Anthony Palermo (they/them) is an actor, director, writer & composer based in Toronto, ON.

 

Currently in the 2024 Stratford Festival season, they are performing in Edward Albee's The Goat or Who is Sylvia (dir. Dean Gabourie) and Shakespeare's Cymbeline (dir. Esther Jun). 

 

During their time at University of Toronto/ Sheridan College’s Theatre & Drama Studies program, Anthony performed in Molière’s Tartuffe, and Thomas Dekker’s The Witch of Edmonton, (dir. Paolo Santlucia), and Euripides’ Alcestis (dir. Alan Dilworth) at Theatre Erindale.

 

Selected television and film credits include; Workin’ Moms Season 6 & 7 (CBC/Netflix), Macy Murdoch (CBC/Shaftesbury), Sun (Sun Productions/ Steven Yaffee), and Bark (Panoptic Pictures Inc./ Ganesh Thava). Anthony leads the web-series, Pie Boy, (Ace Entertainment Inc./ Mahlon Bast)  streaming now on YouTube. Anthony is an CAEA/ ACTRA member.

 

As a writer and composer, and has had their original work produced by Musical Stage Company in One Song Glory 2022, directed by Dillan Chiblow, Buddies in Bad Times' Rhubarb Festival and Soulpepper Theatre’s Queer Youth Cabaret 2022, where they have performed in their original solo song-cycle, She, Men, and the Giant F*cking Snake, directed by Nicci Pryce. In April 2023, their original musical, The Gray  (dramaturged by Aaron Jan) was produced by Hart House Theatre. As their 2021 Artist-in-Residence, Anthony was commissioned by Theatre Oculus to create and perform in their original solo musical, Functioning: A Piece in 5 Jordans.​

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Anthony has won various awards for their theatrical writing, including; “Best Musical” & “Best Musical Achievement” at the 2022 UofT Drama Coalition Awards for Mythic Women & Their Cabaret to Save Humanity (Music & Lyrics, Director/ University of Toronto), “Best Original Work” and “Best Direction” for The Gray: A Wilde Audio-Drama (Book, Music & Lyrics, Director/ UofT), currently streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube.

 

Their work as a director has earned them “Best Direction” for two consecutive years at the UofT Drama Coalition Awards. Favourite directing credits include Hedwig & The Angry Inch, Dog Sees God, and Jordan Tannahill’s Rihannaboi95 (University of Toronto). 

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Anthony has a passion for storytelling through a broad range of mediums, from classical plays, to musical theatre, to camera. They are interested in recontextualizing the canon– queering and adapting older works for modern narratives through music and storytelling.