MICHAEL GRAVANTE

Michael Gravante is an actor, director, and theatre artist based in eastern Massachusetts. He is a recent graduate of Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts. He has been active in the theatre for over a decade.

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Michael has performed in musicals and plays since elementary school, adding Shakespeare to his resume in high school. At Merrimack, he experimented with different staging techniques (theatre-in-the-round, black box); numerous types of theatre (verbatim theatre, performance art, playback theatre); and various roles beyond performance, such as sound design, ushering/ticket managing, and directing. He decided for his senior capstone project that he would direct a production of Annie Baker's naturalistic comedy-drama Circle Mirror Transformation. The show was warmly received and described as "beautifully executed."

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In his junior year, he served as the Secretary for the OnStagers Dramatic Society, Merrimack's oldest club and fully student-run theatre organization, where he took meeting notes; kept records of members; managed the OnStagers email account; developed an actor contract with policies related to theatre etiquette and creating safe environments; and assisted in executive board decisions and the production process of two shows: The Ash Girl and The Addams Family.

 

He was one of the founding members of the MackBelievers Improv Club and served two consecutive years as its Vice President, fulfilling duties such as picking improvisation games, planning shows, teaching improvisation skills to the performers, organizing trips, and boosting morale and positive energy. His tenure with the MackBelievers ended with the group being given the L.E.A.D. Award for Outstanding Arts Organization of the Year by the college.

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Michael lives in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, and is happily starting his career a freelance performer and director in the Greater Boston/eastern MA area. One of his ultimate goals is to work for a theatre company for a full-time creative position. He is always willing to learn and grow, and he wants to do as much theatre as he can. :-)