Jon DiSavino has been a professional performer since the age of 17, when he was recruited from the lighting booth to replace an actor in a dinner theatre production of Cabaret starring Judy Carne.
While attending Carnegie-Mellon University, he was cast as Mercutio in a short film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet starring Julia Duffy. Produced by KQED in association with National Geographic, it is part of the educational series, The World of William Shakespeare. Upon graduating in 1977, he moved to New York, where his first role was the narrator in the world premiere of Seymour Barab’s The Toy Shop (excerpt from NY Times review: http://www.themusicofseymourbarab.com/press.html) for New York City Opera’s “Young Audiences” program (he also doubled as Paulette, the mechanical gorilla). The Toy Shop was performed at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. prior to touring schools in the tri-state area.
When John-Michael Tebelak, the creator of Godspell, was starting a new theatre to be housed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, he selected Jon for the resident company, which included Ruth Warrick and Michael Mayer. He was cast in the lead role in the premiere of A Ballad of a Sweet Dream of Peace by Pulitzer-winning author Robert Penn Warren, which was attended by Mr. Warren. With plans under way to construct a theatre in the crypt below the Cathedral’s altar, the company’s future was suddenly cut short with the untimely death of John-Michael two years later.
When the Philadelphia-based Landis and Company (now the Enchantment Theatre Company http://www.enchantmenttheatre.org/ ) brought The Great Vaudeville Magic Show to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Jon was cast as Max, the theatre-chain owner. He was cast in multiple roles when the company toured Asia in 1989, playing in venues in Taipei and the provinces of Taiwan before moving on to the International Arts Festival in Hong Kong.
Jon worked for two years as a professional puppeteer, touring New Jersey schools with a one-man show, Rip Van Twinkle. Created by Elek Hartman, it was commissioned by the NJ energy company, PSE&G.
In 1987, Jon moved from NYC to San Francisco. Over the next thirteen years, his work was seen in Bay Area venues such as The Magic Theatre and 42nd Street Moon (a company devoted to staging "lost" American musicals http://www.42ndstmoon.com/), and he was a founding member of the Oakland-based company, TheatreFIRST (http://www.theatrefirst.com/).
Jon and family returned to New York in 2001, settling in Rockland county. In 2007, he created Actual Content Productions,a company devoted to developing new plays, and staging works by contemporary playwrights. The company's first production was Two by Two Pulitzer Prize Winners: The Shawl by David Mamet and Wildwood Park by Doug Wright, staged at the Nyack Village Theatre in May 2009.
In the years that followed, Jon has pursued a number of personal projects while raising his daughter Ava. He was able to retire from his "day job" in October of 2021, so he can now give his full time and attention to one of the things that matters most to him - the performing arts.
While attending Carnegie-Mellon University, he was cast as Mercutio in a short film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet starring Julia Duffy. Produced by KQED in association with National Geographic, it is part of the educational series, The World of William Shakespeare. Upon graduating in 1977, he moved to New York, where his first role was the narrator in the world premiere of Seymour Barab’s The Toy Shop (excerpt from NY Times review: http://www.themusicofseymourbarab.com/press.html) for New York City Opera’s “Young Audiences” program (he also doubled as Paulette, the mechanical gorilla). The Toy Shop was performed at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. prior to touring schools in the tri-state area.
When John-Michael Tebelak, the creator of Godspell, was starting a new theatre to be housed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, he selected Jon for the resident company, which included Ruth Warrick and Michael Mayer. He was cast in the lead role in the premiere of A Ballad of a Sweet Dream of Peace by Pulitzer-winning author Robert Penn Warren, which was attended by Mr. Warren. With plans under way to construct a theatre in the crypt below the Cathedral’s altar, the company’s future was suddenly cut short with the untimely death of John-Michael two years later.
When the Philadelphia-based Landis and Company (now the Enchantment Theatre Company http://www.enchantmenttheatre.org/ ) brought The Great Vaudeville Magic Show to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Jon was cast as Max, the theatre-chain owner. He was cast in multiple roles when the company toured Asia in 1989, playing in venues in Taipei and the provinces of Taiwan before moving on to the International Arts Festival in Hong Kong.
Jon worked for two years as a professional puppeteer, touring New Jersey schools with a one-man show, Rip Van Twinkle. Created by Elek Hartman, it was commissioned by the NJ energy company, PSE&G.
In 1987, Jon moved from NYC to San Francisco. Over the next thirteen years, his work was seen in Bay Area venues such as The Magic Theatre and 42nd Street Moon (a company devoted to staging "lost" American musicals http://www.42ndstmoon.com/), and he was a founding member of the Oakland-based company, TheatreFIRST (http://www.theatrefirst.com/).
Jon and family returned to New York in 2001, settling in Rockland county. In 2007, he created Actual Content Productions,a company devoted to developing new plays, and staging works by contemporary playwrights. The company's first production was Two by Two Pulitzer Prize Winners: The Shawl by David Mamet and Wildwood Park by Doug Wright, staged at the Nyack Village Theatre in May 2009.
In the years that followed, Jon has pursued a number of personal projects while raising his daughter Ava. He was able to retire from his "day job" in October of 2021, so he can now give his full time and attention to one of the things that matters most to him - the performing arts.