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JU grad, theater Prof. Erik DeCicco gets big ink for “Amadeus” in Folio Weekly

WALTER COKER/FOLIO WEEKLY - Erik DeCicco as Mozart in "Amadeus."

Erik DeCicco, a JU grad and adjunct theater professor, has landed the lead role in “Amadeus,” a historic first-ever collaboration between Jacksonville Beach’s Players by the Sea and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra.

DeCicco, 29, gets some serious cover ink in this week’s Folio Magazine, published Wednesday, Feb. 20, in which his journey from JU to actor and instructor is discussed. 

CASEY GRIFFIN/FOLIO WEEKLY -- Bill Ratliff (left) plays Salieri and Erik DeCicco portrays Mozart during rehearsals of "Amadeus" in February.

“When I was in college at JU, I discovered the script,” DeCicco told Folio writer Dan Brown about Amadeus, which debuts March 2 at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. “There is a monologue [in the play] that is one of the greatest things I had ever read. … I knew I had to perform those lines someday.”

The article notes that DeCicco, of  North Jacksonville, was awarded a full scholarship to Jacksonville University, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 2005 with a 3.9 GPA. He carried a double major: a BFA in performance and a BA in English.

Offered the scholarship, he was told by his dad to strongly consider the “full ride” he would get at a private college with a strong theater department.

“But, you know, one of the reasons I decided to go to JU is that we went to an awards ceremony for all of the high school seniors, and without my knowledge, JU suddenly showed up and presented me with my scholarship package in front of the entire school,” DeCicco told Folio’s Brown. “I was really endeared by that.”

DeCicco went on to get his MFA in acting from the University of Louisville in 2008 and returned to Jacksonville and the local theater scene. He will relocate to New York City in May with is girlfriend.

“Erik is just fearless, and his passion is evident in everything he does,” Amadeus stage director Sam Fisher told Folio. “In the last year, we have done a lot together, and this seems like a nice culmination of our relationship.”

To see the entire article, click here.

IF YOU GO

AMADEUS

8 p.m. March 2, 2 p.m. March 3

Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts’ Jacoby Symphony Hall, 300 W. Water St., Downtown

Tickets: $20.25-$45

Information: 354-5547