J.V. Mercanti '93: Theater Is “Focal Point" of His Life

J.V. Mercanti '93 remembers being inspired by the Cape and Sword shows he saw as a middle schooler. When he became a student at the Prep, he wanted to join the organization right away, and he was cast in his first show as a freshman (under the direction of longtime English teacher, the late Joe Griffin). Since that show, for Mercanti, theater has been the focal point of his life.

Mercanti says he didn’t have much of a choice about where to attend high school. His brother Chris '87 had a great experience at the Prep before him, and his mother “always knew we were going to the Prep,” Mercanti says. 

After his original role in “Fiorello!” in 1990, Mercanti stayed with the theatre program. He fondly remembers a production of “Godspell” directed by legendary coach Curt Cockenburg '71. Off the stage, Mercanti points to the likes of former President Rev. David Sauter, S.J., and former campus ministers Rev. Joe Michini, S.J., and Sr. Kate Woody, G.N.S.H., as being impactful influences. “Kairos was a really great experience for me,” Mercanti recalls. “I was a quiet and reserved kid, and yet they asked me to be a leader. I didn’t understand what they saw in me at that time, but it definitely gave me confidence.”

Now a teacher himself, Mercanti can attribute his penchant for educating to the Prep faculty, specifically Mr. Frank Raffa, Dr. Al Vernacchio '82, and the late Mrs. Julie Rogers, former teachers of his. “I was a curious person — curious about people,” Mercanti says about his time at the Prep. “If someone showed the slightest interest in me, I’d latch on and want to know everything about them and their interests.” 

After graduating from the Prep, Mercanti went on to New York University, beginning as a journalism student before transferring into NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, concentrating on Educational Theater and English Literature. “My parents didn’t let me major in theater, so I found surreptitious ways to do it,” Mercanti says with a laugh. “They were afraid to give me permission, but they also supported it.” During his senior year, Mercanti landed an internship in the Casting Office at Roundabout Theatre Company. Timing was on his side, as a superior left the organization shortly before Mercanti’s graduation, which opened the opportunity for him to be hired full-time as a casting assistant. 

“Similar to my time at the Prep, I had someone who believed in me.  When I got burned out from that first job, that mentor again was the one who got me a job as an assistant director,” he remembers. After four years directing, Mercanti went to graduate school for his master’s degree in fine arts from Rutgers University. 

Though his mother predicted a career as an educator for her son, Mercanti never quite agreed; that is, until he was searching for a job in 2009 and decided to give teaching a try. His first job was at Fordham University, followed by a stint at the University of Miami.  Today, he is currently in his 11th year at Pace University as an associate professor and head of acting for the musical theater program. “I’m a director by trade,” Mercanti says. “In teaching and directing, you’re looking for that spark in someone, and then figuring out how to develop it until that student or that actor can have their own voice.”

Mercanti has been at the epicenter of theater, living and working in New York for most of his career. “When I was young, it was exciting. Now that I’m older, it’s exhausting and exciting,” Mercanti laughs. “It's a lot of late nights and early mornings, but it's really cool to see the people you've come up with, the people who stuck with it, succeed and fail and succeed again, and then watch people veer off into other careers or go off to film and TV.”

Amidst the intensity and energy of it all lies a tight-knit community that is eager to support one another’s ideas, development, and careers; something Mercanti values. “Because we work under such stressful circumstances together, those relationships become friendships, and you stay friends.”