During this time of social distancing, Birmingham-Southern Theatre Professor Dr. Alan Litsey recently connected with Kevin Faraci ’02 to talk about his gratitude, career, and how his BSC education still helps him in his professional endeavors. Litsey wrote the following article to share a bit of Faraci’s story with the BSC community.

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Through good and challenging times, we find strength in our faith, the leadership of others, and artists to sustain us. This is no less true for those who create art. Kevin Faraci ’02, actor, vocalist, photographer, and guitarist, agrees, “Other people’s work inspires me.”

Forward Ever Day 2020 was a day of inspiration. Kevin was moved to honor BSC’s alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the College who celebrated our community, sharing a memorable performance of “All Good Gifts.” This gift to us hearkens back to BSC’s production of “Godspell” in 2001, when Kevin originally performed this song of thanks.

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As Kevin reflects on his memories of “Godspell” at BSC, the power of community and diversity come to mind. He fondly recalls what “everyone’s individuality brought to the fullness and heart of show.”

Kevin shared his recollection of the leadership of Professor Michael Flowers and Music Director Lonnie Parsons.

“Under their guidance, it was great to kind of point us in a direction. It created a nice sense of community; that a bunch of different, people could come to the same, same end, which I do think is what that show [is about].”

Since graduating as a musical theatre major at BSC, Kevin’s career has been full. He booked national tours and originated the role of Lucifer in “The Miracle” regionally. Kevin originated another role as the male singer in Cirque Du Soleil’s ZED in Tokyo and performed as the male singer on the ZED music album. Among other rich experiences, Kevin and his wife Melissa Blatherwick have traveled internationally performing on a number of the world’s largest cruise ships.

Kevin and Melissa now make their home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and are new parents – Melissa recently gave birth to their beautiful daughter, Lucy Jo. The talented couple are active performers and entrepreneurs. They have performed at the historic Fulton Theatre, and headlined/cruise directed on a luxury riverboat. Most recently, Kevin has been a featured singer at American Music Theatre in Lancaster.

When asked about guidance he might offer current students, Kevin says, “If you’d asked me as a BSC student if I’d ever be living in Asia, in Tokyo for two, three years of my life, I would have told you that’s probably impossible, because I had never been out of the country at that point. My advice is to roll with what happens to you and around you. Be open to some of those experiences because it really might change your life as it did mine.”

Kevin credits his BSC mentors for “fostering the things I knew how to do already and then pushing me to do some things I didn’t know I either needed to do or could do.”

He says that the skills he honed at BSC support his business and performance endeavors. His liberal arts experience helped him identify and apply those essential tools.

“Everyone’s got a great set of skills available to them. It’s just a matter of figuring out exactly what those are and how to apply them.”