Mars Rucker

Mars Storm Rucker (born January 9, 1997) is an American actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, writer, collaborative artist and musician. They are best known for being the first out nonbinary and genderqueer person on Broadway. They made their Broadway debut in 2019 as Alline Bullock, Tina Turner's sister in the musical Tina, nominated for 12 Tony Awards. The role also made them the first out non-binary person to originate a role on Broadway.

Early life and education

Rucker was born in Richmond, Virginia, and raised in Houston,Texas. They started dance classes when they were a young child, but became paralyzed with transverse myelitis at age six. After much rehabilitation and what they say was a "miracle situation", they regained their ability to walk and dance again, although they still lack some feeling in their left leg. The TV show Glee inspired them to become involved in musical theatre, and in their senior year of high school they decided to choose it as their career.

They attended University of Oklahoma for musical theatre for a year before transferring to Manhattan School of Music for Musical Theatre.

Career

Rucker first became known as the main vocalist of Jahari Stampley's YouTube cover group. The group's covers, such as "Save Me" by BTS and "Gonna Be Alright" by Robert Glasper gained popularity.

Rucker made history in their first professional role as Alline Bullock, Tina Turner's sister, in the U.S. original Broadway production of TINA-The Tina Turner Musical in 2019.

In 2021, they were cast as a featured dancer in Bill T Jones choreography and alternate for Lillias White as Madame Sisseretta in musical Black No More, written by John Ridley and music by The Roots MC, Black Thought at the Signature Theatre.

In 2021, Rucker was featured in the short film MAJOR, written and directed by Christopher Betts and executive produced by Tarell Alvin McCraney and Glenn Davis. The film was nominated for Best Dramatic Short in the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival.

On May 4, 2021, Rucker released their sound healing EP called Variations in green.

Rucker gained wider prominence as the alternate for Thoughts 1, 2, and 3, in A Strange Loop. They recorded a song from the show for the album Broadway's Carol for a Cure, and the cast went on to win the Tony Award for Best Musical. Rucker remained with the show until it closed on January 15, 2023.

On March 12, 2022, Mars spoke as a panelist for the Athena Film Festival panel, “Thinking Beyond the Binary: Should Gendered Categories Still Exist?" at Barnard College. "In this discussion, the panelists explored moving beyond the binary, the importance of representing everyone, and the implications of removing gendered categories." Along with Mars, the panelists included Bliss Griffin, Kia Brooks and was moderated by Lisa Kenney.

On December 15, 2022, it was announced that Rucker would play the principal role of Dasia in National Black Theatre and Rattlestick Theatre's first joint co-production in the world premiere of a new play called Amani. Rucker also choreographed for this production (BluePrint Choreography).

Rucker played themself and was a writing collaborator in TikTok mega star, Dylan Mulvaney's Day 365 Live! show at the iconic Rainbow Room in New York. "The show raised awareness and funds for the Trevor Project, which provides crisis support and mental health resources for LGBTQ+ youth." The 80 minute show also included Rachel Brosnahan, Dominique Jackson, Jonathan Van Ness, Reneé Rapp, and L Morgan Lee.

For Pride in June 2023, Rucker was a featured model in Saks Off Fifth's Gender Neutral Capsule Collection Campaign and the Human Rights Campaign's Sexual Health Awareness campaign.

In June 2024, it was announced that Mars would star in Indie-Spirit and Gotham Award nominated Shatara Michelle Ford’s new film “Dreams in Nightmares” debuting at the Black Star Film Festival in August 2024. The film also stars Denee Benton, Sasha Compère and Dezi Bing.

Personal life

Rucker is non-binary and genderqueer, and identifies as "a butch, femme, masc person". Rucker identifies as a lesbian. Mars uses they/them pronouns.

Theatre credits

Film

References

External links

• Mars Rucker at Playbill Vault.
• Mars Rucker at IMDb
• Mars Rucker at the Internet Broadway Database
• Mars Rucker at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Jahari Stampley. (2018, Nov 19 ) Save ME - BTS (방탄소년단) (STRING & VOCALS) - Jahari Stampley ft. Mars Rucker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EZae6f3YwI
• Jahari Stampley. (October 5, 2018) Gonna Be Alright - Robert Glasper (VOCAL COVER) - Jahari Stampley ft. Stefan Haerle & Mars Rucker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmsbokDYYuQ