Crivello was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Josephine (née Mussomeli) and Vincent J. Crivello.[1] He graduated from Saint Rita's Grade School on Milwaukee's East Side, and then Saint Thomas More High School in 1973. He was inducted into the Saint Thomas More Alumni Hall of Fame in 1995. Early in his career, he appeared in 12 community theatre productions, including three at Sunset Playhouse, directed by Alan Furlan and Mary H. Strong.[2] He married actress/commercial talent agent Dori Rosenthal on May 14, 2005, and they have two children together.
Crivello is an Honored Member of Marquette University's Century of Scholarship. He was the recipient of Marquette University's College of Speech & Communications 2003 Communicator of the Year Award. He is listed in Who's Who in America, and is a member of the Saint Thomas More High School Alumni Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Marquette University Hall of Fame with his image displayed in Johnston Hall in the Diederich College of Communication on the campus of Marquette University.
In 2008, Crivello was the host of his own radio show on FOX SPORTS/ 920 AM Las Vegas called Tony Crivello and The Sicilians.[3] Mr. Crivello has also moonlighted as a ring announcer & commentator for ESPN2's Kickboxing Championships, and owns stock with the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
Theater
Crivello got his Equity Card at age 19, playing Conrad Birdie in a production of Bye Bye Birdie by Milwaukee's Melody Top Theatre. He broke into the Chicago theater scene in 1979, originating the role of "Felix 'The Filth Fiend' Linder" in the original cast of John R. Powers' Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? at Chicago's Forum Theatre. Shortly thereafter, in 1980, he was cast in a national touring company of Evita by director Harold Prince, where he played "Che". Prince eventually cast Crivello as a replacement Mandy Patinkin in the original Broadway production of Evita in 1981; it was Crivello's Broadway debut .[4]
He appeared in the musical The News starring as “The Killer”, first in Jupiter, Florida receiving a Carbonelle Award for “Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor.” He performed that same role at Westport Country Playhouse, and then on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre. He was an original Broadway cast member of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's Les Misérables for directors Trevor Nunn and John Caird and producer Cameron Mackintosh, first as Grantaire, and ten months later taking over the leading role of Javert. (He would later play Grantaire once again in a special tenth-anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London in “The Dream Cast/10th Anniversary Production of Les Miserables in Concert.)
In 2006, he was cast by director Hal Prince as one of two actors rotating in the title role in the Las Vegas production of The Phantom of the Opera. Subsequently, he was cast as “The Phantom", and by September 2012, he appeared in over 2,400 performances.
In 2015 and 2016, Crivello starred in producer Hershey Felder's production of Louis and Keely Live at the Sahara directed by Taylor Hackford, and written by Hackford, Vanessa Claire Stewart and Jake Broder. The musical was performed at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago, as well as the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Stewart played the role of Keely Smith to Crivello's 'Las Vegas Lounge Legend' Louis Prima and Crivello received this third Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for his work.
In 2017, Crivello portrayed the Marquette University Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame 1977 NCAA basketball championship coach / NBC broadcaster Al McGuire in the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre one man play McGuire, written by HOF broadcaster Dick Enberg. Crivello received critical praise for his work in the show and won the 2017 Wisconsin Footlights Award for Outstanding Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.[5] An eight-minute presentation of McGuire was presented at the 2017 Wisconsin Sports Awards on May 20, 2017, at the University of Wisconsin Field House. Crivello reprised his award-winning performance in McGuire in a relaunched new touring production in 2022 at Milwaukee's Next Act Theatre, produced by Bob Rech and Rech Entertainment, and directed by Edward Morgan.[6][7]
He has also performed comic improv Off-Broadway and is a resident company alumni of Chicago City Limits in New York City.
As a producer, he has co-produced the plays Hear What's In The Heart and Mcguire at the Next Act Theatre, as well as Please Leave with Rob Sedgwick at The Theatre Center in New York City. He produced readings of his screenplays and plays Scouting Patti Style, The Great Stupid, Allegoria, Lucrece, and The Chicken Brothers and screenplays by Charles D. Zicari. He served as executive producer on Bobby Sheehan's documentary films Mr. Prince and The Talent Collector.[citation needed]
Crivello co-starred in the Jim Abrahams film comedy Mafia! (1998), Texas Rangers (2001), Material Girls (2006), Independence Day, and Trade (2007). In 1992, Crivello starred in the short film The Bet for director Ted Demme. Crivello has also starred in the independent short films Petal Of A Rose, Henry Toy for director Anthony Engelken in 2014, and portrayed "Boonie" in director Taryn Kosviner's NYShorts Festival's The Mark in 2016.
In 2016, he starred in the Hallmark Television movie Emma's Chance. Director John Gray had him starring in his television movie The Lost Capone. In 1995 he starred in the Roger Corman produced Dillinger and Capone, opposite Martin Sheen and Monster Mash: The Movie. He also appeared in Dominic Dunne's 919 Fifth Avenue. In 1996 he followed with Alien Avengers. In 2000, he was featured in the Wonderful World Of Disney made-for-television musical Geppetto. In 1988, Crivello guest starred as Miguel Carrera in Miami Vice directed by Don Johnson.
In 2022, Crivello completed principal photography, starring as "Joe" in the independent feature film Children of God. In 2023, he recurs as a comedic officious butler “Sebastian” at “Snickering Mansion” in Disney's new comedic anthology Pretty Freekin Scary. Additionally in 2024, he starred as Police Chief D. W. Johnson in the independent film Omro. And in 2025, he is set to be heard as "Franco Bertinelli” in the animated film Batman: Knightfall Part One for Warner Brothers Animation.
