Damon Bonetti - AEA 

I was born and raised in South Philadelphia.  I grew up having absolutely no interest in acting.  It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I took an AP English class that forced us to memorize poetry and read Shakespeare.  And this is so cliché so please forgive me for saying this, but Shakespeare truly opened my eyes to a world of expression that I had never dreamed.

I went to a community college and took acting classes and performed in the school shows for two years until I transferred to Allentown College, now DeSales University after seeing the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

I spent three years there and two years interning at PSF.  After graduating, I moved back to Philly because, simply put, this is where I wanted to be.  I was offered an Equity contract to play Joe Farkas in a co-production of The Last Night of Ballyhoo with the Walnut Street Theatre and Totem Pole Playhouse.

I avoided the so-called Equity curse (“Once you turn Equity you don’t work again for a year . . .!”) and was cast as Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet at Foundation Theatre.  Once I was Equity I was going on bigger auditions and competing with really great, well-trained actors.  I recognized that while my training had been fine at Allentown, I felt I needed to hone my skills.  I attended the U/RTA auditions in NYC, was courted by twelve schools and decided on the Florida State University/Asolo Conservatory.

I studied with amazing teachers and worked with talented actors at this school, considered by the NY Times as one of the top nine MFA programs in the country (article from 2004).  During the end of my time there, Howard Millman, then Artistic Director of the Asolo Repertory Theatre, brought my class together to ask us what our plans were after graduating.  Most of my classmates said they were heading to New York or LA.  One said San Diego, another Chicago. And Howard listened without saying much.  I said Philadelphia.  Suddenly he perked up:  “Philadelphia!  That’s a great theatre town.  That city is going to be an exciting place to be.”

Well, he was preaching to the converted in my case.  This is why I am here:  there is no other city in this country where so many of my actor and artist friends not only thrive artistically, but also live with dignity.  My friends in NYC or LA have to turn down many things in order to keep their day jobs to pay the rent; my wonderful wife, the talented Charlotte Northeast (Barrymore, Best Supporting Actress ’07) and I bought a house in South Philly, which we have since sold, and now live right over the river in Collingswood, NJ.  I have been able to work at theatres that pay well, but also have been able to afford to do shows like Fat Pig, which was a hit at the 2006 Philly Fringe and bash, for the 2008 fringe which was considered by J. Cooper Robb one of the best productions of the first half of this season (Philly Weekly). 

Through the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative I have been able to work with actors from the SITI Company and Shakespeare and Co. and even was flown to the Stratford Festival to see shows with fellow actors and artists from Philadelphia.

I have been able to work across mediums in film, tv, commercial, industrial and voiceover work.  And I've been able to become a teacher, working at four different universities in the area.

I have been able to continue a love for Shakespeare that started in that AP English class and has blossomed into ten productions (and counting!), playing among others, Petrcuchio, Benedick, Pericles, another crack at Mercutio and directing Taming of the Shrew for Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company. 

This passion for classical theatre has led myself and fellow actor Dan Hodge to form Philadelphia Artist Collective (“PAC”) that is dedicated to works by authors not often produced in Philadelphia such as Webster and Marlowe.  We began with a reading series, and produced The Duchess of Malfi which became one of the most talked about and critically acclaimed shows of the 2010-11 season.

We are now mounting a full season every year - this year culminates with a production of Pierre de Marivaux's Changes of Heart that I am directing in the spring.

I’ve always thought of Philadelphia as a giant repertory company.  I’ve done shows with some people six or seven times, but as this community gets bigger my wish remains the same: I want to do good work on exciting projects with extremely talented people.  That is why I am in Philadelphia.

Thanks for stopping by - I'll see you around town . . .

D