Western Carolina University

Students in Western Carolina University's musical theatre program soon will be learning from a Broadway veteran with a reputation for being a real “beast” on the set.

Terrence Mann, who originated the role of the Beast in the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast,” is the new Carolyn Plemmons Phillips and Ben R. Phillips Distinguished Professor in Musical Theatre at Western. Mann, who earned Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for best actor for his performance of the Beast, joins the WCU faculty beginning this fall semester.

“Our students in the performing arts already have access to one of the best facilities to be found anywhere in our new Fine and Performing Arts Center. Having a two-time Tony Award nominee as a member of our faculty is a significant development for our musical theatre program,” said Western Chancellor John W. Bardo.

“Terrence Mann is widely regarded as a tremendous performer on stage and screen, a consummate director who can entice the finest performances from his actors, and an accomplished composer of musical scores. He will bring unsurpassed real-world experience that will be invaluable to our theatre students,” Bardo said.

Highlighting Mann's stage credits are several roles he originated on Broadway – a memorable turn as Rum Tum Tugger in “Cats,” his Tony Award-nominated performance as Inspector Javert in “Les Miserables,” and his portrayal of Chauvelin in “The Scarlett Pimpernel.” He also has taken the Broadway stage in “Lennon,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Getting Away With Murder,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Rags,” “Barnum,” “Jerome Robbins' Broadway” and “Jekyll and Hyde.”

Mann's film credits include “Critters,” “A Chorus Line,” “Big Top Pee Wee,” “Solar Babies,” and he has appeared on television on “Law and Order,” “Love Monkey,” “Mrs. Santa Claus,” “American Revolution” and “All My Children.” He earned an Emmy Award nomination for his performance on the CBS show “As the World Turns.”

Director and composer for the musical adaptation of “Romeo and Juliet,” Mann is founding artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival and served as artistic director of the North Carolina Theatre for 14 years, directing more than 25 musical productions during his tenure. He also was artistic director of “The Lost Colony,” North Carolina 's long-running outdoor drama.

“We are pleased to have Terrence Mann join our outstanding faculty in the theatre arts and music,” said WCU Provost Kyle Carter. “Adding someone of the caliber of Terrence Mann to the program will help our graduates leave the university well-prepared for careers in theatre.”

As Western's Phillips Distinguished Professor in Musical Theatre, Mann will lead a program of study designed to provide students with practical work-related experience, build skills needed in both music and theatre, and work on developing on- and off-campus opportunities for undergraduate students to gain training in musical theatre traditions, practices, culture and history.

“Mr. Mann provides a vital link to the musical theatre profession,” said Robert Kehrberg, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Students and faculty will have access to ongoing, first-hand experiences of the stage and screen in musical theatre – this is how it's done, this is how you get there, and this is what you need to learn.”

The endowed professorship was made possible by a $233,000 gift from the estate of the late Carolyn P. Phillips of Waynesville, $100,000 in matching money from the C.D. Spangler Foundation, and $167,000 through a General Assembly program designed to encourage private support of public institutions of higher education.

The Carolyn Plemmons Phillips and Ben R. Phillips Distinguished Professorship in Musical Theatre, established in 2000, was hailed as the first such commitment to musical theatre studies in the University of North Carolina system.

A graduate of the N.C. School of the Arts, Mann will be working in WCU's $30 million, 122,000-square-foot Fine and Performing Arts Center. The 1-year-old facility includes a 1,000-seat auditorium capable of hosting Broadway-quality productions, four separate art galleries and atrium space comprising nearly 10,000 square feet to house and display Western's permanent collection, and rotating displays of contemporary art and student work.

For information about the musical theatre program at Western, call (828) 227-3726 or visit the Web site, http://www.wcu.edu/as/ctd/musicaltheatre/ .