User:Musicalathos/Marc Clear

Marc Robert Clear (born May 9, 1964) is a british operasinger, musicalperformer and director.

Early life
Marc Clear was born in Wegberg, Germany. His dutch mother, Maria Helena Peters, was an avid student and received the highest scores of the Netherlands on her business diploma. His father, Robert James Clear, was an SAC in the Royal Air Force and was stationed in Germany at this time. After moving back and forth between The UK and Germany, the family, now completed by an additional son, Bryan, finally settled in the Netherlands, where Clear's father took up work as a computer-operator for a Dutch car-firm. The family moved once more during Clear's youth and finally settled in Sittard, in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands.

Clear quickly developed an interest in music and, as a teenager, played the organ and guitar to which he occasionaly sang. After completing his general education in Sittard, he managed to enter the Conservatory of Maastricht in 1983, where at first he studied to be a general music-teacher. He quickly lost interest and after three years, reluctantly decided to major in classical voice, studying with known singers Hein Meens and Elisabth Ksoll. Dissatisfied with the education, he quickly became active and entered the opera-chorus of Aachen, Germany. After one year he switched to the WDR-Rundfunk-chorus in Cologne and, after a further six months to the Opera-studio for young soloists in Münich.

Opera
In 1990, Clear's first soloist position took him to the small city-theater of Heidelberg, Germany. In 1992 he moved to Nationaltheater in Mannheim, 2 years later to the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe. He spent a brief year at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Münich and finally ended his opera-career with a four-year engagement at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. During all this time, Marc Clear made a considerable name for himself in the opera-world. He was a frequent guest at several renowned opera-theaters, concert-venues and open-air festivals throughout Europe, such as: Hamburg, Dresden, Zürich, Montpellier, Vienna, Trieste and Mörbisch. Conductors included: Lorin Maazel, Marek Janowski, Christian Thielemann and Marcello Viotti. He was seen and heard in broadcasting, frequently working with the ARD, ZDF, ORF and DRS.

The lighter side
Clear's reluctance for the rigid world of classical music had not left since school and he secretly and frequently sang in low-key rock-pop and coverbands such as: The Marc Clear Band (Karlsruhe, 1997), The Phil Collins tribute band (Denmark, 2002) and BAROCK, a progressive rock band (Denmark, 2003). After receiving critical acclaim in 1997 for his intrepretation of "Tony" in "West Side Story" at the Gärtnerplatz-theater in Münich and a brief pause in his career in 2003, Clear decided to cross over into musical with two engagements at the Ny Teater in Copenhagen in the "Phantom of the Opera" and "The Sound of Music". Possibilities in Denmark however were limited and Clear decided to return to Germany to persue a musical-career there. Clear entered a contract with Stage Entertainment and first received an engagement at the TdW in Berlin as a chorus and cover-singer in "Les Miserables", before taking the role that would make him a house-hold name in the musical-world. In 2005 Clear was offered the role of Athos in "Drei Musketiere", a musical first performed in the Netherlands and adapted for the German stage. Clear's interpretation of the song "Engel aus kristall" became an instant succes and readied him for a soloist career as a musical performer. Reprising the role of Athos from 2006 until January of 2008 at the Apollo Theater in Stuttgart, he left Stage Entertainment to work at the Musiktheater in Bremen as Cagliostro and Orleans in "Marie Antionette", at the Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg as Colloredo in the musical "Mozart!"(2009), Zoser in the Musical "Aida" and Peron in "Evita" (2010) and the MuKo Leipzig "Jekyll and Hyde"(2010/2011).

The director
So far, Clear has one direction-credit to his name. In the summer of 2010 he was asked to direct and star (once again as Athos) in the musical which he had become known for: "Drei Musketiere", which he adapted and directed for the Freilichtspiele Tecklenburg. The production received six awards including two for best director. In the summer of 2011 Marc Clear will be directing "Jesus Christ Superstar" at the same venue.

Personal life
From 1988 untill 1998 Marc Clear was married to the american soprano Sandra Moon, with whom he has a daughter, Lauren. In 2000 he married the Danish balletdancer and pilates-trainer Anja Hummel with whom he has two daughters, Anna and Sarah. They have two homes: one in Copenhagen, Denmark and one in Berlin, Germany.

Awards

 * 1997: AZ Critics Award for Tony in "West Side Story".
 * 2006: Da Capo Award for best Intrepretation of Song.
 * 2007: Da Capo Award for best Intrepretation of Song.
 * 2008: Da Capo Award for best Intrepretation of Song.
 * 2010: Magazine Musicals Award Best director " Drei Musketiere".
 * 2010: Da Capo Award for Best director "Drei Musketiere".
 * 2010: Da Capo Award for Best voice

Various roles (selection)

 * Die Zauberflöte - as Tamino (Nationaltheater Mannheim, 1992)
 * Der Bettelstudent - as Symon (Seefestspiele Mörbisch (1995)
 * Cosi Fan Tutte - as Ferrando (Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, 1996)
 * West Side Story - as Tony (Gärtnerplatztheater, Münich, 1997)
 * Die Zauberflöte - as Tamino (Opernhaus Zürich, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, 1997)
 * Eine Nacht in Venedig - as Herzog (Seefestspiele Mörbisch, 1999)
 * Don Pasquale - as Ernesto (Aalto Theater, Essen, 2000)
 * Die Entführung aus dem Serail - as Belmonte ( Montpellier, Antwerpen)
 * Les Miserables - as Valjean and Javert (Berlin, 2004 / Tecklenburg, 2006)
 * Drei Musketiere - as Athos and Richelieu (Berlin/Stuttgart, 2005-2008)
 * Aida - as Zoser (Tecklenburg, 2009)
 * Drei Musketiere - as Director and Athos (Tecklenburg 2010)
 * Jekyll and Hyde - as Jekyll and Hyde (Leipzig, 2010)