Born to a French mother and an Italian father, Michel spent his childhood in Italy surrounded by music and the arts. It was no wonder he eventually found his way in to live performing, discovering a raw vocal talent and insatiable passion for entertaining. This, together with a natural, selfless, desire to communicate with and move an audience, made for the creation of a prolific young performer. It was at Italy's open call for the Broadway musical “RENT” where his life changed dramatically and was to never be the same: that day Michel was handpicked out of literally thousands for the principle and demanding role of “Tom Collins”. It was the producer of RENT, in the house of the theatre where the audition was being held, that insisted on Michel's being cast, and it wasn't just any producer: his name was Luciano Pavarotti. The Maestro had fallen in love at first sight with Michel's utter commitment onstage, and recognized his powerful, rare, rough-edged, and inborn talent. He took Michel under his wing, even having him to his private home in the country to work on the music one-on-one at the piano, and to guide him in maximizing the vocal gifts Michel had been given. Together with Pavarotti and his wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, who was the real producing force behind the project, Michel was flown to NYC. During this exciting period he worked directly on the Nederlander Theatre stage to prepare his role with the Broadway director, Michael Greif, and his “Collins” ultimately became known worldwide among Rentofiles. That role, and performing experience, set him clearly on his path in musical theatre.

Michel took his training forward, both vocal and acting, at a furious pace. Some of his studies included instruction with names such as Emiliana Perina, Japanese dramaturg Kuniaki Ida, and Narcisa Bonati of the Piccolo Theatre. Meanwhile, he continued racking up a steady string of leading roles in highly successful theatre, tv and film projects. Among these was the starring role in a much talked about movie which was presented at the Berlin Film Festival. His next big hit after RENT was an original musical based on the epic work of historic Italian literature “I Promessi Sposi” (“The Betrothed”). This mammoth period piece, similar in many ways to Les Miserables and with somewhat of a Romeo and Juliet story at its heart, also marked the beginning of a long resident collaboration with Naples' historic Bellini Theatre and its director: famed Italian theatre icon Tato Russo. Michel's performance as the male lead, “Renzo”, stunned the country earned Michel the Italian TONY for Best Actor, as well as other awards. Next was an new musical based on Oscar Wilde's masterpiece “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”, with original music composed expressly for Michel's voice, in the title role of Dorian. This gargantuan production put every bit of this dynamic performer to the test: with 13 solo arias and a devastating, exhausting acting journey from curtain to curtain, he wowed audiences and critics, and took home even more award recognition as a result. Among these many awards was a scholarship to the NYC or LA Lee Strasberg Institute, after being handpicked by Anna Strasberg and Dennis Hopper among thousands in a worldwide young actor scholarship competition.

Stopping along the way for a recording career, and more film and television (drama series, sitcoms, and more) title roles, Michel continued to be untouchable in Italian theatre as a true powerhouse: young, gorgeous, charasmatic, and truly talented. He was the lead (“Mark”) in the rock musical based on an Italian cult film from the '70's called “Profondo Rosso” (“Deep Red”), while collecting a steady stream of straight plays as well. Among these most notably were his roles as Christian in “Cyrano de Bergerac”, Rocco (title role) in “Rocco and His Brothers” (stage play based on the 1960 classic Visconti film "Rocco e i suoi fratelli", with Alain Delon in the title role), and again as the lead in “Two Dozen Red Roses”, another classic Italian literature/theatre piece.

Michel also has a special place in the market as somewhat of a pop-culture icon and sensation: he may be a serious actor, but he has the heartthrob looks and charm that make him a favorite of the female fanbase, and he balances out his concentration on his work with an enormous amount of celebrity.

Most recently Michel enjoyed tremendous success as the Beast in the Disney Broadway production of the musical “Beauty and the Beast”, for the first time ever in Italy. Michel worked personally with Alan Menken during the preparation and even got to perform live with him during a one-time exclusive concert evening. The role earned him yet more award recognition, this time from the Italy Opera Society of the legendary La Scala Theatre. Beauty and the Beast Italy also marked his 5th original cast album, these in addition to his individual rock/pop recording artist projects and releases.

He made his American theatrical debut alongside George Hearn in the title role of Bram Stoker's “Dracula”, and is now permanently based in NYC where he is working on numerous film, theatre and recording projects.

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Italo francese, classe 1978, scoperto da Luciano Pavarotti, Michel altieri si forma come attore di prosa e cantante tra Milano e gli Usa, ed è reduce da un successo di pubblico senza precedenti in Italia, come protagonista originale del Musical Disney LA BELLA E LA BESTIA nel ruolo della Bestia.

Allievo di Anna Strasberg e figlio artistico di Tato Russo dello Stabile di Napoli, entra nel Masterclass di Dennis Hopper, vince una borsa di studio allo Strasberg Institute, si diploma alla International Theatre School e al CTA. Cresce con Emiliana Perina, Narcisa Bonati del Piccolo di Milano, Kuniaki Ida ed il Maestro Mario Ciervo del San Carlo di Napoli. Nel 2000 debutta nella rock-opera RENT, prodotta da Nicoletta Mantovani con la regia originale di Broadway firmata Michael Greif e Fabrizio Angelini (Milano, Roma e tour nazionale per 2 anni). È lui il primo artista bianco ad interpretare il ruolo di Collins, per il quale viene scelto e preparato personalmente dal Maestro Pavarotti.

I suoi grandi successi teatrali includono in particolare: Dorian ne IL RITRATTO DI DORIAN GRAY Musical di Tato Russo (Milano, Roma e tour nazionale per 4 anni), Premio “Migliore Attore” Rome-Europe Award; Mark in PROFONDO ROSSO, musical di Dario Argento e Claudio Simonetti, regia di Marco Calindri (Milano e tour nazionale); Alberto in DUE DOZZINE DI ROSE SCARLATTE , regia di Livio Galassi (Milano, Roma e tour nazionale); Cristiano in CIRANO DE BERGERAC, regia di Corrado D’Elia (Milano, Roma e tour nazionale); Rocco in ROCCO E I SUOI FRATELLI , regia di Antonio Syxty (Milano); Renzo ne I PROMESSI SPOSI, Musical di Tato Russo (Milano, Roma e tour nazionale per 3 anni), Premio Sandro Massimini e Theatre Award come “Miglior attore”;. Le sue esperienze cinematografiche e di tv includono: il film CUANDO LA VERDAD DESPIERTA, con Fidel Castro nel ruolo di se stesso (Festival di Berlino e Premio in Campidoglio come “attore rivelazione”), IL PUGILE E LA BALLERINA, IL BENE E IL MALE, PILOTI , CAMERA CAFE. Per interpretare la Bestia si affida all’Etoile della Scala Elisabetta Armiato, suo preparatore artistico, e a Stephanie Tschoppe.

Maurizio Porro del Corriere della Sera scrive di lui: "una versione adulta del Tadzio di Morte a Venezia";

Franco Quadri di Repubblica: “è l’ultima star del teatro italiano, un vero animale da palcoscenico che canta e recita.”;

Enrico Groppali de Il Giornale: ”una nota inedita di impeto e freschezza. Impressionante. Notevole.”

Carlo Rosati de II Tempo:.”magistrale interpretazione di Altieri, uno dei nostri attori più completi”