This spring, while serving as music director for Catawba College’s production of The Wizard of Oz in Keppel Auditorium, Fuqua was selected to collaborate with author David M. Keyes, who is expanding the world of Oz through his New Oz Chronicles series.
Fuqua was initially selected to narrate Keyes’ audiobook, Legacies of the Leopard King: A Story from the New Oz Chronicles, released this spring. His work on the project led to invitations to narrate two additional titles scheduled for release this fall.
His work as a vocalist and voice actor also led to a collaboration with composer Kino Lee and writer Ian Rice. Fuqua was selected to provide spoken and sung vocals for their new musical, You, Me, Eternity, scheduled for release in October.
Fuqua spent the summer performing professionally at Weathervane Playhouse near Columbus, Ohio. He appeared as Beadle Bamford in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street before taking on the role of Ewart Dunlop, a member of the barbershop quartet in Meredith Willson’s The Music Man.
The productions gave Fuqua the opportunity to work across two distinctly different pieces of musical theater, from the musical and dramatic complexity of Sweeney Todd to the classic Americana of The Music Man.
Fuqua returns to Salisbury this fall for his fifth year at Catawba College. He will direct and serve as music director for Catawba’s production of Sweet Charity, featuring music by Cy Coleman, in late October.
His work will also continue throughout the Salisbury arts community. Piedmont Players Theatre has selected Fuqua to serve as music director for two productions during its fall season, Fiddler on the Roof and Disney’s Frozen.
Together, these projects reflect Fuqua’s growing range as an artist and collaborator. His work now spans professional theater, audiobook narration, original musical development, directing, music direction and arts education, creating connections among his work at Catawba, professional opportunities and the local arts community.
From Oz to Ohio and back to Salisbury, Fuqua continues to build a creative career grounded in collaboration, storytelling and a willingness to explore multiple pathways within the performing arts.
