A multi-platinum-selling performer, Feinstein is nicknamed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook.” He is one of today’s top interpreters of American standards with more than 200 performances a year celebrating and preserving American popular song – particularly with tributes to Frank Sinatra.

Under the instruction of Feinstein at The Songbook Academy in 2014, Drivas attained invaluable lessons as he visualized the goal to expose the golden age of American popular music of the 1920s-60s to younger audiences.

A national finalist in The Great American Songbook Academy and Competition that year, he received the opportunity of week-long master classes with Feinstein and to perform in his “Sinatra Centennial” tour.

“Michael has given me incredible advice,”said Drivas. “He is very kind, very gracious and being such a prominent artist he is I take every word of guidance very seriously. It has been incredible working with him.

With a stop in Orlando for his “Sinatra Centennial” tour, Feinstein invited Drivas to join him on stage. Drivas will sing “I Have Dreamed” at the concert.

The 18-year-old had experience in numerous theatrical productions as a high school student at the Manatee School for the Arts in Palmetto.

Drivas chose UCF to pursue his studies in musical theatre because “it just felt like it was where I should be.” In his first semester at UCF, he was chosen as the understudy for the lead role of Claude in the musical Hair.

“Having one of our students selected for this event reinforces the quality of our training program and the level of talent our students in the BFA musical theatre program possess,” said Earl D. Weaver, coordinator of musical theatre and artistic director for Theatre UCF. “Nick is a new student in our program, and he has proven himself to be a wonderful addition to our department. We are very happy he has been selected for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“Michael Feinstein: A Sinatra Centennial” will be at the Dr. Phillips Center on Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at .

Drugs and alcohol coupled with a bipolar diagnosis led to his hospitalization before he enrolled at UCF, which is where he said he turned his life around – and has set about helping others avoid what he endured.

“UCF gave me the best second chance I’ve ever had,” said the Oviedo resident who grew up in Palm Harbor.

DeLisa’s first attempt at college life was as a music student at FSU, but things didn’t go as planned.

“My world view was not that great,” he said. “I was medicating myself with drugs and drinking, and not showing up at classes. If I did, I was messed up – drinking every day, stealing beer from my roommates, writing bad checks to drug dealers.

“Luckily I had family to pick me up.”

He said he was about to be kicked out of the FSU music program, so instead he took a medical withdrawal from the university and was hospitalized for treatment in Palm Harbor, where in 2011 he started his road back to the life he wanted. He resumed classes at a community college, became active in a substance-abuse recovery program and worked part-time at a theatre to get back on path.

When it came time to take the next step in 2012, “UCF was the No. 1 school recommended by FSU – and it’s just two hours from home,” DeLisa said. “I met with [associate professor] Earl Weaver and it sold me. The campus is beautiful, the area is great, and it felt like the right fit. FSU wrote a nice letter of recommendation for me.”

Since then he has blossomed on stage and off.

He has had a leading role in a play every semester he’s been at UCF and, as a helping hand for others going through similar substance-abuse challenges, last year worked with a friend and UCF Health Services to help start the Students Supporting Recovery (SSR) program.

“John set an example for other students in recovery to be proud of their recovery and make the most of their college experience. SSR is an example of living the ‘college’ life without alcohol or other drugs,” said Tom Hall, director of Alcohol and Other Drug Programming at UCF. “Students in recovery attend parties, go to football games and celebrate holidays. The only difference is they have a substance-free college experience. This is an important message for UCF students who think they can’t have fun without drinking.”

The group is open to all students, those in recovery and those who support recovery. Next year the members plan to host on-campus sober tailgate parties and other events throughout the year. Following a request from the new organization, UCF Housing and Residence Life will offer to place recovering students together in housing starting this fall.

“There’s only so much you can do on your own,” DeLisa said about the hurdles to stay clean. “You’re at a dangerous spot, but once you know you have a place to belong you don’t have to drop out and essentially start your life over again. If I can stop one student from going through what I went through, it would be worth it.”

For his Honors in the Major thesis, he started the nonprofit Mailmen Theatre Group with fellow student Tommy Hall, and the two wrote a play about recovery that they plan to tour at schools, recovery groups and worship centers around Florida. Hall is the friend who also helped start the campus recovery group.

