He attended Pinelands Regional High School and graduated in 1990 after having won the New Jersey State Governor's Award for excellence in classical music.
Some of his acclaimed performances in New Jersey include roles in Mame, The Secret Garden, Forever Plaid, Chess, Tommy, Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Evita.
In workshop performances, Bentivegna originated the role of 'The Creature' in what would later become the off-Broadway production of Frankenstein - A New Musical, which is a musicalization of the Mary Shelley novel.1 Bentivegna's diversity as an actor served him well during his stint with New York's Mac Haydn theater playing featured roles in Camelot, Kiss Me, Kate, Victor/Victoria, Li'l Abner, and Evita as Magaldi.
In December 2014, he directed the original musical A Christmassacre Story starring two-time Tony award-winning actor Michael Cerveris.
In August 2015, Bentivegna directed the world premiere of the stage play version of Flowers in the Attic, written by Andrew Neiderman based on the best-selling novel by V.C.