TheatreZone Artistic Director Named Baldwin-Wallace University's 2015 Outstanding Educator

Baldwin-Wallace University today announced alumni Mark Danni of Naples, Florida has been named a 2015 Outstanding Educator. Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Danni is a 1988 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace University.

The annual Outstanding Educator Award honors B-W alumni who, both in and out of the classroom, have made a remarkable impact on the lives of their students as teachers, mentors and role models. A celebration of this year's honorees will take place at the Berea, OH campus on Sunday, April 19.

Danni's career in New York City began as a drummer/percussionist on Broadway for shows such as Chicago, Grand Hotel, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Joseph...Dreamcoat, Annie Get Your Gun and Nunsense, but he quickly moved into the conductor's chair and conducted the national tours of Barnum and Les Miserables.

During his 14 years in New York, he directed a few Off-Broadway productions including the critically acclaimed play, Aggravation, and the musical, What Would Esther Williams Do In A Situation Like This? He also toured with the shows The Phantom Of The Opera, 42nd Street, the 25th anniversary tour of Hair, Evita, Les Miserables and Fame. Regionally, he was the conductor of A Little Night Music at the Tony-winning Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. He was then asked to play drums for Al Gore's Inaugural Gala in 1993, A Taste of Tennessee, starring Dixie Carter.

In 2002, Danni left New York theatre to become the director of performing arts at The Community School of Naples (CSN) with a solitary drama class of 12 students. Today, the theatre program has grown into a popular thriving curriculum that attracts more than one half of the upper school student body including football players, basketball players, baseball players, track stars, Lacrosse players, valedictorians, mathletes, computer geeks and theatre aficionados.

Two years later, Danni and his wife actress/choreographer Karen Molnar, founded TheatreZone, an Equity theatre group, dedicated to bringing the "Lost Treasures of Broadway" to Southwest Florida employing professional actors who are members of the Actors Equity Association. TheatreZone performs in the G&L Theatre located on the CSN campus and is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary season.

Last fall, Danni led a collaboration with Florida Gulf Coast University's Bower School of Music and The Arts, directing a production of Godspell where he cast TheatreZone's professional actors with FGCU professors, theatre and music students. Danni also established several annual theatre internships for FGCU students who earn professional theatre experience in acting, lighting, sound, set construction, and stage management.

These educational programs have greatly increased students' participation in the performing arts and provided them with opportunities to work with many respected theatre professionals and celebrities such as Gary Sandy (WKRP In Cincinnati), Nancy Dussault (Too Close For Comfort), Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), Georgia Engel (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Eddie Mekka (Laverne & Shirley), David Garrison (Married With Children) and Andrea McArdle (Broadway's original Annie).

Danni, a professional percussionist, has also toured throughout the state of Florida with Sandy Duncan, Lucie Arnaz, Rich Little, Dennis DeYoung (Styx), The Crystals, The Duprees, The Four Lads, The NY Tenors and many more.

In 2010, Danni was named A Star in the Arts from the United Arts Council of Collier County, the prestigious annual award given to individuals and organizations for leadership in the arts, representing several disciplines including theatre, visual arts, museums, and arts education. He is a Wall of Fame inductee in the Williamsville School District and 1988 recipient of the Presser Foundation Award for excellence in Music Education.