Church Leader Performs in Leading Theater Roles As Well


By: Cecily Markland


Mark Kleinman, who has a great deal of experience as a Church leader and as a leading man on stage, is cast in the role of "Jacob" in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at Broadway Palm Dinner Theater in Mesa. Photo courtesy of Mark Kleinman.




A leader within his Alta Mesa Stake, Mark Kleinman takes on a different kind of leadership as well, gracing theater stages in leading male roles.

Recently released as the Ensenada Park (Spanish) Branch President, Mark is a member of the Granite Reef Ward, where he served as bishop for six and a half years.

Over the years, Mark has appeared in hundreds of theater productions across the country. He says perhaps his favorite role was Rodolfo in "La boheme."

"I'm such a romantic at heart, I sort of fell into that role."

He also enjoyed playing the young Lt. Joe Cable in "South Pacific" and, a few years later, being cast as the male lead, Emile De Becque.

This past June, Mark played Harold Hill in "The Music Man" at Paradise Valley Community College. In July, he opens with Broadway Palm Theatre, in Mesa, as Jacob in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."

Mark says his Church service was patterned after his father's example. "I grew up in Casa Grande and my dad was in the bishopric from the time I was age seven on up."

On the other hand, it was his mother he followed when it came to music and performing.

"My dad was a coach, my mom was a music teacher," Mark says. "She was a Clawson and the Clawson girls always sang together. She and her sisters were quite renowned around the Tucson area."

Plus, he says, "I really lucked out in high school. In my school it was the 'in' thing to be in choir and sports. Choir was the cool place to be."

So, Mark played football, basketball and sang in the Casa Grande Union High School choir. Following high school and after serving a mission to Guatemala, a former student teacher encouraged him to audition at University of Arizona (UofA).

"I was blown away when they offered me a full-ride scholarship," he says.

He earned a degree in Vocal Performance, then sang professionally, appearing with 86 different opera companies around the country.

As he and his wife, Dee, raised their children, Mark says, "It got to the point when I questioned, 'Is this really what I should be doing, traveling all over the country?"

The Kleinmans moved back to Arizona, where Mark now works as vice president of a software company and continues to perform.

All four of his children are also involved now in playing instruments, singing or dance. Daughter, Kaitlyn, has starred in various musical theater roles around the Valley, including in Rob Gardner's "Blackbeard," during which she met, and later married, Jordan Bluth, the well-known tenor and performer from Gilbert.

Brother Kleinman says, over the years, he has come to believe more than ever in the power of music.

"There's something about music and how it can change lives," he says. "There is nothing that brings the spirit, nothing like being touched by the spirit through music. When the audience is ready and the performer then brings the spirit, there's a connection there you can't get any other way."

He realizes that music can be used for good or evil.

"It's because music has such power that Satan wants to latch on to it and use it for his purposes. If it didn't have power, why would he bother with it?"

Understanding this, and feeling a responsibility to use his talents to lift and serve others, Mark is careful about the roles he chooses.

"I'm very much looking forward to 'Joseph,'" he says. "The music is so much fun. It's a production families will love."

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" runs through August 21 at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, located at 5247 E. Brown Road. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday with dinner at 5:30 p.m. and show at 7:30 p.m. Matinees are Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, with lunch at 11:45 a.m. and show at 1:15 p.m. The 440-seat complex is fully ramped and handicap accessible and has entertained over one million guests since opening in 2001, and was recently named "Best Dinner and A Show" and "Best Place to Bring a Visitor."

For information or tickets online, visit www.broadwaypalmwest.com. For group discounts (15 or more), contact Laurie DiMonte at 480-325-6700 ext. 109 or laurie@broadwaypalmwest.com.