Marc Acito

{{Infobox writer

| name = Marc Acito

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|1|11}}

| birth_place = Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.

| image = Marc Acito 2.jpg

| caption = Acito in 2009

| death_date =

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| education = Carnegie Mellon University
Colorado College (BA)

| spouse = Floyd Sklaver

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Playwright
novelist
humorist

}}

| website = {{URL|marcacito.nyc}}

}}

Marc Acito (born January 11, 1966) is an American playwright, novelist, and humorist.

Early life

Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, Acito was raised in Westfield, New Jersey, and is a 1984 graduate of Westfield High School.[https://issuu.com/goodspeedguides/docs/chasing_rainbows_audience_insights Chasing Rainbows The Road to Oz], Goodspeed Musicals. Retrieved December 4, 2017. "Marc Acito (Book) was born on January 11, 1966 in Bayonne, New Jersey. Upon graduating from Westfield High School, Acito enrolled in the musical theatre program at Carnegie Mellon, though he left before graduating." He studied in the BFA musical theatre program at Carnegie Mellon University but left before graduation.{{cite web|title=1 popmatters.com|url=https://www.popmatters.com/feature/acito-marc-0409141/}} In 1990 he received a bachelor's degree from Colorado College. In 2009, Colorado College awarded him an honorary doctorate.{{Cite web |date=November 2009 |title=Opening Convocation and Fall Conference {{!}} Bulletin |url=https://sites.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin/2009/11/opening-convocation-and-fall-conference/ |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=Colorado College Bulletin}}

Early career

Acito began his career as a novelist and journalist. His comic novel How I Paid for College, won the Oregon Book Awards' 2005 Ken Kesey Award for Best Novel{{cite web |date=October 16, 2009 |title=Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships: Literary Awards |url=http://www.literary-arts.org/what-we-do/oba-home/book-awards/fiction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219030449/http://www.literary-arts.org/what-we-do/oba-home/book-awards/fiction/ |archive-date=February 19, 2014}} and was voted a 2005 "Teens Top Ten for favorite young adult book" of the American Library Association.{{Cite web |date=October 20, 2022 |title=Teens' Top Ten |url=https://www.ala.org/yalsa/teenstopten |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) |language=en}} In April 2008, Acito published Attack of the Theater People, as a sequel to How I Paid for College.

He is also the writer of the syndicated humor column "The Gospel According to Marc", which ran for four years in nineteen gay publications.{{Cite web |title=Marc Acito {{!}} Penguin Random House |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/58771/marc-acito |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}} His humorous essays have appeared in many publications including The New York Times (April 3, 2006) and Portland Monthly magazine (January 2007, February 2007) as well as on NPR's All Things Considered (June 2008 through February 2010).

Theatrical career

In 2012, Acito won the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play for Birds of a Feather, a comedy inspired by Roy and Silo, the same-sex male penguins in Central Park who raised a chick.{{Cite web |last=Beachy |first=Mark |date=April 24, 2012 |title=Helen Hayes 2012 Award Recipients |url=https://mdtheatreguide.com/2012/04/helen-hayes-2012-award-recipients/ |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=Maryland Theatre Guide |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Birds of a Feather |url=https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/9959/birds-of-a-feather |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=Concord Theatricals |language=en}}

Acito wrote the libretto for the musical Allegiance, which won the 2012 Craig Noel Award for Outstanding New Musical after a record breaking run at San Diego's Old Globe Theater.{{Cite web |last=Hetrick |first=Adam |date=February 5, 2013 |title=Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys and Allegiance Are San Diego's Craig Noel Award Winners |url=https://www.playbill.com/news/article/susan-stroman-the-scottsboro-boys-and-allegiance-are-san-diegos-craig-noel--202208 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623184802/https://www.playbill.com/news/article/susan-stroman-the-scottsboro-boys-and-allegiance-are-san-diegos-craig-noel--202208 |archive-date=June 23, 2015 |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=Playbill}} ALLEGIANCE - A New Musical Inspired by a True Story opened on Broadway in November 2015 and starred George Takei and Lea Salonga.{{Cite web |last=Gerard |first=Jeremy |date=May 27, 2015 |title=George Takei's Personal 'Allegiance' Sets Cast For Fall Broadway Bow |url=https://deadline.com/2015/05/george-takei-allegiance-broadway-cast-1201433555/ |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}

