// BIO

James Parenti is a classically-trained actor, playwright, songwriter, and producer.

After graduating from Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in Acting, he immediately established himself as an extremely versatile performer by appearing in a wide variety of projects, from gritty new plays (The Body Electric with Block & Tackle, Town of No One with Playsmiths) and Shakespearean romances (All's Well and Cymbeline with Bare Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost and Tempest with Hip to Hip) to classic high comedies (The Importance of Being Earnest at Playhouse on Park, Twelfth Night with The Other Mirror), and challenging new adaptations (Cupid and Psyche with Turn to Flesh, Madame Bovary with The Other Mirror).

May Violets Spring, James' feminist adaptation of Hamlet, was produced by Dare Lab featuring James as the once-titular prince.  After a sold-out initial run and overwhelmingly positive write-ups on Classicalite, Broadway World, and Letters from the Mezzanine, Violets' run was extended and included in a best-of 2014 list by A Work Unfinishing.

Later that year, James' appearance as Prior Walter in Angels in America at Playhouse on Park garnered a number of truly outstanding reviews and led to his nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play on Broadway World Ct.

James is also a co-founder of Girl Just Died, a theatre production company dedicated to presenting new works that heavily feature under-represented voices.  In 2015, Girl Just Died produced Poptart!, an unconventional new musical by Krystle Phelps.  James co-wrote the songs and starred as struggling musician James Pearce.

Not to be confined to the stage, James has also appeared in the feature film Threeway, short films Anything You Ever and Sam and Dave, and the webseries Adapting and Emergency Contacts.

James is also a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, and self-released the full-length albums Maybe That's Why We Lost and Don't Be Gone Long, Ellen.