MARC CEDRIC SMITH Bio
| Marc
can currently be seen |
From the western suburbs of Philadelphia, this true basso profundo was
encouraged at an early age to concentrate on operatic and classical music.
Leaving his home town of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Marc headed west to study
music first at Central Washington, then at the University of Washington in
Seattle. During college he was featured in many operatic and oratorio works. One of his favorites was a European concert tour ending with a performance of Bach’s St. John’s Passion with Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Prague Chamber Orchestra.
After college, Marc stumbled into what grew to be more than two decades of fashion and commercial modeling. But three years had passed before he realized he hadn’t sung a note. He returned to music by auditioning for San Francisco Opera. The next three years consisted of modeling at day and singing opera at night. Then Marc was scouted by Elite Models in Chicago, and it was off to the Midwest. In Chicago, he repeated the double duty of modeling and singing opera at the Chicago Lyric.
Then came the offer to run a modeling agency in Seattle. And it was only a few months before Marc was considered one of the top modeling agents in the Pacific Northwest. But the itch to perform was never extinguished. He began singing at Seattle Opera, then had his Seattle Symphony debut to rave reviews in the Faure’ Requiem.
In 1995 Livent Inc. asked Marc to join Hal Prince’s first national tour of Show Boat. It turned into a two and a half year tour of the US, Canada and the last six months in London. This tour was a life altering experience. Marc recalls standing on the stage of the Prince Edward Theatre in London’s famed West End, singing “Ol’ Man River” and thinking, ‘I love my life!’
Just days after closing the London production of Show Boat, Marc was in Chicago mounting Livent’s lavish, sit down production of Ragtime. After Ragtime, he made his 5th Avenue Theatre debut in The Secret Garden with Mark Jacoby and Patti Cohenour. Then another long run with Disney’s The Lion King in Los Angeles.
When that incredible two and a half year Los Angeles engagement ended, Marc decided to stay in LA to do more television and film work. He still manages to do as much theatre work as possible. After Lion King, credits include Music Man, Ragtime, Jesus Christ Superstar, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Aida.
| As the deliciously evil Jafar in Hyperion Theatre’s production of Aladdin at Disney’s California Adventure. |
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