Mark Danni
Mark Danni is the Founding Artistic Director of TheatreZone, Naples’ professional Equity theatre company, where he has directed and produced over 100 musicals and plays. He also created and runs the theatre program at The Community School of Naples and has directed and collaborated on joint productions with Opera Naples, Gulfshore Opera, and Florida Gulf Coast University. After starting his career as a drummer/percussionist on Broadway for Chicago, Grand Hotel, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Joseph… Dreamcoat, Annie Get Your Gun and Nunsense, he moved up to conduct the national tours of Les Misérables and Barnum. He also toured with The Phantom Of The Opera, 42nd Street, Hair, Evita, Les Misérables and Fame. As a director, Mark’s Off- Broadway directing credits include Aggravation, and What Would Esther Williams Do In A Situation Like This? He has directed many Broadway veterans and celebrities such as Gary Sandy (WKRP In Cincinnati), Andrea McArdle (Broadway’s original Annie), Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), and Georgia Engel (Mary Tyler Moore & Everybody Loves Raymond). In addition, Mark directed productions of The Medium and The Telephone at Artis-Naples, West Side Story (starring Grammy Award winner Isabel Leonard) at Opera Naples, Brigadoon at Gulfshore Opera, and Sweeney Todd at Opera Roanoke. Originally from Buffalo, NY, Mark attended Baldwin-Wallace University in Cleveland, Ohio, and is a member of The Society of Directors and Choreographers, and the American Federation of Musicians.
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Let’s Put On A Show
Mark Danni, the Artistic Director of TheatreZone, will provide the audience with a behind the scenes look at what goes into producing a show. After working in NYC on 6 Broadway shows and completing 8 tours in 9 years, he will share the trials and tribulations he experienced over the years traveling with shows such as The Phantom of The Opera and Les Misérables. After this lecture, you’ll have a newfound appreciation for the shows you already love.
The History Of The American Musical Theatre: From The Bowery To Broadway
Mark Danni will take you on a journey from the turn of the century and into the Golden Age of Broadway. He will walk you through how the American Musical came out of Vaudeville, The Yiddish Theatre and Viennese Operetta.