Robert Laconi / Biography

As a teacher and director, Robert Laconi is Co-Director of the Theatre Arts Center in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The Center is a performance training studio that offers classes in theatre arts and dance, a summer performance workshop, and produces a children's theatre series that tours three theatres.In 1999, he and Kristine Lewis created a second Theatre Arts Center in, Queens, New York City. He directs the acting program at both locations. Robert also teaches acting workshops to high school students from around the country through the Junior Tour Program at the New Dance Group on Broadway, and a guest teacher for the New Jersey Teen Arts Festival.Robert came to New York City from Ohio in 1976 and has worked in all areas of the performing arts, including theater, film, radio, and television. Off-Broadway appearances include Amy Vanderbilt's Book of Etiquette, Gulliver's Travels, Penny Arcade's Based on a True Story, and Karna a shadow puppet opera based on the Indian epic The Mahabarata - all premièring at LaMama ETC; and the New York premiere of Ionessco's Frenzy for Two or More. For the Odyssey Theatre he starred in original adaptations of The Gambler and The Picture of Dorian Gray, and produced The Island of Dr. Moreau. At LaMama, he was awarded a national C.E.T.A. Grant for Artists and worked with internationally known directors. Screen roles include Scorcese's The The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) (filmed in Morocco) and Goodfella's, Annie (singer/dancer), Night of the Zombies (1981). On television, he recently appeared on the Ananda Lewis Show. Robert has twice been a guest artist at Ensemble Studio Theatre's summer conferences to develop new plays.On radio, he broadcast for the In Touch Network for the Blind. Robert is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association.