Robert Cucuzza
Los Angeles, California, United States
Theater Artist and Filmmaker
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><strong>ROBERT CUCUZZA</strong> is a theater artist, filmmaker, actor, and acting teacher. As a playwright, director and producer, he spent six years as an artist-in-residence at Richard Foreman’s Ontological Theater in New York City where he mounted many highly-acclaimed original plays and was a co-founder of the Obie award-winning Blueprint Series, a festival for emerging theater artists. He recently received his MFA in Directing from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where, he wrote and directed the musical extravaganza <em>HELLZAPOPPIN’</em> and directed William Shakespeare’s <em>MEASURE FOR MEASURE</em>. In Los Angeles, he directed the world premiere staging of Iannis Xenakis' radio play <i>POUR LA PAIX</i> at REDCAT and Jillian Lauren's performance piece, <i>MOTHER TONGUE</i>, at the Steve Allen Theater.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; "> </p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">As a stage actor he has performed at the legendary Ontological-Hysteric Theater and across Europe in Richard Foreman’s <em>PANIC! (HOW TO BE HAPPY!)</em>, <em>PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE</em>, and <em>MY HEAD WAS A SLEDGEHAMMER</em>. Since 1997 he has been a company member of Elevator Repair Service, with whom he performed in <em>TOTAL FICTIONAL LIE</em>, <em>ROOM TONE</em>, and originated the role of Tom Buchanan in <em>GATZ</em> — a complete staging of the entire text of "The Great Gatsby." After its sold-out Off-Broadway run at the Public Theater, <em>GATZ </em>was placed on multiple "Best of 2010 Theater" lists including The New York Times, who called it "[t]he most remarkable achievement in theater not only of this year but also of this decade..." With ERS, he has played in nearly thirty major festivals and theaters in the U.S., all over Europe and across the globe. Also in New York, he has performed Off-Broadway with Axis Company and in dance-theater works by Bessie award-winners David Neumann and Big Dance Theater.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; "> </p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">As a filmmaker, he has written, directed, produced and edited the films <em>THE INVINCIBLE ECKSTEINS</em>, <em>THE BLUE HORIZON</em>, <em>SPEED FREAKS</em> and several shorts. His film <em>THE ARMED BOY</em>— a silent featurette created to accompany Karl Jenkin’s modern choral mass "The Armed Man"—was commissioned by the Rackham Symphony Choir in Detroit. As a film actor, he has played lead roles in <em>SPEED FREAKS</em>, <em>MEMOIRS OF MY NERVOUS ILLNESS</em> (opposite Tony Award-winner Jefferson Mays) and <em>THE STRANGE CASE OF MARIE FRANCE</em>, as well as featured roles in other films.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; "> </p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">As an acting teacher he has taught popular classes at private institutions, colleges and high schools in his home state of Pennsylvania, in New York City and in Los Angeles. For three years he taught acting at the New York Film Academy, where he was also the Director of the Acting for Film program both in New York and at their summer program at Princeton University. In 2006 he founded ACME Acting Lab, a student-driven acting studio devoted to the creation of professionally produced original plays and films. With his ACME students, he created, produced and directed two plays and two featurette films. He currently teaches acting at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).</p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; "> </p><p style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 13px/16px Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-indent: 0px; text-align: left; color: rgb(1, 1, 1); text-decoration: none; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Originally from Bradford, PA, Cucuzza is a 1990 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University where he received a BFA in Literary and Cultural Studies with a minor in Theatre. He was the recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for a one- year independent study of experimental theater in Europe. He was recently selected as a recipient of a Beutner Family Award for Excellence in the Arts.</p><div><br></div></span>
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