Bringing Down The House
Broadway Luminary Marc Kudisch Returns To His Alma Mater To Headline FAU Fundraiser
Just five months after graduating from Florida Atlantic University (FAU), theater major Marc Kudisch ('88) got his first big break in the Off-Broadway show at the Park Avenue Armory.
When the three-time Tony Award nominee switched his major from political science to theater in his junior year, the theater department was small but offered intensive training. His education at the public university served him well in his notable 30-plus years on stage and screen, says the actor.
To make it on the Broadway stage, though, Kudisch needed voice and musical theater training, something not offered at FAU at the time. He recalls auditioning for Hal Prince for a featured role in “The Kiss of the Spider Woman” in the early '90s. “You know I admire you, but I really need a singer,” the legendary director told him. That’s when Kudisch began voice training and went from having zero singing skills to starring as Conrad Birdie in the first national tour of “Bye Bye Birdie” in 1991. Kudisch, 57, who also sings opera, has worked with the industry’s most illustrious names, including Stephen Sondheim.
Kudisch, who was born in Hackensack, N.J., and raised in Plantation, will headline FAU’s Schmidt College of Arts and Letters annual Culture, Arts and Society Today (CAST) party on Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. The annual fundraiser celebrates the cultivation of arts and letters on campus and in the community. CAST guests will hear the rich baritone that put Kudisch on the Broadway map. With 15 productions under his belt, shows include “Assassins,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “The Wild Party” and his most recent, “Girl from the North Country.” The character actor is also a familiar face for his roles as psychiatrist Dr. Gus in Showtime’s “Billions” and in Netflix’s “Mind Hunter.”
When he doesn’t have a call time, Kudisch and his wife, Shannon Lewis, a choreographer whose work includes “SNL” projects, enjoy hiking at the north end of Manhattan’s Central Park, where they live. The couple married in Key West in 2011.
The Broadway vet credits his success to FAU. “I’ve done what I’ve done in New York City because of my education,” Kudisch says.
He warmly remembers his mentor, Jay Robert Dietz, citing his influence on his life and career.
“I have a lot of friends who went to Yale, Juilliard — all the major universities. I would put my education up against theirs any day of the week,” the FAU alum says.