Mark Danni is one of the most well rounded people in the entertainment business.  His directing, music directing and drumming skills make him a sought after commodity in the theatre world.  After starting his New York City career as a drummer on Broadway for shows such as Chicago, Grand Hotel, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Joseph…Dreamcoat, Annie Get Your Gun and Nunsense, he quickly moved into the conductor’s chair and conducted the national tours of Barnum and Les Miserables.  During his 14 years in New York, he also toured with the shows The Phantom Of The Opera, 42nd Street, the 25th anniversary tour of Hair, Evita, Les Miserables and Fame as the drummer/percussionist.  Regionally, he was the conductor of A Little Night Music at the Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C., where he also worked on the Studio Theatre’s production of Falsettoland.  Quickly becoming a favorite in D.C., he was then asked to play drums for Al Gore’s Inaugural Gala in 1993, A Taste of Tennessee, starring Dixie Carter and Gary Morris.

       Becoming a director was inevitable for someone as creative as Mark.  While conducting the tour of Les Miserables, the director of the show started teaching him the ropes of directing and encouraged him to start directing himself.  That’s just what Mark did.  When he left the road, he started directing anywhere he could, and even directed a few Off-Broadway productions.  Some of those include the critically acclaimed play, Aggravation, and the musical workshop of What Would Esther Williams Do In A Situation Like This?

       After leaving New York, Mark continued directing in Southwest Florida and became the Founding Artistic Director of TheatreZone, Inc., a professional Equity theatre company in Naples, Florida, were he has directed such celebrities as Gary Sandy (WKRP In Cincinnati), Nancy Dussault (Too Close For Comfort), Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line), Georgia Engel (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Eddie Mekka (Laverne & Shirley), David Garrison (Married With Children) and Andrea McArdle (Broadway’s original Annie). Mark has also enjoyed success directing or many opera companies including Opera Roanoke, The Gulfshore Opera, and Opera Naples where he recently directed 3 time Grammy Award wining Mezzo-Soprano Isabel Leonard in West Side Story, Concert Version.  While Mark maintains a heavy directing schedule, he is still in demand as a conductor and drummer. At Sandy Duncan’s request, Mark toured through the state of Florida with her show, Sandy Duncan: celebrates Broadway, and has also played with Lucie Arnaz, Rich Little, Dennis DeYoung (Styx), The Crystals, The Duprees, The Four Lads, The NY Tenors and many more.

       Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Mark attended Baldwin-Wallace University in Cleveland, OH.