A VERSATILE ARTIST

Hailed as “thrillingly powerful” by The New York Times and “a major talent” by The Toronto Star, Marcus Nance is the 2024 Dora Award winner and 2025 Toronto Critics' Award winner who masterfully straddles the worlds of opera, musical theatre, film, and cabaret. He was named My Entertainment World’s 2023 Critics’ Pick Performer of the Year, which praised him as “one of Canada’s greatest musical theatre talents.”

Recent credits include Thought #6 in Soulpepper’s acclaimed A Strange Loop; The Businessman in Pacific Opera Victoria’s The Little Prince; Jupiter in Cymbeline, the Creature in Frankenstein Revived, and the Abbot of Westminster in Richard II at the Stratford Festival; Andrey, Old Bolkonsky, and the Opera Singer in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 with Crow’s Theatre and Musical Stage Company; Dick Deadeye in Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore with Vancouver Opera; and Benjamin Stone in Sondheim’s Follies at Koerner Hall.

Marcus made his film debut as the singing accountant in Mel Brooks’ The Producers and has recently returned to TV and film with appearances in Queen Tut, Good Sam, Murdoch Mysteries, Departure, and Mayday.

He has spent twelve seasons at the Stratford Festival, with roles including Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar, Queequeg in Moby Dick, Rev. J.D. Montgomery in Gershwin’s My One and Only, and a digital performance of his solo show Voice of a Preacher’s Son. At the Shaw Festival, his portrayal of Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd was described by The Toronto Star as a “standout performance… with his stunning singing voice and commanding physical presence.” Other musical theatre highlights include Clairborne in the world premiere of Evangeline at the Charlottetown Festival; the Beast in Beauty and the Beast for The Grand Theatre and Western Canada Theatre; King Triton in The Little Mermaid and the Mikado in The Mikado for Drayton Entertainment; and Porgy in Porgy and Bess highlights in concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

New York audiences have seen him on Broadway as Caiaphas in Jesus Christ Superstar and in Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award-winning production of La Bohème. He also appeared as Alidoro in La Cenerentola with New York City Opera Education, in Encores! productions of Kismet and Of Thee I Sing, and in concert at The Metropolitan Room and The Public Theater.

International recognition came with his portrayal of Malcolm in the world premiere of Atom Egoyan’s opera Elsewhereless with Tapestry New Opera Works, which earned him a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Outstanding Male Performance. For Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, he originated the role of Moses in the world premiere of the epic opera Beatrice Chancy. Other operatic highlights include the Bass soloist in Tapestry Opera’s Dark Star Requiem (a Juno Award nominee for Classical Album of the Year), Sparafucile in Rigoletto with Tacoma Opera, the Compère in Four Saints in Three Acts with Chicago Opera Theatre, Basilio in The Barber of Seville for Monterey Opera Association, and Ali in L’Italiana in Algeri for Hawaii Opera Theatre.

A versatile recording artist, Marcus appears on numerous cast recordings and albums, including the original pre-Broadway cast recording of Ragtime, the Juno-nominated Dark Star Requiem, and other classical and musical theatre recordings. His recorded work continues to be broadcast and streamed internationally, contributing to a decorated career.

Marcus holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Voice from California State University, Fresno, and has pursued graduate studies in voice at the University of Texas and the University of Illinois. He is on the faculty of Sheridan College’s Musical Theatre Department, served as master voice teacher for Stratford Summer Music’s 2024 Vocal Academy, frequently adjudicates music festivals, and has led masterclasses across Canada and the US. He has been selected to serve on the International Congress of Voice Teachers (ICVT) Program Committee for the 2025 convention in Toronto, where he will also be the featured soloist at the opening ceremonies.