By Ronica Stromberg
By day, Mark Mesarch is a web designer in the School of Natural Resources. By night, he is what is known in show biz as a “triple threat.”
He sings. He dances. He acts.
At times, he even directs.
So, maybe it’s more accurate to call him a quadruple threat. Adding another level to such ponderances, he has now brought a coworker, Bridget Gross, into the act.
Gross, a recruitment specialist, also sings, dances and acts. She landed a 'Paparazzi' role in the upcoming play "Chiaroscuro: Sketches of Caravaggio" showing through the Angels Theatre Company at Turbine Flats on May 4 at 2 p.m. and Eastmont Living Auditorium on May 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Mesarch is directing the play. He acted most recently in the Lincoln Community Playhouse's nine-day sold-out run of "Fiddler on the Roof" in February and March. It was his fifth time to act in 'Fiddler on the Roof.'
The Pennsylvania native has acted almost 50 years, 36 at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, and designed lighting 20 years. The playhouse will recognize him as a “Legend,” its equivalent of the Kennedy Center Honors, at the playhouse on June 19 at 7 p.m. The event will honor four creatives or actors as Legends by sharing stories of their lives and performances and adding their names and photos to playhouse plaques.
"I'm very humbled about this honor," Mesarch said. "I just never expected that I would be one of the Legends at the playhouse."
He started acting in middle school and really found his step in the role of a son in “Fiddler on the Roof.” He said, at the time, he had hopes to play other parts in the musical when he got older. He has since gotten to play four other roles, most recently, the innkeeper, Mordcha. He expressed the hope of still playing the rabbi.
Memorizing all the lines of a play has become more challenging as he’s aged, he said, but his previous performances in “Fiddler on the Roof” have made that play more doable.
"I definitely know what comes next," he said.
Gross said memorizing can be challenging for her also but, in 'Chiaroscuro' and other plays in the Angels Theatre Company's Salon Reading Series, the actors have the script in hand to read from. She said not having to memorize the script has made those plays more appealing to her.
Like Mesarch, she started acting in middle school plays, took a break in college and returned to acting as an adult. She acts for fun, she said, and balances the time spent on it with other hobbies like running, knitting, crocheting, teaching color guard at Lincoln East High School and helping choreograph winter guard at the university. She has danced since 4 years old and taken part in color guard since 11 years old.
Read the complete story about Mark and Bridget and see more pictures at https://snr.unl.edu/aboutus/what/newstory.aspx?fid=1245