In 2012, Acito also turned his novel How I Paid for College into a "one-man monologue with songs" that premiered at the Hub Theater in Fairfax, Virginia.{{Cite web |last=Gans |first=Andrew |date=July 2, 2012 |title=Stage Version of Marc Acito's How I Paid for College Will Debut in Virginia |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/stage-version-of-marc-acitos-how-i-paid-for-college-will-debut-in-virginia-195282 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924204414/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/stage-version-of-marc-acitos-how-i-paid-for-college-will-debut-in-virginia-195282 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=Playbill}}

In 2014, his musical adaptation of E.M. Forster's A Room With a View was presented in Seattle at the 5th Avenue Theater.{{Cite web |date=April 13, 2014 |title=Edwardian travelers of 'Room with a View' come to 5th Avenue stage |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/edwardian-travelers-of-lsquoroom-with-a-viewrsquo-come-to-5th-avenue-stage/ |access-date=November 1, 2022 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}} In 2015, Acito wrote the concert adaptation of Lerner & Loewe's Paint Your Wagon for New York City Center's Encores! series.{{cite news|title=(14) nypost.com|url=https://nypost.com/2015/03/19/keith-carradine-leads-the-charges-in-paint-your-wagon-revival | work=New York Post | first=Frank|last=Scheck|date=March 19, 2015}}

He is currently{{When|date=November 2022}} working on the libretto for a new musical commissioned by the 5th Avenue Theater. The musical, Dutch Master, was awarded a development grant by the National Alliance for Musical Theater.{{cite web|title=(15) namt.org|date=May 21, 2015 |url=https://namt.org/2015/05/2015-2016-national-fund-for-new-musicals-grants-announced}} Also in the works is Chasing Rainbows, a musical based on the early childhood of Judy Garland, which premiered in December 2015 at Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina.{{cite web|title=(16) media.visitnc.com|url=http://media.visitnc.com/news/flat-rock-playhouse-to-present-broadway-bound-chasing-rainbows-the-road-to-oz|access-date=June 22, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623005332/http://media.visitnc.com/news/flat-rock-playhouse-to-present-broadway-bound-chasing-rainbows-the-road-to-oz|archive-date=June 23, 2015|url-status=dead}}

Personal life

Acito lives in New York City with his husband Floyd Sklaver.{{cite news |first=Julia |last=Silverman |date=December 12, 2004 |title=Good Ol' Days: Marc Acito Heads Back to High School for First Novel |work=The Sunday Telegraph |location=Nashua, New Hampshire |agency=Associated Press |page=F-5 |via=Newspaper Archive }}{{cite interview |first=Marc |last=Acito |date=September 19, 2015 |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interview-ALLEGIENCEs-Honorary-Asian-Marc-Acito-Reveals-How-His-Mid-Life-Crisis-Brought-Him-to-Broadway-20150919 |title=BWW Interview: Allegiance's 'Honorary Asian' Marc Acito Reveals How His Mid-Life Crisis Brought Him to Broadway |interviewer=Nicole Rosky |work=Broadway World |accessdate=February 11, 2019 }}

Biblio

References

External links

{{Facebook|id=MarcAcito}}
{{Twitter|id=MarcAcito}}

[http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=58771 Profile] at Random House

[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120751/http://www.powells.com/authors/acito.html 2004 interview] with Dave Weich at Powell's Books
[https://www.popmatters.com/books/interviews/acito-marc-040914.shtml 2004 interview] with Daulton Dickey at PopMatters
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070629093934/http://www.pageandauthor.com/MarcAcito.html 2005 interview] with Andrew Hicks at PageAndAuthor.com