Paper Mill in 2004, with Karen Ziemba and Kate Baldwin.^[5] His 2005 theatrical credits include Alexander di Medici in Lorenzaccio at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., and Capt. von Trapp in The Sound of Music at the Bendedum Theatre in Pennsylvania. He has also starred in shows at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, where he has played the title role in Macbeth (2004), Brutus in Julius Caesar (2005) and Antonio Salieri in Amadeus (2008), among others; at the New York's Equity Library Theatre; and in regional theatres around the United States.^[6]

Cuccioli's later stage appearances include the off-Broadway revue, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris in 2006. In June and July 2007, he played Claudius in Hamlet at The Lansburgh Theatre in Washington, D.C., with the Shakespeare Theatre Company. In 2007, he appeared in pre-Broadway tryouts of Lone Star Love in Seattle, starring Randy Quaid, but the Broadway run was cancelled. Later that year he played the title character in Man of La Mancha at the White Plains, New York Performing Arts Center.^[6] Cuccioli reprised the title role in Phantom at the Westchester Broadway Theater from December 2007 to February 2008.^[8] He also is heard on a concept album for The New Picasso, which was released in 2008.^[9] In 2008, he returned to the White Plains Performing Arts Center to play King Arthur in Camelot and starred in Conor McPherson's The Seafarer at George Street Playhouse in New Jersey. In 2009, he starred in Thom Thomas's A Moon to Dance By, at the Pittsburgh Playhouse and at the George Street Playhouse, with Jane Alexander, and played John Dickinson in 1776 at the Paper Mill Playhouse.^[10] He reprised the role of Dickinson in 2012 at Ford's Theatre.^[11] That same year he played the role of Anatoly Sergievsky in Chess at Lincoln Center.^[12]

In 2015, with York Theatre, he starred as Mayer Rothschild in Rothschild & Sons, a reworking of The Rothschilds. Although the show was critically panned, Cuccioli's performance was praised.^[13] In 2019, he played the title role in Caesar and Cleopatra in off-Broadway's Theatre Row Building in a production by The Gingold Theatrical Group.^[14] For the same company in the same venue, he starred as Sir George Crofts in Mrs. Warren's Profession in 2021.^[15] He next starred as Cornelius "Con" Melody in A Touch of the Poet in Irish Repertory Theatre's 2022 off-Broadway production. David Finkle, writing for New York Stage Review, called Cuccioli's performance "grand ... another addition to a resumé attesting to Cuccioli’s place as a foremost tragedian".^[16]

In 2023, he played Judge Turpin in The Muny's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.^[17]

Television and film

Cuccioili's television appearances include Sliders (1999) and Baywatch (1997). He played Chief Franklin on The Guiding Light. He also appeared on All My Children and One Life to Live. He has appeared in several films, including in Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998), Operation Delta Force 3: Clear Target (1999), Heroic Times and The Stranger.

Directing

Cuccioli directed The Glass Menagerie in 2003 at The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. He has also directed productions of Jekyll & Hyde at Houston's Theatre Under the Stars, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and The Westchester Broadway Theatre.

Personal life

Cuccioli has been in a relationship with actress Laila Robins since 2000.^[18][19]

He released his first solo album, The Look of Love, a collection of standards from the 1930s and 1940s, in 2012.^[20]

Theatre credits

Notes

1. ^ "Robert Cuccioli". Playbill. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
2. ^ Montag, Kristen Hirsch. "Interview: Paint Your Wagon's Robert Cuccioli", BroadwayWorld.com, August 8, 2016
3. ^ Kenrick, John. Photo of Cuccioli as the Pirate King at LOOM, c. 1885, Musicals101.com, accessed June 4, 2009; numerous Playbills, East Side Playhouse
4. ^ Gioia, Michael. "Robert Cuccioli Is Broadway's Green Goblin in Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, Beginning Aug. 7", Playbill, August 7, 2013
5. ^ Robert Cuccioli, BroadwayWorld.com Theatre Credits, accessed June 4, 2009
6. ^ Robert Cuccioli, Festival of The Arts, accessed June 4, 2009.
7. ^ Kenrick, John. "Victor/Victoria: Paper Mill Playhouse, NJ", Musicals101.com November 2000, accessed June 4, 2009
8. ^ Crossley-Marra, Benjamin. "The Other Phantom: Robert Cuccioli", BroadwayWorld.com interview with Cuccioli, January 29, 2008
9. ^ BroadwayWorld.com 'The New Picasso' Concept CD with Cuccioli, von Essen, Noll & Hicks BroadwayWorld.com, November 20, 2007
10. ^ Past Performances at RobertCuccioli.com
11. ^ 1776 2012 Ford's Theatre
12. ^ BWW TV EXCLUSIVE: In Rehearsal with CHESS - Robert Cuccioli, Drew Sarich, Natascia Diaz & More!
13. ^ Gordon, David. "Rothschild & Sons", TheaterMania.com, October 18, 2015
14. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Caesar & Cleopatra, Starring Brenda Braxton and Robert Cuccioli, Ends Off-Broadway Run October 12", Playbill, October 12, 2019
15. ^ Gordon, David. "Meet the Off-Broadway Revival Cast of Mrs. Warren's Profession", TheaterMania.com, September 14, 2021
16. ^ Finkle, David. "A Touch of the Poet: Robert Cuccioli a Figure of Valor in Eugene O'Neill's Drama", New York Stage Review, March 8, 2022
17. ^ Muny Sweeney Todd, Starring Carmen Cusack, Ben Davis, Robert Cuccioli, Ends Run July 22
18. ^ Simonson, Robert. "Robins and Cuccioli Play Marrieds in Dietz Premiere, Fiction in NJ March 28" Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine. Playbill, March 28, 2003, accessed April 29, 2011
19. ^ Saltzman, Simon. Macbeth. CurtainUp, 2004, accessed April 29, 2011. See also Nash, Margo. "Jersey Footlights". The New York Times, March 30, 2003, accessed April 29, 2011.
20. ^ "Robert Cuccioli | Biography". www.robertcuccioli.com. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
21. ^ Gans, Andrew. "Casting Now Complete for Encores! Zorba!, Starring John Turturro", Playbill, April 15, 2015
22. ^ The Tempest at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival 2023
23. ^ Patrick Page, Reeve Carney, Lillias White, Robert Cuccioli, More to Star in The Tempest Off-Broadway
24. ^ Wright, Joshua. "Video: Robert Cuccioli & More in Rehearsals for Cleveland Playhouse's Fiddler on the Roof, BroadwayWorld, April 18, 2025
25. ^ Russo, Gillian. "The Baker's Wife completes Off-Broadway cast", NewYorkTheatreGuide, September 12, 2025

References

• Biography of Cuccioli

External links

• Robert Cuccioli at IMDb
• Official website
• Profile of and interview with Cuccioli, August 2006
• Information and listing of Cuccioli credits
• Extensive interview with Cuccioli during the run of Jacques Brel in 2006