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Marcus Thomas to Perform Holiday Concert
If you had the chance to hear Marcus Thomas perform at Queerport's inaugural event, then you know you're in for a good time.
The 20-year-old singer will be returning to his hometown of Shreveport to grace us with a performance on Dec. 15 — and he's not just serving face, face, face (those eyebrows are everything). Marcus will be singing at The Agora Borealis for an intimate holiday gathering.
Marcus has pretty humble beginnings when it comes to his musical upbringing. He's been singing since he was a kid and grew up singing in the church for most of his childhood. While in middle school, he branched out into the choir and musicals soon thereafter.
"I grew up in a poor family background, and I would stay up past my bedtime to watch great performances from the Met (Opera) on PBS and I would just copy what they were doing. That's how I got some of my first training in the arts," he said.
Marcus recently transferred colleges to Texas Tech University where he is a theatre and music major.
"I'm super excited about my performance coming up in December. It will be my first time performing since being away from home," said Marcus. "The concert is very special to me because Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year, and holiday and Christmas music is some of my favorite music to sing. I can listen to Christmas music year-round."
Marcus will be performing alongside his friend, Mary Morgan Bond who is traveling from Oklahoma City. Mary is also a former Shreveporter with theatrical roots in the city. Marcus says he especially grateful for the love and support of The Agora Borealis as a non-traditional venue to host him,
"It is a great joy for them to allow me to use that space and supporting me in my career as a performer. We are great examples of how Shreveport has so much talent. Shreveport truly is a rich part of the south, and I believe it's our generations who are truly putting Shreveport back on the map," he said.
As a queer person of color, growing up in the south wasn't perfect but Marcus used music as a means to find himself. Coupled with a unique Soprano voice, he was able to find his place in the musical world.
"When I first really got started in theater, I wasn't really secure in my sexuality and theater help me to become secure. I remember sometimes people would tell me "Oh, you're being too girly" or "be a little more manly," but now I've gone on to play some of the greatest female characters and male characters in the musical theater repertoire."
Some of those characters include the infamous Ursula from Disney's The Little Mermaid, Angel in RENT, Roger in Grease and Donkey in Shrek the Musical. His singing and musical inspiration includes Dolly Parton, Audrey McDonald, Barbara Streisand, and Whitney Houston.
"It really is a great advantage for me having such a unique voice type because musical theater is starting to become more inclusive and the classification system doesn't work as well as it used to because so many people I know are coming out with these unique and rare voices that don't fit the norm or standard," he said. "It's a truly exciting time in our industry."
Marcus said when in doubt, though, he just writes his own music and plays.