“I was praying about it and I wanted to combine my love of theatre with my love of helping,” DeLisa said. The play, “A Way Back,” is the similar story of a young addict in college who finds his hope in recovery and struggles to get back. The project, which he calls “drama therapy,” received a $10,000 Clinton Global Initiative grant.

“That was part of my journey,” he said. “I was always going out and getting drunk. I didn’t really know how else to fit in.”

While at UCF, DeLisa has performed in “The Music Man,” “Ragtime,” “The Pajama Game” and other plays, but he said his favorite role was the nervous and intense Moritz in “Spring Awakening,” a story set in Germany in the late 19th century.

It was his favorite part, he said, “because it was about a troubled young man who wasn’t very good at school and didn’t know where to fit in. It was very cathartic.” DeLisa said that after every performance he would text a family member or friend to thank them for helping him get his life back on track.

“John is an excellent student and a talented theatre artist. That says it all,” said Mark Routhier, an assistant professor of directing and acting. “If he had not come to know who he is and accept the changes he needed to make, he would have frittered away his education and his talent.”

Routhier was so impressed with DeLisa’s devotion to the craft that the young actor earned an internship beginning this summer at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, where Routhier is also director of new play development.

For the grateful graduate, his way through recovery – theatre – is the same as his way into the future, which is summed up in the Winston Churchill quote DeLisa attaches at the bottom of his email: “Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about.”

John DeLisa is scheduled to graduate during UCF’s College of Arts & Humanities commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. Thursday, May 1, at the CFE Arena. For details about all of this week’s ceremonies, go to /news/ucf-celebrates-graduation-6-ceremonies-may-1-3/.

The center’s first phase, which opened this fall, enhances the academic experience for students in the performing arts with multiple teaching studios and voice rooms, an electro-acoustic music lab, percussion ensemble rooms and a recording studio.

Its second phase, which will be funded by private donations, will host first-class theatre and music performances for UCF and the surrounding communities to enjoy.

“We have been an excellent partner to arts organizations throughout the area,” UCF President John C. Hitt told guests at the Ballroom at Church Street. “Now it is time for that commitment to the performing arts to be expressed on our own great campus.”

The new space will not only help with recruiting future artists, but also will drive Central Florida’s economy. Recent estimates report that Florida’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations generated about $2.8 billion in direct spending in 2007 and another $3.4 billion from indirect spending, which translated into about 73,000 jobs statewide.

“At UCF, we understand the contribution that our great state university can make to the economic well-being of our Central Florida city-state,” President Hitt said.

In addition to adding economic value, the arts contribute to Central Florida’s cultural vitality and help communities better understand the human experience.

During Wednesday’s breakfast, Board of Trustees Chair Rick Walsh also paid tribute to the university’s founding president, Charles Millican, who died Dec. 1.

“Charlie loved the theatre and musical performances,” he said. “In fact, one of his and Frances’ favorite nights of the year was a special performance by the UCF orchestra alongside the fountain behind Millican Hall.”

UCF is one of only a few universities in the country to have a theatre lighting lab where students can learn the skills necessary to light everything from a theatrical production to a rock ‘n’ roll show.

The second phase of the Performing Arts Center will feature a 600-seat concert hall and two theaters with 520 and 225 seats respectively, as well as costume, scene and prop shops.

“The UCF Performing Arts Center will help students in Music and Theatre achieve their dreams by learning, rehearsing and performing on stages equal to all the great stages where their dreams take place,” Walsh said.

Walsh also praised the new center’s customized spaces for UCF Music and Theatre students.

“Each room is built differently based on its acoustic needs, and indeed the building itself is tuned to allow those who come through it to experience the life and energy within,” he said. “Everything from the floor to angles of the walls is constructed for the artists who will use them.”

The Performing Arts Center is designed to have a small carbon footprint with abundant natural lighting. UCF is seeking silver-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, the widely accepted benchmark for buildings that are environmentally friendly and healthy for occupants.

For more information on the center and how to donate to its second phase, visit http://foundation.cah.ucf.edu/pac.php.

