Lombardo attended and graduated Georgetown University with a BS in Psychology and minor in theatre, and earned the MFA in Directing from the Boston University School for the Arts.
Life and career
Upon graduation Lombardo was named co-director ad interim of the theatre program at Fordham University's College at Lincoln Center from 1991–1992, where he also taught as an assistant professor of acting and directing for four years. During this time Lombardo also became the Founding Artistic Director of Stillwater Theater Company in New York City, and later as Artistic Director of The Players Guild in Canton, Ohio. In 1997 Lombardo became the Artistic Director of New Repertory Theater, then located in Newton, Massachusetts. Over the next 12 years Lombardo would be credited with bringing in a younger audience and leading the company to a larger and more profitable theatrical venue in the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, Massachusetts where the company currently resides. Lombardo left New Rep after the 2008–09 season to helm San Jose Repertory Theatre in San Jose, California after a national search was conducted to replace outgoing Artistic Director Timothy Near. In 2013 Lombardo assumed the role of Producing Artistic Director of the company after a vote by the board of trustees to change the leadership model from a dual CEO structure to a single CEO model. In June 2014, the San Jose Repertory Theatre board of trustees informed Mr. Lombardo that they had voted to close the theater as he was in rehearsal for American Premiere of "Landscape With Weapon" by Joe Penhall. About the closing, Lombardo had this to say: In July 2014 Lombardo began production of his original musical “The Snow Queen: A New Musical” for The New York Musical Theatre Festival. This production won both a favorable review from The New York Times as well as an award for Best Overall Design which Lombardo shared with David Cuthbert, Frances Nelson McSherry, and Haddon Kime In April 2015 Lombardo accepted an offer to become Chair of the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia. While at Kennesaw State University Lombardo led the initiative to create a summer professional Shakespeare company called Shakespeare Kennesaw, In June 2018 Lombardo accepted a position as the Director of the School of Theatre at Penn State University, and the Artistic Director of Penn State Center Stage, a professional arm of the Penn State School of Theatre which serves as a training program for emerging theatre professionals.
