The donor newsletter of Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Issue 4 • Winter 2017
Anthony Crivello COMES HOME TO
MEET UP WITH AL MCGUIRE – AGAIN! Growing up on Holton Street between Lloyd Street and Garfield Avenue, Anthony “Tony” Crivello always knew he wanted to perform. During his sophomore year at St. Thomas More High School, he received strong encouragement from his teachers to pursue a career as an actor and, with the full support of his parents behind him, Crivello embarked on his dream. His professional journey began in 1974 at Marquette University where he worked toward a degree in Communications. After just two years, Crivello left his hometown to study vocal performance at DePaul University in Chicago. Crivello is enjoying impressive success by any standards. His big Broadway break came with Kiss of The Spiderwoman, for which in 1993 he won the Tony for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. He has appeared in major films and on television and is perhaps most well known for his role as The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas from 2006-2012.
Anthony Crivello
Crivello at The Stackner Crivello has been a sports fan all his life. So it comes as no surprise when Crivello agreed to star as the larger-than-life Marquette University basketball coach Al McGuire in The Rep’s production of McGuire, a play written by McGuire’s longtime collaborator, Dick Enberg. At this point, you are likely asking, “Wait, if Crivello was at Marquette from 1974-76 doesn’t that mean he was there at the same time as Al McGuire?” Not only did Crivello attend Marquette right before the infamous championship season of 1977, he also had an unusual vantage point as a cheerleader for the basketball team. “My freshman year was the first year Marquette was going to have a co-ed squad,” explains Crivello. “Three of my friends and I auditioned for the fun of it. When I got the call a week later telling me we all made the squad, I thought it was a joke and hung up.” Crivello still remembers getting to watch McGuire up close and talking with him. Over the past several months, Crivello has been hard at work learning more about the man behind the legend and developing the script with Enberg and Brent Hazelton, The Rep’s Associate Artistic Director. “We all know the Al McGuire who was the icon, but we want to show the more human side of his life. It’s surreal looking at video of him – I knew Al but I know him so much better now,” comments Crivello. Crivello is enjoying the opportunity to portray Al McGuire in his hometown. Even so, he says “I’ve never done a one-man show. It’s daunting. It’s you alone on a stage having to captivate the audience.” He is grateful his family and friends have lined up to see the production and provide the same support they gave him at the start of his career. McGuire runs January 20-March 19 in the Stackner Cabaret. n Tony Crivello rallies the crowd at a Marquette Men’s Basketball game during the 1974-75 season.
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