On stage, he earned a Tony Award nomination for his role as Motel the Tailor in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.

Cariani spent his early years in New York working with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and acting in Off-Broadway plays, television commercials, and films.

His first break came in 1999 when he was cast in the Off-Broadway play It's My Party (and I'll Die If I Want To), starring F. Murray Abraham and Joyce Van Patten.

[8] Since then, he has appeared in several TV shows, films, plays and musicals, both on and off-Broadway, and in regional theaters across the country.

"[25] It has been described as "a bittersweet romance about two people who lack the courage to admit they love one another ... it's an undeniable winner despite its predictable twist.

It premiered at High Point University in the fall of 2010, then was presented at the Portland Stage Company in the spring of 2013,[28] and was produced by Hartford TheaterWorks in 2014.

… While poking fun at the happily-ever-after notion by means of a strong dose of happily-never-after, Cariani shoots his cockeyed valentines with a quiver full of funny lines.

"[30] LOVE/SICK has been performed in Riga, Latvia [31] and Mexico City and was recently made into a Spanish language feature called Enfermo Amor on Vix+.

[32] Two new vignettes from LOVE/SICK premiered at Stonehill College in Easton, MA for a filmed version of the play, directed by Cariani.