It’s not unusual for those who pursue a career in the arts to have a single moment of watching another person perform be their catalyst. Marcus Smith (who goes by the professional name of Marcus Zebra) is no different.
“My cousin Michelle, she had started dancing at UDP,” Smith tells the Bermudian. “We went to go see her recital and I saw it and I immediately was like, ‘Oh, I gotta do that too.’”
This event was indeed the jumping-off point for Smith who is currently pursuing various artistic fields while keeping his brother, Myles, company in Liverpool while Myles finishes his degree in dance performance at Liverpool Media Arts.
Now it would seem that Smith was always destined for a life of performance. As a child, however, that path wasn’t always so clear.
“I was a little shy,” Smith recalls. “I didn’t quite like the spotlight but I did end up finding myself in a lot of those things.”
Those things were plays at Prospect Primary School where he was encouraged by his third grade teacher, Dorothy Trott, to be a part of school productions.
“She gave me the lead role in a Christmas production that we did,” says Smith. “Then I became a choral speaker in primary three. So we would do these poems and monologues as a unit with little choreos and moves.”
After enrolling in United Dance Productions at the age of 13 where he studied hip hop, tap and musical theater, in addition to training in gymnastics at Bermuda Gymnastics, Smith then became involved in Gilbert & Sullivan Productions.
“The first production I did with them was “The Producer” which was super fun,” says Smith. “Then the second year we did “South Pacific.”
It was during this time that his stage name, Marcus Zebra, originated from an accessory.
“‘Zebra’ is a nickname that I got from a public speaking competition,” says Smith. “It was self-created because I wore a zebra hat at the International Independent Schools Public Speaking Competition in Canada. I was going to originally be ‘Zebrahatkid’ but that got too wordy and I took out the ‘hat’ and became ‘Zebrakid.’ Most people in Bermuda knew me as ‘Zebrakid’ for seven years of my life. Then when I went to university, I was in a production of ‘Hairspray’ and there was a Marcus and a Demarcus [both involved in the show] so I said “Oh, call me Zebrakid, “ and they said ‘That’s too long. We just call you ‘Zebra’ and I’ve been [Marcus] Zebra ever since.”
All of this training and experience in Bermuda prepared him for a life in New York City, when he enrolled in New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts, where he graduated in 2018 with a degree in BFA in Theater with a minor in Dance and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies.
Post-graduation, Smith was cast in NYU’s Reality Show, a dancing, musical sketch comedy that helps all incoming freshman how to prepare and what to expect for a life in New York City. (Smith was allowed to stay and work in the States for a year after graduation courtesy of the Optional Practical Training (OPT), a work authorization that allows F-1 students to work in the United States and gain experience in their field of study.)
After the year was over, Smith returned to Bermuda and while he waited for his O-1 visa to be approved, he joined Gilbert & Sullivan for their production of “Mamma Mia” and was also cast as Prince Florizelle of Fantasialand for the Christmas pantomime.
Smith’s O-1 visa was approved at the end of January 2020, but his return to the States was brief as the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced his return home to the island, where he hunkered down with his family and quickly found a way to help everyone in isolation, working at Sargasso Sea delivering food to the masses (“Making sure Bermuda didn’t go hungry.”)
All of that good karma, and a connection from his NYU days, came back to Smith when he returned to New York City after the pandemic and was promptly cast as a dancer by director Katie Paul for the music video for “Trampoline” by David Guetta & Afrojack featuring Missy Elliott, BIA &and Doechii. Paul had previously used Smith as a dancer in the music video for Murielle’s “Felt Cute (Might Delete Later).”
“I really wanted dancers that were completely different,” Paul tells The Bermudian. “The thing about Marcus is he’s so versatile. I knew I would need someone who could really go and do anything.”
Doing anything and everything artistic wise is the next goal for Smith, who has signed with The Diversity Agency, a modeling agency in London, and is looking to branch out with his creative endeavors.
“I am hoping to give myself more of a voice,” says Smith. “I speak a lot on my social media but I don’t get a lot of speaking roles because I am primarily casting as a dancer, as a mover, as a drag performer, as a burlesque performer. So I’m in the mix of trying to take a bit more of a pivot for some more front facing things.”
Paul agrees that when it comes to Smith’s career, there are many avenues where he would be successful.
“I could see him acting,” says Paul. “I could see him hosting. I think the sky’s the limit for someone who has that kind of personality and talent.”
