Pianist finds more time for musicals than his studies

Who is that masked man?

Okay, so he’s not masked. That might be the wizard, behind the curtain.

The correct question is “Who is that one-man-band,” and the answer is 23-year-old student and pianist Marcus McCullough.

McCullough kicked off this weekend as the pianist for Iberia Performing Arts League’s “Wizard of Oz.” This is the first time, he said, that he’s been the sole musician for a play. In fact, the last play he performed for “Carousel,” �” he was the conductor for an 18 person orchestra.

This is also the first time he’s done it in such a short period of time.

“I should be graduating, but I do too many musicals,” McCullough, who goes to UL, said jokingly. “I’m one of those maybe lifer students. I’m never there full-time.”

He started playing the piano around age 9, and is now majoring in piano performance. He also plays the organ and did some melodic percussion in his high school band.

McCullough saw IPAL’s ”My Fair Lady” and “Little Shop of Horrors” and “I enjoyed both of those shows thoroughly,” he said.

Now, for “The Wizard of Oz,” one of his favorite things is “getting kids to work together, watching them become better as they go.”

Although he used to practice in set-aside times, he said it now seems like he’s involved with music for most of the day.

“It’s just my passion and I can’t really see myself doing anything else,” said McCullough.

“If you have it in your heart, don’t let anyone tell you any differently.”

He said he will probably “always” be doing musicals.

McCullough said he would enjoy doing performances with IPAL in the future.