By Clare Marie Celano
Correspondent
During daylight hours, David Fusco’s stage is a classroom. His audience is high school students. But when night falls, well, that’s another story.
Fusco, who resides in Howell, spends his days as the supervisor of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program at Red Bank Regional High School, Little Silver. But in the last decade, Fusco resurrected his passion for the performing arts that he left behind in 1995 to pursue a degree in biology.
Fusco, who grew up in Jackson, previously taught at Biotechnology High School, Freehold Township, and at Communications High School, Wall Township. He is an adjunct professor at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft.
Although he loves teaching science, Fusco said he needed an outlet to “de-stress” from his work day. That outlet, one which was his life preserver years before, was the theater.
Fusco recently portrayed Gaston in Phoenix Productions’ “Beauty and the Beast.” The show had a two-weekend run at the Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank.
In addition to appearing in “Beauty and the Beast,” Fusco has also appeared in Phoenix Productions’ “The Sound of Music” as Captain Von Trapp, “Evita” as “Juan Peron” and “The Little Mermaid” as King Triton.
In an interview, Fusco, who holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in biology from Georgian Court University, revealed that his passion for the performing arts initially surfaced in middle school.
“As a child I was painfully shy, the type of kid who would hide behind his mother’s legs,” he said. “I only spoke when spoken to.”
Fusco said that when he got to middle school it became apparent he needed a little help in overcoming his shyness. Part of that help was the school’s drama club.
“I didn’t like it at first, but then I met new friends,” Fusco said. “I was cast as the Tin Man in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and I loved the idea that it was not me up there on stage. Someone was giving me the words to say and guiding me in how to say them. It helped me tremendously to get over my shyness. And I continued performing in plays in high school, including leads in “My Fair Lady” and “The Sound of Music.”
Fusco said it was high school where the dichotomy came into play. He found that although he enjoyed the performing arts, he also discovered that he liked science enough to pursue it as a career.
“As much as I liked performing arts, I did not think the lifestyle would fit my personality,” he said. “I couldn’t handle the idea of waiting for a paycheck, the next gig or getting rejections. I wanted something more stable, so I pursued science. All performing arts stopped for me in 1995 when I started college. I did not see the stage again until 2009.”
Fusco said that in 2009 he felt secure in his career and wanted to enrich his social life. He found a needed outlet in community theater.
“I just showed up for an audition at Center Players in Freehold. I played George Smith in ‘Twentieth Century.’ It was a very enjoyable experience,” he said. “I met amazing, hard-working, like-minded people in community theater, many like me who had day jobs. I found this was the perfect escape from my work day. The people had such a passion for the performing arts (after working) their day jobs.”
By 2013, he portrayed Rapunzel’s prince in “Into the Woods” at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Deal, and in 2014 he went to Phoenix Productions and portrayed Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.” He has been performing with Phoenix Productions ever since.
“Phoenix is a very supportive, family-like, professional environment,” Fusco said. “Everyone is hard working and well invested in putting together a quality production. Performing at the Count Basie was huge for me. It was exciting to perform on the stage where I had seen so many others perform.”
Tom Martini, the chairman of Phoenix Productions, said of Fusco, “He is a very talented guy. He has a great look, a marvelous voice and a strong stage presence. He commands the stage.
“Here is a biology major who somehow ended up on the Count Basie stage. I always say you never end up where you think you are going. There are numbers people and words people, but with David, the two seem to intersect,” Martini said.
Regarding people’s reactions to the two sides of his personality, Fusco said it depends on which part of the story he is telling, and to whom.
“It was a bit difficult to tell my co-workers about my acting,” he said. “It was easier with theater people. We get down time when you can talk to one another about what you do. They were surprised when I said I was a science teacher, but it was more normal to have a day job different from the theater.
“In school it was a bit different. I supervise 39 people. I wasn’t hiding my acting. It was just difficult to initiate a conversation that included, ‘Hey, I’m going to be in a play,’ ” he said.
But not only did his co-workers accept his acting pursuits, many of them showed up at his performances to support him.
“Getting back into theater has enriched my work life by tapping into the other side of my brain which is more creative. It’s an escape from stress.
“Getting into the characters and telling their story is an escape from your own story for a while. It is an inspiration in that every leading role brings challenges and the directors and cast all rise to meet those challenges.
Every show I say, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this,’ but at the end of the show I am rewarded because I was able to be a part of telling the story,” Fusco said.
