Curtain Call

Vaughn becomes a USF tradition

By KELSEY BLACKWELL
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

Brian Vaughn, a theatre arts graduate from SUU, has found acclaim as a professional actor in theatres from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Surprisingly, this Utah Shakespearean Festival veteran of 10 years stumbled upon his love for the stage after a dare.
“It was this play called Yankee Doodle Dandy, as pathetic as that sounds,” Vaughn chuckled. “I ended up auditioning and actually got the title role and so from then, I just really got hooked into it.”
Since Vaughn’s Yankee Doodle debut, he has performed in a variety of plays across the nation — from A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Nebraska to The Dark at the Top of the Stairs in Arizona.
It was at SUU, however, that Vaughn originally decided to pursue a career in acting after being recruited to the university from his high school in Arizona by former professor Doug Baker.
“I came up here during that summer to check out the Shakespearean Festival and I was really drawn to the fact I could go somewhere where there was a regional theatre right on campus,” Vaughn said. “I was invited to come up here and audition for the department, and I did and I got accepted.”
During his freshman year, Vaughn decided to test his luck by auditioning for a part in the Greenshow with the festival.
“I didn’t get accepted,” Vaughn said. “And then they called me the week prior to starting the festival and told me that they needed a replacement. So I ended up getting hired.”
Vaughn’s experience with the Greenshow opened doors for him later as a professional by exposing him to the life and culture of a performance artist. Through the Greenshow, Vaughn was able to interact with directors and watch rehearsals.
After graduating from SUU, Vaughn traveled to New York City with hopes of getting work in a bigger city but returned to Cedar City after being offered a professional job with the festival.
“I went to New York briefly for about three months, and I was not ready to be there financially, mentally, and I was gonna go to grad school, but at the last minute I ended up getting a job here,” Vaughn said. “I figured you know, I was working and I was getting good roles and all of sudden I was a working actor so it was like, ‘Why do I need to go to school right now?’”
During his time in Utah, Vaughn
became acquainted with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and was eventually hired by the company as an equity actor.
Vaughn said the decision to be associated with the union was met with mixed emotions.
“It’s a tough decision when you turn equity because you want to make sure you do it at the right time, where you know you’re going to work again,” Vaughn said.
“When you have reached a particular status, you make so much money and have so many benefits, but it’s cheaper for a company to hire an actor that is non-equity rather than equity,” he added.
Since being hired by the company, Vaughn said he spends most of his time between Milwaukee and Cedar City with the Shakespearean Festival.
Vaughn said he returns to the festival year after year because he enjoys working with the people and can expand his acting range with the variety of scripts he is offered.
“I certainly have a lot of ties here because I went to school and I know a lot of people,” Vaughn said.
different roles that have become available to me, I just hope that I have a wide array of challenges that are set before me.”“I just really enjoy the environment. I love that I’m able to do a lot of different things as far as roles to play, and the different directors and artistic staff are really tremendous, and basically it’s like one big family. I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.”