Bruce F Brown

Education

Equipment

My Equipment/Kit:

I can use:

About me

In 1982 I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatrical Directing and Design from Michigan State University, where I was a member of the Spartan Marching Band and the rather unique Spartan Hockey Band. Although music was not my “major”, I remained active in community-based music organizations and have performed around the US, Canada and even the Netherlands. Highlights of my performance career include performances for both of President Clinton’s Inauguration Celebrations.

After graduation from MSU, I spent several years designing and directing throughout the Midwest including theatres in Chicago, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Marshall, Petoskey and Cadillac. Longing to return to the challenges of academic theatre he accepted a technical theatre teaching position at the famed Interlochen Center for the Arts where I discovered a true love of arts education. In addition to teaching Stagecraft, I was responsible for scenic and lighting design for the theatre and dance departments. Never having been involved with Concert Dance, I was lucky to have veteran choreographer, Edgar Betancourt serve as a mentor. Our collaboration on a ballet based on Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” was a breakthrough production for the school and helped develop my love of dance lighting.

Feeling a need to escape the bitter cold of Northern Michigan, I moved to Fort Lauderdale in 1984 to become Technical Director for Dillard Center for the Arts. My dedication to teaching the discipline of Technical Theatre produced a generation of designers, stage managers and technicians who are working on Broadway, Las Vegas, Miami, and around the world.

During my tenure at Dillard, I became Artistic Director and initiated or supervised such innovative projects as 22 performance seasons at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, designing and/or directing over 140 theatrical, music and dance productions, over-hauling the magnet fine arts curriculum, the building of the new removed square foot Performing Arts Center and the development of an annual Arts Integration Conference which engaged several local arts organizations together with the Kennedy Center for the Arts to train Broward Educators in Arts teaching practices.

Academically, I served on the Dillard High Leadership Team and was the Chairman of the School Advisory Council for 11 years, served as a consultant for the Broward School’s Construction Management Department, and was a longtime member of the Broward County Commission’s Art in Education Committee. Still designing and occasionally directing, some of my favorites include the scenic and lighting designs of Sweeney Todd, Big River and Man of LaMancha and the direction of The Diviners, The Rainmaker, The Three-Penny Opera, Lilies of the Field, Annie, A Year with Frog and Toad, and the most recent, A Piece of My Heart.

I retired from Dillard in June, 2016 and have created my own Design, Production, and Theatrical Consulting Company (BFB Designs, LLC) and continues to develop his professional design resume as the resident lighting designer for South Florida's premier contemporary dance companies, Dance, Now! Miami. My concert lighting designs have toured throughout Florida, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California and Illinois. Internationally, I have designed in Oaxaca, Chetumal, and Chihuahua, Mexico; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; San Jose, Costa Rica; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Florence and Rome, Italy.

I have most recently been developing my Stage Management skill-set. I have been employed by The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County as Production Stage Manager for 2 seasons of Rock Odyssey, an AEATYA contract among other projects.
Referees:
Hannah Baumgarten or Diego Salterini, Artistic Directors
Dance Now! Miami
removed

Curtis V. Hodge, Director of Production
Adrienne Arsht Center
removed

License & Passport

Skills

Secondary Job Title	Lighting Designer
Job Titles	Director, Producer, Stage Manager, Production Manager, Carpenter, Creative Director, Chaperone / Driver, General Staff, Lighting Designer, Theatre Technician
Years in industry	6+ years
Organisations / Memberships	AEA (US), USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology)