Michael Mendez has made a career out of refusing to choose just one role. An actor, singer, dancer, educator and director with a string of Broadway and regional credits, he now brings that range of experience to the USC School of Dramatic Arts as the new Director of Musical Theatre.
In 2023, he was doing nearly everything at once.
While finishing his MFA in directing through a distance program at the University of Idaho, Mendez was a professor at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, where he was also directing Carrie: The Musical. At the same time, he was performing in the Atlanta tryout for the musical Water for Elephants, a production he would stay with as a member of the original Broadway cast.
“Every hour was full of something,” he recalls.
As students return to campus this fall, Mendez begins his first year leading both the BFA in Musical Theatre and the BA in Dramatic Arts with a musical theatre emphasis; two programs that prepare students for sustainable, multihyphenate careers like his own.
Mendez also has been in the Broadway casts of Chaplin, Man of La Mancha, Hey, Look Me Over! and theoff-Broadway musical Fat Camp. He has performed at top regional theatres, as well as in a variety of television shows. He describes himself as a singer who acts but whose dancing has gotten him on Broadway. “Not that I’m an amazing dancer, but I’m a much better dancer than people expect,” he says.
Mendez, who grew up in Southern California and still has family here, is moving back with his wife, Marissa McGowan, who is also an actor and singer in her own right, with a lengthy list of Broadway credits.
Mendez believes strongly that musical theatre continues to innovate and has a bright future. “There are so many different ways to do a musical and to entertain,” he notes, pointing to the British director Jamie Lloyd’s use of live actors with action on screens and Masquerade, a successful new immersive retelling of Phantom of the Opera.
He also observes that live theatre cannot be replaced by AI. “Something live is what people are craving.”
Beyond Talent
He is looking forward to helping students hone their professional skills, learning how to maintain and keep relationships with other actors and theatre companies.
“I learned early that there are so many talented people out there,” he says. “Talent actually is such a small part of making a career.” How you conduct yourself during a production – your professionalism – is what determines your success, he believes. That means showing up “off book,” having memorized your lines, when you sign on to a production well in advance. It means not playing music on your phone in a shared dressing room when others are concentrating during the 30-minute call before a performance. It means hanging up your costumes and not expecting a dresser to do it for you. “You can learn so much by watching other actors and seeing how they show up in a room,” Mendez says.
Actors need to know that theatre higher-ups routinely ask stage managers how individual actors comport themselves during a production. Bad off-stage behavior will be discussed.
As a director, Mendez says, “if I’m going to have 20 individuals working in a space, I want them to be good people that are fun to work with, are hard workers, who show up on time and are reliable. Those are the skills I really try and teach students.”
Some of his favorite musicals include The Full Monty (a show he’s been in three times), Hamilton (“a gamechanger – the structure, style, and direction – everything about it inspired me as a creator and director”), Jersey Boys (“this is how you do a jukebox musical”) and Evita (“I’ve always wanted to play Che”).
Teaching as Rediscovery
“Teaching made me fall in love with musical theatre all over again,” he says. “It brought back how exciting it is to really dissect material and really examine a script.
“Mentorship, however, is my favorite part. I love the one-on-one conversations and helping advise careers, finding out a student’s goals and figuring out how we get you there.”
That kind of individualized guidance runs through both of the programs Mendez now leads. The BFA in Musical Theatre is a conservatory-style, cohort-based program built around a formal progression of classes, while the BA in Dramatic Arts with a musical theatre emphasis offers students more flexibility to add a minor alongside their training.
His goal is to see students succeed both on campus and when they graduate.
“Nothing makes me more proud than seeing students get out there and work professionally, getting paid for what they love to do.”
As Mendez begins shaping the next chapter of Musical Theatre at USC, we invite alumni, parents and friends to build on this momentum by supporting our efforts to create an MT Professional Development Fund that prepares students for sustaining careers long before graduation. To learn more about our MT Matching Challenge or how to get involved, contact Sara Fousekis, Associate Dean of Advancement, at fousekis@usc.edu.