Greece native Mark Mitrano makes Broadway debut in revival of 'The Who's Tommy'

It was the darkest days of the pandemic and Greece Athena grad Mark Mitrano, then in college, wondered if they’d ever have what it takes to hack it in the theater world.

“I was like, ‘Am I ready?’... I felt like I had almost lost half of my education. How much am I able to learn through a Zoom class?” Mitrano said of that period.

At the time, the non-binary actor was recovering from a meniscus injury, trying to complete a degree while isolated from others. They’d been a standout at Greece Athena High School, where they played roles like Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables” and were recognized at prestigious national high school theater competitions like The Jimmy Awards, where in 2016 they’d won “Best Vocalist.”

In the midst of the competitive Musical Theatre program at University of Michigan, COVID offered Mitrano a period of self-reflection that prepared them for the opportunities to come.

“It really took time for me to sit with myself, alone, to find what I contribute artistically and what I value in what I give,” they said.

Just a few short years later, what they offered to the theater community paid off — and catapulted them straight to the Great White Way.

Mitrano, now 24, made their Broadway debut last month in a revival of “The Who’s Tommy,” a rock opera based on The Who’s 1969 concept album of the same name. The show first opened on Broadway in 1993 and ran for over two years.

How would 16-year-old Mark have reacted to the call saying they’d be on Broadway after many years of blood, sweat and tears?

“I would never have believed it,” Mitrano said. “I held Broadway up on such a pedestal. People who love theater grow up listening to those cast recordings…the fact that I’d be able to be a part of that process in an original Broadway cast has been really, really special.”

'The Who's Tommy': A ticket to Broadway

After their college graduation, Mitrano landed their first major job on the national tour of “My Fair Lady.”

In the middle of that run last year, they saw a call for non-equity (non-union) actors to audition for “The Who’s Tommy” at the venerated Goodman Theatre in Chicago. They finished a multi-stage audition process that ate up all of their personal days on tour thinking they’d never land a part.

“All I was thinking was this sounds like, ‘See you never,’” they said. By the end of the week, they got a job offer. They’d be cast in the show’s ensemble in a specialty role and cover for Tommy, the main character.

Mark Mitrano's high school days Reaching for the stars: from Greece to Broadway

“Tommy” was a smash hit in Chicago — a nearly completely sold out run and one of the biggest box office successes ever for the Goodman Theatre, which has been around for over 100 years.

“The Who’s Tommy” features songs like “Pinball Wizard,” off the “Tommy” album, and follows the abstract coming-of-age story of Tommy Walker, a boy growing up in post-World War II England who is riddled with family trauma that renders him blind, deaf and mute. The show follows his rise to local heroism, in part through his uncanny ability to play pinball.

“It’s an acid trip of a show about the themes of bullying and trauma, and what it takes to overcome those things,” Mitrano said, noting the show is a loose retelling of events in the life of Peter Townshend, a co-founder of The Who.

There were whispers of a Broadway transfer before the Chicago show even opened. Late last year, it became official and Mitrano would go on to join the Broadway cast, continuing in the same role.

Mitrano plays one of Tommy’s bullies who then becomes Tommy's protector of sorts. They get to sing “Pinball Wizard,” the closing song of Act I, in eight performances a week.

A high school theater's lover dream

The schedule is grueling — in addition to their assigned role, Mitrano covers, or acts as understudy for two principal roles in case those actors are sick or on vacation.

But at this pinnacle moment, after the roller coaster of their early career amid COVID, Mitrano feels ready.

They credit their many mentors and teachers along the way, including Judy Cupo-Brondon at Greece’s A Touch of Dance performing arts studio; Kathryn Dyer, their vocal teacher at Greece Athena and their current agency, Boals, Winnett & Associates, which has helped them find roles that fit their non-binary identity, they said.

So where do they go from here?

Mitrano has a few existing roles they’d like to check off the bucket list — they’d love to take the stage in “Wicked” someday — but they’re “more excited by the prospect of new theater that’s being written,” they said.

With so many new Broadway productions debuting this year, and with their first Broadway credit under their belt, Mitrano hopes to one day be considered for a developing project.

“I’m in a very privileged position being so young and working at this level,” they said. “I’ve been pounding the pavement and people have noticed. I’m very grateful.”

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Mark Mitrano makes Broadway debut in revival of "The Who's Tommy"