Mann, who has been nominated three times for Tony Awards for his performances on the Broadway stage, joined the Western Carolina faculty in 2006. His Broadway roles have included Rum Tum Tugger in “Cats,” Javert in “Les Miserables,” Chauvelin in “The Scarlet Pimpernel” and King Charles in “Pippin.” He was the originator of the role of the Beast in the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast,” and he has taken the Broadway stage in “Lennon,” “The Rocky Horror Show,” “Getting Away with Murder,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Rags,” “Barnum,” “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” and “Jekyll and Hyde.”

Mann is founding artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival and served as artistic director of the North Carolina Theatre for 14 years, directing more than 25 musical productions during his tenure. He also was artistic director of “The Lost Colony,” North Carolina’s long-running outdoor drama. At WCU, in addition to teaching and directing, he and Charlotte d’Amboise, his wife and a fellow Broadway star, founded WCU’s Triple Arts Intensive Musical Theatre Summer Camp.