11/01/2025
Fun to direct a musical!
Directing our production of Urinetown is Mark Lubas.
When I asked him to talk to me about this show, he said: "As a UNC doctoral student in Voice — and active opera singer & director — I’m excited to return to my musical theatre roots to direct Urinetown. What a ride! Our cast, crew, and creative team have poured heart, humor, and nonstop energy into the show, and it’s going to be unapologetically funny and delightfully irreverent.
But here’s the twist: every number is a wink to a different musical. Think you can ID them all? Come test your musical theatre savvy and prove you belong among the royalty. Bring friends, bring your vocal trivia game — we can’t wait to share this wild, clever ride with you. See you at the Norton Theater!"
Mark is a stage director, voice teacher, and tenor originally from Wethersfield, CT, and is thrilled to make his University of Northern Colorado School of Theatre and Dance directorial debut with Urinetown. Mark made his adult professional performance debut in 1996 with the Nashville Symphony as the soloist in Handel’s Messiah, and has directed and performed roles with companies including Aspen Opera Theatre Company, Boston Lyric Opera, Mobile Opera, Opéra Bastide, Opera Carolina, and Opera Tampa.
Mark is the Executive Director of Opera Fort Collins (OFC) in Fort Collins, CO, a non-profit arts organization that has been an active member of the Front Range community since its inception in 1979. As the Director and Production Manager, Mark designed and directed an Art Deco 1930’s Don Pasquale set in Fort Collins for OFC in March 2025, which was performed at the City of Fort Collins’ Lincoln Center. At the same time, Mark designed and directed an updated concept for Mozart’s The Impresario for UNC Opera Theatre. This production was reimagined not to take place in a German opera house in the late 1700’s, but rather as an audition for Vives’ Bohemios in the present at Campus Commons Performance Hall at UNC. Upcoming engagements include directing Act 2 of Carmen for an audience-participation-based New Year’s Eve soirée and toast for Opera Fort Collins at Bas Bleu Theatre in Old Town Fort Collins. Mark will then direct another OFC production, Wolf-Ferrari’s il Segreto di Susanna, set and performed in the Odell Wine Project’s tasting room in Fort Collins, CO over Valentine’s Day weekend, 2026. March and April 2026 find Mark at Boulder Opera to direct Der Rosenkavalier , as well as perform the role of the Italian Singer, at the Dairy Center in Boulder, CO. In May, Mr. Lubas will design and direct Freedom: A Dance and Staged Opera Chorus Performance, a collaboration of Opera Fort Collins and the Colorado Dance Collective. This unique performance will shine the spotlight on the oft-missed yet inspirational messages of freedom and social justice found in the music of the ensemble, enhanced with narration, staging, and dance.
At UNC to earn his doctorate in vocal performance, Mark has earned the opportunity to direct, in addition to The Impresario, Bizet’s Le docteur Miracle and Caleb Blake’s When the Birds Sing with UNC Opera Theatre, under the direction of Professor Brian Clay Luedloff. Outside of UNC, Mr. Lubas made his international directing debut when he assistant directed Mozart’s La flûte enchantée (The Magic Flute) in July of 2024 in a multi-lingual production in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, Occitanie, France, in coordination with Opéra Bastide. Mark would like to thank his wife Allison for her support, patience, and love, and his three sons, Jake, Alex, and Noah, for their encouragement.
