Jonathan M. Rizzardi

Teaching Artist  I  Actor  I  Director  I  Writer

Education

Ph.D in Theatre History and Theory 
University of Washington, School of Drama
(In Progress)

Master of Arts in Teaching
St. Mary's College of Maryland
2013

Bachelor of Arts in English
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Minors in Theatre Studies, Music, and Education
2012

Professional Experience

University of Washington (Seattle, WA)
Doctoral Student/Undergraduate Instructor
2018 - 

Seattle Children's Theatre (Seattle, WA)
Teaching Artist
2018 - 

Round House Theatre (Bethesda, MD)
Lead Teaching Artist
2016 - 2018

Imagination Stage (Bethesda, MD)
Teaching Artist
2017 - 2018

Young Playwrights' Theater (Washington, D.C.)
Teaching Artist
2016 - 2018

Everyman Theatre (Baltimore, MD)
Teaching Artist
2016 - 2018

Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes (Washington, D.C.)
Site Leader and Instructional Consultant
2016 - 2017

Maryland Public Schools (Montgomery, St. Mary's, Carroll, Harford Counties)
Guest Artist
2012 - 2018

Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD)
Theatre Arts and English Teacher
Lighthouse Productions Theatre Director
2013-2016

Chopticon High School (Morganza, MD)
Student Teaching Intern
2013

Spring Ridge Middle School (Lexington Park, MD)
Student Teaching Intern
2012

TACTICC (Mt. Airy, MD)
Teen/Youth Summer Camp Program Director
2009 - 2010

Tree of Life Theatre Troupe (Eldersburg, MD)
Summer Camp Theatre Instructor
2008 - 2009

Awards & Distinctions


Excellence in Teaching Award (Nominee)
University of Washington
Academic Year 2018-2019

Maryland State Fine Arts Advisory Panel Member
Maryland State Department of Education
August 2016-August 2018

"Work Hard, Be Nice" Award (County Teachers of the Month)
St. Mary's County Public Schools
December 2013, March 2014 

Maryland Teachers of Promise 
Maryland State Department of Education
April 2013

Margaret Eagle Dixon Award in Literature
St. Mary's College of Maryland 
May 2012

St. Mary's Scholar Award
St. Mary's College of Maryland
May 2011

Performance

Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses as Eros/Poseidon 
with Dacha Theatre
(Dir. Mike Lion) 

1 2 3 - a play about abandonment and ballroom dancing as Luke 
with Theatre Prometheus 
as a part of the 2018 Capitol Fringe Festival 
(Dir. Lauren Patton) 

New Play Festival
with Young Playwrights' Theater
(Dir. Avery Collins) 

Tartuffe as Tartuffe 
with Perisphere Theater
(Dir. Bridget Grace Sheaff) 

Charlotte's Web as Goose/Zuckerman/Others (u/s*) 
with Imagination Stage
(Dir. Kathryn Chase Bryer) 

The Bridges of Madison County as Robert Kincaid 
with Kensington Arts Theatre
(Dir. Craig Pettinati) 

Bonnie and Clyde as Preacher/Judge  
with Monumental Theatre Company
(Dir. Ryan Maxwell) 

Threat Level: Cream as Rusty 
with Source Festival - Ten Minute Plays
(Dir. Connor Hogan) 

The Emperor's Big, Fat, Naked Revolution as Emperor Trodd 
with Source Festival - Ten Minute Plays
(Dir. Connor Hogan) 

Sioux Falls as Robbay 
with 10th Muse Productions
(Dir. Rachael Murray) 

Play in a Day Festival acting for Round House Theatre  
with Bethesda Urban Partnership
(Dir. Gabriella Hoyt) 

Cymbeline as Iachimo/Caius Lucius  
with Theatre Prometheus
(Dir. Tracey Erbacher)

Cabaret as Emcee 
with Kensington Arts Theatre
(Dir. Craig Pettinati) 

Etched in Stone as Pete 
with Watermelon, Inc. 
(Dir. JR Cook) 

*Indicates understudy with a performance

Directing/
Educational Theatre

Director - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Simon Stephens / novel by Mark Haddon
with Whitman Drama
Walt Whitman High School (Bethesda, MD) 

Cast Mentor - Sloppy Firsts (World Premiere)
by Megan McCafferty 
with the Teen Performance Company 
Round House Theatre

Director - Pippin
by Stephen Schwartz / Roger O. Hirson
with the IStage Performance Ensemble 
Imagination Stage

Director - Mary Stuart
by Friedrich Schiller
with The Bell Tower Theatre

Director - Guys and Dolls
by Frank Loesser / Jo Swerling / Abe Burrows
with Lighthouse Productions
Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD) 

Director - Macbeth 
by William Shakespeare
with Lighthouse Productions
Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD) 

Director - Almost, Maine  
by John Cariani 
with Lighthouse Productions
Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD) 

