Mario Sprouse

Queens Village, New York, United States

Profile Campaigns

Mario E. Sprouse             has been active in the arena of music, theater and film for over 40 years.  Recently he has been involved with cataloguing the massive music/media collection of the late, legendary, modern Renaissance man, Gordon Parks for whom Mario was the musical assistant for more than 20 years.  Mr. Sprouse performed at Mr. Parksï¿½ funeral at The Riverside Church in 2006 and at the first Gordon Parks Foundation Fundraising Dinner in 2007.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> In addition, Mr. Sprouse was the Music Supervisor for three of Parksï¿½ films:  Moments Without Proper Names, Martin ï¿½ a film ballet, and the Emmy-nominated HBO documentary Half-Past Autumn: the Life and Works of Gordon Parks where he worked with the late veteran African-American documentary filmmaker St. Clair Bourne.  Mr. Sprouse also produced Gordon Parksï¿½ first CD of original classical music created to accompany his new book A Star for Noon. He is on the Advisory Board of the Gordon Parks Foundation.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Mr. Sprouse has provided musical arrangements for several short films, including Beer Nuts, directed by Lynn Ancona, Mr. Dangle, directed by Mary Gregory, and The Bally Master, directed by Gary Beeber, winner of the 7th Annual Coney Island Film Festival for Best Documentary Film Short.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Mr. Sprouse has been musical director for a number of theatrical events, including Black Nativity ï¿½ a Gospel Song Play by Langston Hughes (Obie Award winner) ï¿½ directed by Jesse Wooden Jr., and Lena Calhoun Horne ï¿½ the Civil Rights Journey of a Negro Woman,  written by Wendi Franklin, directed by Lillie Marie Redwood (2003) and Micki Grant (2011).  Lena was invited to the 2003 and 2011 National Black Theater Festivals in Winston-Salem, N.C.  <o:p></o:p>     <o:p></o:p> <?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas><v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"><o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"></o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype><v:shape style="WIDTH: 216.75pt; HEIGHT: 262.5pt" id=_x0000_i1025 type="#_x0000_t75"><v:imagedata o:title="mariotux99070511LL" src="file:///C:\Users\Adrienne\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></v:imagedata></v:shape><o:p> </o:p> Mr. Sprouse also provided original music and music direction for The Dark Star from Harlem, a tribute to Josephine Baker at La Mama Theater in New York City,  directed by Glynn Borders, and arranged and orchestrated the Off-Broadway musical Take It Easy written by Raymond Fox and performed at the Judith Anderson Theater.  He also produced the Take It Easy original cast album.  <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> In 2005 Mr. Sprouse won the Best Musical Director award from Spotlight On Productions for From the Front Porch, a play with music written and performed by Renee Flemings.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Carmen McRae, Hubert Laws, Cornell Dupree, Buster Williams, Freddie Hubbard and Grover Washington, Jr. are some of the jazz artists who have recorded Mario's musical arrangements.  Orchestrations and original songs written by Mr. Sprouse have been performed live by Gregory Hines and Phylicia Rashaad.<o:p></o:p>

About Me

5 Campaigns From the launch to the finish line, these were the campaigns you ran to make something happen for your entrepreneurial, cause-related, or creative passions.
4 Comments Engagement is the name of the game when it comes to crowdfunding. Sharing your thoughts on campaigns can help campaigners and strengthen the Indiegogo community.
1 Contribution Whether you contributed a little or a lot, this number signifies the times you helped support someone else’s idea, project, or goal.

Verifications

This person has not yet verified their account with any social networks.

Find Me On