Spotlight On: Brian Sage

Brian Sage (he/him/his) is the Artistic Director of Tibbits Summer Theatre.

How did you get started in the arts?

I stumbled into a school play in the 5th grade. We'd just recently moved cities and I didn't know a lot of people at the new school, so I must have been subconsciously searching for community. I didn't know anything about the theatre or acting since it wasn't something I had done previosuly or anything my family promoted or was interetsed in. I was in cast B of "Welcome Back, Miss Liberty" playing a congressman from Texas. I remember getting laughs and in that instant a character actor was born. I didn't stop and haven't stopped since.

If you could direct/produce one show, what would it be, and why?

Ragtime was the second show I saw on Broadway. Chicago claims #1 because I saw it the night before, but it paled in comparison to Ragtime. Its just such rich material all around. Beautifully drawn charcaters and a lush score. Its a perfect piece of theatre in my opinion.

If you could play one character in all of theatre or film, who would it be and why?

I've done it in scene study and I've played other characters in the play twice, but Richard III stands out as one I'd love to tackle from beginning to end. Its fun to be bad. Especially when that isn't at all your nature.

Name two artistic role models and why you look up to them.

My relationship with Tibbits started when I graduated from High School. Charles Burr, the former artistic director of Tibbits Summer Theatre was a student of my high school theatre teacher/director Gloria Logan and he auditioned a number of us for the 1994 summer theatre season. I was offered a job that summer and that was the beginning of an over 30 year realtionship with Tibbits, Charles, and Gloria. Gloria was a force: she ran the theatre program at Plymouth Salem and really instilled in all of us the importance of ensemble and that every element and every position in the theatre was essential to the whole. Those of us who were actors were also required to build and paint sets, hang lights, assist with costumes, and promote our shows. We left that program with a keen understanding of everything it takes to produce a show because we had our hands on everything. There truly were "no small parts" in that program and community and ensemble were at the core. Charles Burr was also a product of that and took those same core values into his work as artistic director at Tibbits. He and Gloria were brilliant directors. Both of them had a remarkable ability to direct farce and to support and lead an actor to find such rich comic bits. That same skill carried over into musical theatre and drama. They just understood how to unpack a script in a way that no book can teach. I'm grateful to have been able to be in the room with them at a time when we didn't have so many distractions. I was able to absorb so much from simply watching them work with a room full of actors and technicians. What a gift they both are to me.

What did you want to be when you were a child? Are you fulfilling that dream?

I don't really know what I wanted to be when I was a kid. I was an only child and I rememebr a lot of solo play with action figures, a lot of reading, and a lot of drawing all of which focused heavily on character and stoytelling. I remember a lot of my childhood play also revolving around roleplay and storytelling. I have to guess this was the impulse and the theatre ended up being the calling. So, yeah...I guess I am living that dream.

What is your artistic guilty pleasure?

See Richard III. Its fun to be bad.

What role/show/experience on your resume is most memorable and why?

I have so many good memories, its hard to pinpoint any one. Thats why I keep doing it. Each show is special and brings together a unique community for a finite amount of time to create something ephemeral. To pick just one would be cheating the others.

What is your dream for the Michigan Arts Community?

Proseperity and stability. Especially right now when everything feels like its being turned upside down. Theatre makers are built to ride that wave, we've done it before, but we need arts supporters now more than ever to continue to ride with us.