Terrence Vaughan Mann (born July 1, 1951) is an American actor, director, singer, songwriter and dancer who has been prominent on the Broadway stage for the past three decades. He is a distinguished professor in musical theater at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. 　　Mann was born Terrence Vaughan Mann in Ashland, Kentucky, the eldest son of Helen and Charles Mann. Mann's mother was a concert pianist, and his father sang in a barbershop quartet. Music was always a part of his growing up, so singing came naturally to him. But it was the multiple pleasures of the stage that drew him to the world of theater. 　　In an interview with the Hartford Courant, in his own words, "When I was doing the junior class play — it was called 'In Deadly Earnest' — at the end of a scene, the script said, 'They kiss.' It was then that I honestly thought, 'I'm going to be in the theater!' I was fascinated with having words put in my mouth and that someone would say something back to me that would get us to a moment where we ended up in a kiss. I remember when my school counselor asked me what I wanted to do, I said without hesitation, 'Go into the theater!'" 　　Mann grew up in Largo, Florida and he is a 1969 graduate of Largo High School. His first professional gig came during his college years in Jacksonville University. For $35 a week, he was given an offer to perform in the annual outdoor theater spectacular "The Lost Colony," during the summers on the Outer Banks of Manteo, North Carolina It was here he met Joe Layton, who later was instrumental in getting him his first Broadway show. 　　Mann later on attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, where his mentor was Malcolm Morrison, former dean at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford. For many years Mann was a regular at Morrison's North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.