Alumni Spotlight: An "Outside the Box" Interview with Zac Young

Children’s Theatre of Maine alumni and nationally recognized pastry chef Zac Young

Born in Portland in 1982 and currently living in midtown, Manhattan, Zac Young is recognized as one of America's top pastry chefs for his playful, over the top desserts featured in restaurants nationwide, and his direct to consumer line of PieCaken holiday cakes. In 2010 he broke onto the food television scene with his final four finish on Bravo's Top Chef: Just Desserts. His signature wit and pastry wisdom have made him a fixture on Food Network shows such as "Halloween Baking Championship," "Chopped," and "Beat Bobby Flay" as well as Netflix's "Nailed It" and 7 seasons on The Cooking Channel's "Unique Sweets".

Zac started children’s theatre in third grade at eight years old. It was 1990 and a show called Rise of FTR (Frank the Rabbit). This play was written by the winner of the Children’s Theatre of Maine’s Young Playwright Contest, Sam Carner–who is now an award-winning musical theater writer also based in New York City–but was a high school student at the time.

Zac said, “The play was directed by former theatre director Lisa DiFranza and was performed in the cafeteria of King Middle School. There were painted styrofoam panels. I was hooked. The children’s theatre did not have a permanent home at the time. The shows traveled from school to school.”

“I was not adept at or interested in athletics. I was interested in building things and in creating a fantasy world of my own making. From my first experience, it gave me a team. I tried being a soccer goalie, but really I was afraid of the ball. With theater, I had found my teammates!

“For the rest of elementary and middle school, I was there. It provided a safe space to grow up. As I got older, I realized how different I was from my classmates; that crew became my family. When you don’t 100% fit in, even in an arts-focused school, you really need a safe space to lay the foundation for so much more than just being in a play. For me, arts education is universal. The skills learned, the work ethic forged, the camaraderie built carry through the rest of life, whether or not you continue in arts professionally. I don’t know where else I would have learned these skills.

“Lisa DiFranza mothered this whole crew of misfits. She was Peter Pan-like. She had a profound impact on people’s lives. Unselfishly and unknowingly, she was a mentor, an educator, a friend, and a mother. This was on top of the life skills being taught. 

“I was in at least 15-20 productions. I went from one to the next. I had found a home and a passion for the arts. I was admitted to Walnut Hill, which had a very competitive and rigorous audition process. Children’s theatre prepared me for that. There, I continued my holistic arts education. 

“In eighth grade, my final year before boarding school, I was Curly in Oklahoma at Waynflete and I was the Emperor in the Emperor’s New Clothes at the Children’s Theatre. It was my first time in a leading role. My classmates had been practicing their jump shots and three pointers throughout middle school, now I finally felt like I was able to show what I had been doing. As good as that felt, it was never about being the lead, it was about being part of the process and being part of a team. 

“So many of the plays and shows we were doing were new, or written for us or by us. This was very freeing and expressive. Being part of the creative process made us feel important, heard, respected. We felt like little adults. Everyone was there because they loved it.

“Simply put, I would not be here without the Children’s Theatre of Maine. Not only did it provide a community and a support system, it gave me life skills and a way of thinking, a freedom that I wouldn’t have found anywhere else. Outside-the-box thinking that I gained there carries through to this day. As a pastry chef, when I’m thinking about a new item, I’m thinking about the theatricality of it. I’m asking myself if it’s as “big” as I can make it? Can I try something else? Can I make it provocative? How can I play with it? I ended up working in food media. Sure, the poise and articulation from theater are important, but that’s just the superficial layer. The real core of it was the personal value that I got. All the messaging that said, ‘You are enough.’ ‘You are respected.’ ‘Trust your instincts.’

“These things are hard-wired now. It’s hard to think inside the box! People ask me: where did the idea come from? I don’t know. My brain is wired for theater and it’s a mess up there! There’s a lot of freedom in my thinking. A lot of ‘Yes, and...’ a lot of, ‘how can I play with my food...’ The most prolific example would be The PieCaken, which started as a joke. A dessert version of the Turducken and the all-in-one Thanksgiving dessert.  Why not take a layer cake and add our favorite pies to it? The bottom layer is pecan pie, followed by a layer of pumpkin pie, and finally a spice cake. Cinnamon buttercream runs through each layer and covers the entire cake. To gild the lily, we add oat crumble on the sides and apple pie filling on top. It was a run-away hit and like an improv class, I took it further. We have now created a yule log version, a cupcake version, a Mother’s Day version, The PassCaken (for Passover...) and just keep going. What started in the basement of a New York restaurant, has now turned into a massive operation that ships these cakes nationwide and year-round. While I am known for these over-the-top celebratory creations, the foundation is rooted in my solid, classic French pastry training. Just like in the theatre, you have to learn the lines and do your homework before you can be free to start playing with the scene. 

“My family’s donation to the Imagine Capital Campaign is meaningful to me because of the importance of having a safe space for me when I was growing up and for all kids. It is about the importance of having an arts education for me and my family. The arts are an underfunded resource across the board. It’s vital to support arts organizations for our kids. It’s not about the performance. No. It’s about identity. It’s about life skills. It’s about creating a sense of belonging.

“The fact that my parents named seats in my honor and that these seats will be in the new Maddy’s Theatre, that feels like a homecoming to me. Children’s theatre was the beginning of my life. It was the the beginning of me finding me.”

Zac Young as the emperor in the Emperor’s New Clothes at the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine in 1996.