Mark Janicello Informations

Mark Janicello (born November 3, 1962, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American singer, actor, painter, producer and author.

He began his career by singing in the subways of New York City in the mid-1980s as part of the MTA's Music Under New York program. Janicello's operatic debut was as Cassio in Verdi's Otello. Caliph in Kismet and Leicester in the American premiere production of Rossini's opera Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, followed. Both productions were directed by Donald Westwood for Opera Northeast. In 1988, Janicello made his west coast debut playing Raoul de Gardefeu in Opera at the Academy's co-production (with Long Beach Opera) of "La Vie Parisienne" directed by Christopher Alden.

Janicello continued to sing in the NY Subway and was discovered in 1990 by conductor Eve Queler with whom he performed in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, with which he made his Carnegie Hall debut. Diverse operatic roles followed. Janicello also performed for two seasons with the comedic opera troupe La Gran Scena Opera. In 1996 Janicello sang the world-premiere of the opera "Nuit des Hommes" by Per Nørgård. In 1995, Janicello had sung Nørgård's opera "Die göttliche Kirmes" in St. Gallen, Switzerland.

He played Camille, Count de Roussillon in the Paper Mill Playhouse Production of Lehár's Die lustige Witwe. He returned to Die lustige Witwe in 2010, this time playing Count Danilo Danilovitsch with the Wiener Operettensommer. Other operetta roles have included, Alfred in "Die Fledermaus," the title role in Der Zarewitsch and Hans in Die verkaufte Braut.

In 1992, Janicello was named the winner of the KFC Musical Feast, a nationwide search by Kentucky Fried Chicken for the best street performer in America; he was awarded $15,000.00 and appeared on NBC's Today show among many other media appearances.

Stadttheater Klagenfurt hired Janicello to play Elvis Presley in their 1997 production, Elvis: A Musical Biography. The musical moved from Klagenfurt to Metropol Theater in Vienna and subsequently toured throughout Germany and Austria.

In 1998, Janicello produced, directed and starred in The Chamelon Concert. In 1999, Janicello premiered his next original work Be My Love: The Mario Lanza Musical. In 2001, Janicello authored the book and worked as co-lyricist on Charlie: A New Musical.

In October 2012, he co-starred in the Broadway-style musical Loving the Silent Tears, directed by Vincent Paterson, alongside Jody Watley, Jon Secada, Liz Callaway, Debbie Gravitte, Kiril Kulish, Flo Ankah and Patti Cohenour. He also appears on the musical's cast album.

In the early 1990s, Janicello did charitable work for the Music for All Seasons foundation, singing in children's hospitals, prisons and old age homes.

Janicello's autobiography Naked in the Spotlight: My Life with Sex, Singing and Scientology was published in a German translation ("Nackt im Rampenlicht") in April 2011 by Ibera Publishers of Vienna. The English version of "Naked in the Spotlight" was published in 2016.

Since January 2016, Janicello has worked as author, executive producer, lyricist and leading actor in a new SitCom "The Finellis". The Proof of Concept Episode of "The Finellis" was a featured presentation at the 2016 Berlin Serienale.

In 2019, "The Finellis" went back into production in Berlin some new cast members and rewritten scripts. On June 16, 2019, Episodes 1 and 3 of Season One of "The Finellis" ("The Homecoming" and "Tony's Makeover") will be screened out of competition during the Berlin International TV Festival.

Since March 2018, Janicello works as a regular contributor and critic-at-large in Berlin and northern Germany for the theatrical website www.broadwayworld.com.

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