With book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise, “Dames At Sea” is a musical comedy inspired by 1930s Hollywood director and choreographer Busby Berkeley.  “Dames At Sea” pays homage to “42nd Street,” complete with the theme of a young girl going to Broadway and making it big — plus an abundance of musical numbers, dancing and tapping.

The show opens Thursday, Nov. 18, and will run through Sunday, Dec. 5., on UCF’s main campus. All performances are scheduled in UCF’s smaller Black Box Theatre.

“It’s an intimate setting for an intimate musical,” says Earl Weaver, the show’s director and UCF’s coordinator of Musical Theatre.

Weaver adds that this “family-friendly, lighthearted romp” will not only be fun and entertaining, but it also will be eligible to participate in the well-revered American College Theatre Festival, or ACTF.

“We’ve never been able to have a full musical submitted for ACTF, so ‘Dames At Sea’ is the perfect opportunity to do so,” he said.

Performances of  “Dames At Sea” will be Thursdays through Sundays from Nov. 18 until Dec. 5.

All shows begin at 8 p.m., except for the Sunday matinee, which will start at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices are $17 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students with their ID. Reservations are recommended and available through the box office at 407-823-1500. Group rates are available. The box office can assist with accommodations for patrons with disabilities.

His new gig, “Rock of Ages,” a comedic musical built around classic hair band hits, is a far cry from his stage work at the Orlando Repertory Theatre or Universal Studios. But Sargent wouldn’t have it any other way.

After graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UCF’s Musical Theatre program, Sargent worked for several theatre companies throughout Central Florida and then moved to New York.

He makes his Broadway debut this month in the glam rock show, “Rock of Ages,” which celebrates big hair and leather jackets, along with songs from Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake and Journey.

In between rehearsals, we caught up with Sargent to get the 411 from this child of the ‘80s.

So what drew you to the Broadway show?

My parents raised me listening to classic rock. My favorite bands are mostly from before 1990, like The Who, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Guns and Roses, The Beatles. They are all my top favorites. The first musical I ever listened to was “The Who’s Tommy.” My parents took me to see The Who in two different concerts before I could even drive. And my Mom and I went to an Alice Cooper concert when I was 14. It was awesome.

Why did you choose to study at UCF?

I grew up in New Port Richey, and I chose UCF because it was relatively close to home, and it offered a BFA degree for Musical Theatre. Also, when I came with my parents for a visit, I really loved the campus and the Orlando atmosphere.

What were some of the roles you played in UCF Theatre?

I played Joey Biltmore in “Guys and Dolls,” Pippin in “Pippin” and Sasha and a part of the ensemble in “Fiddler on the Roof.” But my absolute favorite was Riff Raff in “The Rocky Horror Show.”

Did you feel prepared for a career on stage after you graduated?

The professors in the Theatre department have a real passion for art and professionalism, which I admired from my very first day in the program. I learned to have a real respect for working in the theatre. Learning the process and relevance of performance has been extremely helpful.

We hear you’ve been cast as a swing in “Rock of Ages,” what exactly is that?

It means that I am responsible for knowing four roles in the show — two principal roles and two ensemble roles. I am backstage every night in case something happens to be able to cover whatever needs to be covered. Also, if a performer calls in sick or takes a personal day, I might have to go on for their specific role.

“Rock of Ages” is known for its over-the-top costumes. What are you wearing?

Just think of any outlandish ‘80s rock band — a lot of leather, spandex and ripped denim. Every character that I cover wears a wig. They range from conservative comb over to wild crazy rocker hair. But my favorite accessories are the fake tattoos. They have a huge assortment so we can change them every show.

Do you have a favorite song or dance in the show?

I love all of them, but I’m really looking forward to singing “High Enough” by Damn Yankees in front of a live audience. I’m also very excited about dancing in the show because it has always been my weakest area. This show has really pushed me to love dancing and improved my dance skills.

Which song really gets the chicks?

“Heaven” by Warrant. The ladies in the audience swoon every night when they hear it.

And lastly, Bret Michaels vs. Vince Neil. Who wins in a fistfight?

Bret Michaels! That guy took a set piece to the head last year at the Tonys while performing with “Rock of Ages.” Plus-50 toughness points.

To see Sargent rock out at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City or learn more about the show, visit .