About John Manzelli
PROFESSIONAL BIO
John is an award winning Actor/Director/Producer/Fight Choreographer in the South Florida area for many years. John is a four time Carbonell Nominee, most recently for the one man tour de force Fully Committed at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. John is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA, and has portrayed numerous roles on stage and television. His television highlights include two season in the recurring role of Sol Drucker on TV’s Magic City (STARZ), as well as guest roles Graceland (USA), Burn Notice (USA), The Glades (A&E), & Start-up (Sony Crackle). His most recent project SON of A... (where he directed and starred) has received numerous awards at TV/Web festivals, including: Best Web Series, Best TV Pilot and Best Lead Actor. John proudly serves as an Associate Professor of Theatre at Barry University where he had the honor of Producing/Directing a Theatrical Reading of Still Life with Academy Award winner Alex Dinelaris, Grammy legend Gloria Estefan, and Academy Award Nominee Danny Aeillo. From 2011-2016 John served as Producing Artistic Director for the Award Winning City Theater-Miami. Under his leadership, City Theatre strengthened its national reputation and commitment to the short form play. To the latter end, In 2011 City Theatre launched the Citywrights: Professional Weekend for Playwrights and The City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting, quickly becoming one of the premier awards in the country of its kind. John refocused City Theatre’s signature brand, Summer Shorts: America’s Short Play Festival to widespread critical acclaim and re-launched Short4Kids (an anti-bullying middle school tour that reaches more 25,000 middle school students annually). In addition to Summer Shorts, John is extremely proud to have produced a series of social justice programs that center on the issues, challenges and inspiration of the LGBT community. Under this series, John has produced/directed Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays (starring Emmy winner Bryan Batt and Bruce Vilanch) and the musical cabaret Dirty Little Secrets (starring Emmy Winner Jai Rodriguez). In 2016, City Theatre was awarded the prestigious Bill Von Maur Award by the Carbonell Awards, Inc. for its’ important contribution to the cultural landscape of South Florida. Prior to joining City, John served as Associate Artistic Director of the award-winning Naked Stage Company (which he co-founded). Under his leadership, Naked Stage was awarded a Silver Palm Award for Best Emerging Theatre Co (2009) and a Visionary Award from Miami-Artzine Magazine for the creation of South Florida’s 24 Hour Theatre Project.
