The Anastasis Family: Leo Marks

“When I was a little kid, I really wanted to be a magician, because you could transform something…amaze the crowd. I just thought that was the best thing.”

There’s nothing I don’t want to do.

Leo Marks is a performer and writer here in Omaha who assisted with our play about homelessness, Stories: On the Brink, early in the process and has continued working closely with us on the development of the piece. If you saw our staged reading of the first draft of the play at the Omaha Community Playhouse’s “From the Ground Up” series, then you were lucky to get a small taste of this man’s range as an actor. He took up the same role again in January when we toured a more recent draft of Stories: on the Brink around to several of the shelters in town. He was set to perform in the full production as part of the Great Plains Theatre Conference in May of this year, before the conference was cancelled, but he continues to work with us during these difficult days, lending his insight and humor to our projects.

Leo started acting in high school, performing in such classics as Diary of Anne Frank and Arsenic and Old Lace. These days, he keeps busy as Artist-In-Residence for Visual Marketing Strategies, working on a book, auditioning for movies and theater projects around town, helping his granddaughter with her school writing assignments, staying in touch with friends, working on poetry and audio dramas.  When I asked him anything else he’d like to tell the world, he said, “Don’t ever, ever give up.  The life I am living today was literally unthinkable a year ago.  Being taken seriously as an artist by successful artists gave me the confidence to go after everything.  When I get told “no”, I hear “Try Harder.  Do Better.  Don’t Quit.”‘   

Don’t ever, ever give up.  The life I am living today was literally unthinkable a year ago.  Being taken seriously as an artist by successful artists gave me the confidence to go after everything.  When I get told “no”, I hear “Try Harder.  Do Better.  Don’t Quit.”    

His talents and ambitions seem to know no bounds. Anastasis is lucky to have such a rising star as part of our ranks.

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