Mark Janicello

Mark Janicello (born November 3, 1962, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American singer, actor, painter, writer, producer and author. 
Early life.
Mark Janicello was born on November 3, 1962 in Brooklyn, New York, the second of three brothers. His mother, Rose Tubiolo Janicello, is a gospel singer, composer, and pianist from Queens, New York of Italian descent. His father David Janicello, is an American, also of Italian heritage. He was an electronic engineer for Photocircuits Corporation abruptly changing careers in 1969 to open one of the three original branches of Colfax Furniture. Both of Janicello's parents attended seminary and became ordained ministers in the Pentecostal branch of Christianity.
The family moved to Burlington, North Carolina when Janicello was six years old. He attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, earning a Bachelor's degree in 1984. 
Career.
Janicello 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 . 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 and subsequently toured throughout Germany and Austria.
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.
Musical author.
Janicello's first work as Musical Author was "The Chamelon Concert". A highly-choreographed mix of operatic arias, Broadway hits, original compositions and songs made famous by Elvis Presley, "The Chameleon Concert"'s book contained personal anecdotes and dramatic monologues written by Janicello. The show celebrated its world premiere in September 1998 in Vienna's Theater AKzent.
In 1999, Janicello wrote the script for "Be My Love: The Mario Lanza Musical" which celebrated its world premiere in Theater AKzent on October 7, 1999, the 40th anniversary of Lanza's death. "Be My Love" was a jukebox musical whose score contained popular Italian Folk Songs, well-known operatic arias and a number of Lanza's hit songs. 
In 2001, Janicello authored the book and worked as co-lyricist with Rolf Rettburg on his first completely original musical, "Charlie: A New Musical." Charlie's music was composed by Charlie celebrated its world premiere in a German-language version in Vienna's Cabaret Stadnikow in March 2001. In 2004, an English-language version of Charlie was produced at in Amsterdam, with additional songs by Kai Peterson.
"Cloud Nine" is an original children's musical written in 2010 by Mark Janicello (book and lyrics) and the Swedish Actor/Musician Josef Törner. Originally conceived as a stage production, "Cloud 9" is now in pre-production to be made into a 60-minute animated musical for television.
Author.
Janicello's autobiography "" 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.
In 2012, Janicello was engaged to write 6 articles about the marketing of art and artists for Hoop Doop Magazine.
Since 2018, Janicello has worked as critic-at-large for BroadwayWorld.com reviewing stage productions in Berlin and northern Germany.
"The Finellis" sitcom.
Since January 2016, Janicello has worked as author, executive producer, lyricist and leading actor for the Award-Winning New SitCom A 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 with some new cast members and rewritten scripts. Since November 2019, "The Finellis" and Janicello have been nominated for and won numerous prizes at international Film- and TV- Festivals.