Welcome, Mark McDaniels!
CAMP Rehoboth is excited to introduce Letters’ readers to Mark McDaniels, who assumed his role as Deputy Director on April 1, 2024. Mark is a graduate of New School University and has held various administrative and management positions over the past 20 years. His finance and management experience includes private, theatre, and hospitality industries.
Along with his husband, Donald Gaverick, Mark wrote and licensed the musical Show Choir, which telegraphed exuberant student singers (think: Glee) as if through the lens of VH1’s Behind the Music. A self-proclaimed Trekkie and sci-fi fanatic, Mark loves modern funk and is a foodie who names Japanese curry as his go-to comfort food. (He once lived in Japan for seven months.) He’s a pianist, composer, and is hitting the ground running at CAMP Rehoboth.
CAMP Rehoboth: What brought you to Rehoboth Beach?
Mark McDaniels: The pandemic! When I was living in New York City, and the pandemic hit, everyone in my house lost their jobs, except for me. I was working from home for Music Theatre International. The lease was up on the apartment, and nobody could find a new apartment, and no one could stay. So my partner and I moved down to Rehoboth Beach, first staying with my parents when I thought the move was temporary. We then found a house along the canal by Diego’s, and that was our incentive to stay. We really liked the town and had been visiting my parents here for several years.
CR: Have you gotten used to the “lower slower” pace of Sussex County versus New York City?
MM: Yes—living down here was quite a change. There are times when I really appreciate it. And there are other times when I miss the connectivity of New York and how everything is really accessible, whereas here everything shuts down at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. I’ve gotten used to it, but it was initially a culture shock, especially since our lives were very busy in New York. I always had two to four jobs at the same time since that’s how you live in New York. Coming here and not having to do that was a huge relief.
CR: Did you know about Rehoboth Beach’s status as a sanctuary for the queer community?
MM: Yes; that was one of the main reasons we chose to come here. Living as a queer man in New York was very safe; it was a nice bubble to be in. We knew if we left New York City, we had to be in another safe bubble. It was fortuitous that my parents had a place in Rehoboth—we knew about the town and had been visiting for years. We were thrilled to have that bubble and safety net.
CR: What excites you about the Deputy Director role at CAMP Rehoboth?
MM: What excites me most is engaging and getting to know the community. Having moved here during the pandemic, no one was going out and seeing each other. Then, I worked as a manager of a restaurant—that assured I had no social life whatsoever since I worked every night and weekend! So, it’s been only in the past year, when I changed to office jobs, that I started to peek into the community and make friends. I was really looking for a job that meant something to me, and that offered a way to meet and engage with the community. This job is perfect!
CR: There’s a parallel in CAMP Rehoboth’s mission and theatre in bringing the community together.
MM: I think that’s a good point. Theatre is very team-oriented and community-based; you cannot put on a show by yourself. Everything in the show takes an entire crew—front stage, backstage—to put it up. Theatre is inherently collaborative.
That’s what CAMP Rehoboth is good at as well. It’s about working with diverse voices and trying to work together to build something.
CR: What do you see as some of the most pressing challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community?
MM: Right now, we’re in a really strange time. A lot of states are making a lot of anti-trans, anti-drag, and anti-gay laws. I came out in the early 90s as a gay man, and it was a very different time to come out. I feel like we made all these leaps ahead in the early 21st century, and now the clock is rolling back again in a weird way. I’m hoping it’s temporary, and it’s a lashing-out from a previous administration.
The thing that really annoys me is that being gay is considered “political.” It’s ridiculous that it’s a political topic because people’s rights to live have nothing to do with politics. And yet the politicians are making our life into this political theater; it annoys me that we’re being used in a way. It makes my heart hurt for a lot of the LGBTQ+ community who are not in protected areas like we are. I’m hopeful that there’s a pendulum swing back in our direction over the next few years.
You’re always told, “each generation has to fight for their rights. They’re not given; they’re something you have to speak up for.” I faced this in the 90s as a gay man, and I feel like things got good, and we were accepted. But, now we have to fight this again. ▼