Director - Othello 
by William Shakespeare
with The Bell Tower Theatre

Director - Pippin 
by Stephen Schwartz / Roger O. Hirson
with Lighthouse Productions
Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD) 

Director - The School for Scandal 
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
with Lighthouse Productions
Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD) 

Director - West Side Story  
by Leonard Bernstein / Stephen Sondheim / Arthur Laurents
with Lighthouse Productions
Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD) 

Director - Our Town 
by Thornton Wilder
with Lighthouse Productions
Great Mills High School (Great Mills, MD) 

Fight Choreographer/Acting Coach - Beauty and the Beast 
by Linda Woolverton / Alan Menken 
with Bravehouse Productions
Chopticon High School (Morganza, MD) 

Co-Director - Working: A Musical 
by Stephen Schwartz / Nino Faso
with St. Mary's College of Maryland

Director - 8 (Staged Reading)
by Dustin Lance Black
with The Center for Democracy Studies 
St. Mary's College of Maryland

Director - Oleanna 
by David Mamet
with the Department of English
St. Mary's College of Maryland

Assistant Director - As You Like It 
by William Shakespeare
with St. Mary's College of Maryland
(Dir. Michael Tolaydo)

Director - [title of show]
by Jeff Bowen / Hunter BEll
with The White Room
St. Mary's College of Maryland

Director - Grease 
by Jim Jacobs / Warren Casey 
with TACTICC

Assistant Director - Cinderella
with TACTICC
(Dir. Amber Gray) 

Director/Writer - "Stage Orphans"
by Neil LaBute (Land of the Dead, Love at Twenty, Hoax) / Jonathan Rizzardi (Capturing Happiness)
with The White Room
St. Mary's College of Maryland

Co-Director - The Little Mermaid 
with Tree of Life Theatre Troupe 

Assistant Director - Aladdin
with Tree of Life Theatre Troupe
(Dir. Tony Cimino) 

Performance During Training

St. Mary's College of Maryland

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Staged Reading) as Ensemble 
with the Department of English
(Dir. Tobias Franzen)

Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival
Irene Ryan Semi-Finalist with Nicholas Huber 
(Dir. Holly Blumner)

Amal and the Night Visitors as The Page 
with the Department of Music
(Dir. Joan McFarland)

The Bald Soprano as Mr. Martin 
(Dir. Mark Rhoda) 

Hay Fever as Richard Greatham
(Dir. Michael Tolaydo) 

Alba Music Festival (Alba, Italy) - Vocalist/Soloist
Artistic Directors: Giuseppe Nova & Jeffery Silberschlag

Dido and Aeneas as Ensemble 
with the Department of Music
(Dir. Joan McFarland)

Cabaret as Emcee
(Dir. Bill Gillette) 

Polaroid Stories as Orpheus
(Dir. Jeremy Skidmore)

subUrbia  as Pony
(Dir. Josh Bristol) 

Chamber Singers & College Choir - Vocalist/Soloist
with the Department of Music
(Dir. Larry Vote)

Pre-Professional/Local

Guys and Dolls as Sky Masterson
with TACTICC
(Dir. Tony Cimino)

Crimes of the Heart as Barnette Lloyd
with State of the Arts 
(Dir. Tony Cimino)

Seussical as The Cat in the Hat
with TACTICC
(Dir. Tony Cimino)

Meet Me in St. Louis as Mr. Dodge
with Tree of Life Theatre Troupe
(Dir. Tony Cimino)

You're a Good Man Charlie Brown as Schroeder
with TACTICC
(Dir. Tony Cimino)

Foolproof Improvisation Acting Troupe - Westminster, MD
(Dir. Paul Zimmerman))

TYA Programs 

"Fairytale Stories" as Narrator 
with TACTICC and Carroll County Public Libraries 
(Dir. Amber Gray)

"Seuss Stories" as The Cat in the Hat
with TACTICC and Carroll County Public Libraries
(Dir. Amber Gray)

South Carroll High School

Damn Yankees as Joe Hardy
(Dir. Michelle Steshoski)

The Actor's Nightmare as Henry Irving
(Dir. Rula Zaru)

Father of the Bride as Stanley Banks
(Dir. Michelle Steshoski)

High School Musical as Troy Bolton
(Dir. Tony Cimino)

Little Shop of Horrors as Reporter
(Dir. Tony Cimino)

Special Skills 

Musical

Vocalist (Baritone/Tenor: E2-B5 – strong sight reading); Intermediate piano, acoustic and electric guitar, basic electric bass, ukulele, saxophone, percussion, synth; musical composition and arrangement, experienced a cappella vocalist and musical director

Other

Background in Viewpoints, Tectonic Theatre Project inspired “Moment Work,” devised theatre and collaborative creation, basic clown/mime, athletics, singing in foreign languages (art song and opera); physical theatre and movement; dance (ballroom, blues, jazz); fight choreography (extensive unarmed)

Full resume(s), headshot, and references available by email 

Using Format