Marc Acito makes art to push boundaries. In 2004, he published the first novel about high school theater kids, How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical (New York Times Editors’ Choice and winner of the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction). The book, which was just true enough to be embarrassing to his family, was translated into six languages the author doesn’t speak, spawned a sequel, Attack of the Theater People, and got his picture in People magazine just in time for his 20th high school reunion. For five years, his syndicated humor column “The Gospel According to Marc” ran in twenty queer newspapers nationwide, leading Acito to become a regular commentator to 6 million listeners of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.

In 2010, he premiered his first play, Birds of a Feather, a comedy about the most banned book in the U.S. (Helen Hayes Award). At the invitation of Star Trek legend George Takei, Acito wrote the libretto of the Broadway musical Allegiance, shining a light on forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Allegiance was subsequently produced in Tokyo and London’s West End. In 2016, Acito became the first Broadway librettist to have a new Mandarin-language musical produced in China (The Secret, featuring the music of Jay Chou), followed by Sound of the Silk Road in 2021. Other musicals include A Room with a View (Old Globe, 5th Avenue Theatre) and Chasing Rainbows (Goodspeed Musicals, Papermill Playhouse).

Acito made his directing debut in 2017 with his off-Broadway musical Bastard Jones at the Cell (NY Times Critic’s Pick) which he’s developing as a feature film. In 2022, he released the film musical MAD/WOMAN to prove he could make movie musicals affordably (multiple awards, including Outstanding Director, Queens World Film Festival and Best Experimental Film, Bowery Film Festival).

His most gratifying work, however, is mentoring young artists through the Theatre Development Fund, teaching History and Musicals at New York University and hosting a bi-monthly Queer Artists Salon. He’s currently writing a mammoth work of non-fiction, Do You Hear the People Sing? Why Musicals Matter, a cultural history examining how history shaped the musicals that shaped history.