Parallel lives: Former Arlington Heights educator-turned-actor balances theater, corporate careers
Growing up in Arlington Heights, Joe Giovannetti tried playing baseball and soccer, but neither sport held much appeal. As an alternative, his parents enrolled him in a church theater camp. As a youngster, Giovannetti was skeptical.
“I cried the whole first day,” he recalled. “I went back the second day and loved it.”
An actor was born. But it took time before Giovannetti — who co-stars in Kokandy Productions’ Midwest premiere of the musical “Alice by Heart” — settled into what is now his profession.
At St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, he performed in musicals and sang with the choir. Much as he loved music, he wondered whether he could make a career of it. With his parents encouraging him to follow his dream, he majored in music education at Indiana University, where he continued to perform.
He got his first teaching job at an Indiana school when he was 21. A year later he began teaching at his high school alma mater. Later, he taught part-time for a year at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.
Deciding after a few years that he wanted to explore other career options, Giovannetti enrolled in graduate school at Northwestern University, earning a Master of Science in Leadership for Creative Enterprises, for people interested pursuing careers in arts, media and entertainment administration.
Around the same time, he auditioned for Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre’s 2017 revival of “The Most Happy Fella.” He got cast and his performance earned him a non-equity Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for supporting actor in a musical.
“Maybe I am good at this,” he recalls thinking to himself. “Maybe this is something I should continue.”
After graduate school, he worked in Goodman Theatre’s development office and subsequently worked in communications and/or development for the city of Chicago, Northwestern University and the School of the Art Institute. Currently, he serves as the director of annual giving for the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools.
He remains a working actor.
“I love that non-equity professional theater exists,” said the 31-year-old. “It means I don’t have to choose. I can have a career outside of theater … I get to have both of those things in my life and I don’t have to choose between them.”
“I feel lucky and grateful that’s how things have worked out,” he said.
To that end, Giovannetti has done several shows with Theo Ubique and Porchlight Music Theatre as well as PrideArts. “Alice by Heart” marks his Kokandy debut.
“The show’s very whimsical. The songs are beautiful,” said Giovannetti, who describes it as a fantastical tale with an underlying tragic story.
Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “Alice by Heart” unfolds during the London Blitz in World War II and centers around teenage Alice Spencer (Caitlyn Cerza), who takes refuge in her favorite book as she and others shelter in a London underground tube station.
Giovannetti plays Alfred, her ailing best friend who joins her on her trip down the rabbit hole to Wonderland in the show, which is suitable for teens and older.
“We’re so excited to be one of the first professional theaters to do the show,” he said of the tuner, which he described as “90 minutes of magic.”
Rehearsals have felt like play, said the actor. He says he gets goose bumps when the ensemble sings together.
“Everybody is really excited to be there … to learn new things, to grow as an actor and to grow as a person because of that shared passion,” he said.
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“Alice by Heart”
When: 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 29
Where: Kokandy Productions at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., Chicago
Tickets: $35-$55 at kokandyproductions.com