ACTOR | Cleveland, OH
About Maria
Maria Guardino is an actor born and raised in Cleveland, OH. Her family is comprised of generations of individuals in the performing arts, including the late actor, Harry Guardino.
Maria has worked with many prominent theater companies including Great Lakes Theater, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Dobama Theatre, and All-City Shakespeare (Cleveland). Maria won 1st place in the 2019 National Shakespeare Competition sponsored by the English-Speaking Union. She was an active member of Hawken Players' Society, Hawken School's Dazzle Award-winning theater company. At Sarah Lawrence College (SLC), she worked as an actor, costume designer, production manager, and as lighting crew.
Maria has shared her passion for the arts by volunteering at Playhouse Square, Cleveland's nationally-renowned theater district. She has a special interest in the Shakespearean canon and theater that spurs thought.
Age: 23
Height: 5' 5"
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Bronxville, NY
Class of 2023
Cleveland, OH
Class of 2019
Theater
Sarah Lawrence College | Macbeth | 2023
Lead Actor | Macbeth
Sarah Lawrence College | Almost = To | 2022
Supporting Actor | Martina 2
Geauga Center for the Arts | Much Ado About Nothing | 2022
Supporting Actor | Hero
British American Drama Academy | Antigone | 2022
Lead Actor | Antigone
Sarah Lawrence College | Bull in a China Shop | 2021
Lead Actor | Mary Woolley
SLC Women's Naked Shakespeare | Romeo & Juliet | 2021
Lead Actor | Juliet
David Hansen film | Prom | 2020
Lead Actor | Girl 1, Girl 2
SLC Women's Naked Shakespeare | Twelfth Night | 2020
Supporting Actor | Maria
SLC Mainstage Reading | FLUSH | 2020
Supporting Actor | Leak
SLC Downstage | Athena | 2020
Lead Actor | Mary Wallace
SLC Mainstage, Director Sara Lyons | I'm Very Into You | 2019
Lead Actor | Kathy Acker
Grupo Buscón Theater Group | Havana, Cuba | 2019
Variety Theater Show | Performed Shakespeare's Sonnet 29
Hawken Players' Society | Chicago | 2019
Lead Actor | Velma Kelly
Hawken Players' Society | Crimes of the Heart | 2018
Lead Actor | Meg Magrath
Great Lakes Theatre All-City Shakespeare | Romeo & Juliet | 2018
Lead Actor | Romeo
Hawken Players' Society | Mary Poppins | 2018
Supporting Actor | Mrs. Corry, Queen Elizabeth, Ensemble
Hawken Players' Society | Peter and the Starcatcher | 2017
Lead Actor | Molly
Dobama Theatre | The Odyssey | 2017
Ensemble
Hawken Upper School | A Memoir (Student-led production) | 2017
Supporting Actor | Lily, Girl Scout, Great-Grandfather
Hawken Players' Society | Les Misérables | 2017
Ensemble
Hawken Players' Society | A Midsummer Night's Dream | 2016
Lead Actor | Hermia
Hawken Players' Society | Into the Woods | 2016
Supporting Actor | Lucinda, Ensemble
Hawken Players' Society | Metamorphoses | 2015
Supporting Actor | Eurydice, Narrator, Ensemble
2010 - present
2010 - present
Awards
The English-Speaking Union | 36th Annual National Shakespeare Competition | 2019
National 1st Place Winner
The English-Speaking Union | 35th Annual National Shakespeare Competition | 2018
National Semi-Finalist | Regional 1st Place Winner
The English-Speaking Union | 34th Annual National Shakespeare Competition | 2017
Regional Finalist
Hawken School | Shakespeare Competition | 2018, 2017, 2016
Schoolwide Winner
Education | Training
British American Drama Academy | London Theatre Program | Spring 2022
The London Theatre Program is BADA’s undergraduate Conservatory Acting Program in London sponsored by BADA and Sarah Lawrence College
British American Drama Academy, Oxford UK | Midsummer Conservatory Program | 2019
Full scholarship to Shakespeare-centric conservatory program presented by Eunice Roberts, Dean
of BADA, upon winning 2019 ESU National Shakespeare Competition
Stratford Festival, Ontario | Internship | 2019
Personalized training and master classes with resident artists including Martha Henry and EB Smith
Playhouse Square | Broadway Summer Camp, Triple Threat Master Classes | 2018, 2017, 2016
Worked with touring casts of Hamilton, An American in Paris, The Phantom of the Opera
Playhouse Square | STARS Student Volunteer (Red Coat) | 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
Usher Broadway Series and other performances
Hawken School | TJ Gainley, AEA | 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
Acting Fundamentals, Advanced Acting, Improv Club
Dobama Theatre | Dobama Emerging Actors Program (DEAP) | 2017
Summer Intensive Acting Program
Playhouse Square | STARS Inspiring Workshops | Eric Schmeidl, Playwriting | 2017
Cleveland Shakespeare Festival | Bard Lab | Kelly Elliott | 2016
Cleveland Playhouse | KeyBank CPH College | 2016, 2015
Master classes in dance, make-up, tech, improvisation, monologues, singing, Shakespearean sword fighting, and costume and set design
Voice
Hawken School | Hawken Harmony | Jodie Ricci | 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016
Alto 1, Soprano in acapella ensemble
Fine Arts Association | Private Instruction | Phyllis Speirs | 2017, 2016, 2015
Mezzo-Soprano voice coaching
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus | Dr. Lisa Wong | 2016, 2015
Alto 1
Contemporary Youth Chorus | Daniel Singer | 2016
Alto 1