Bryan Douglas is a man of many talents: actor, lighting designer, set designer, builder, crew, he’s done it all. So it may be surprising to learn that Bryan came somewhat reluctantly to his discovery of theatre.
It happened in high school. Bryan was active in sports and he excelled at them. Academically, however, Bryan let things slide, thereby becoming ineligible to play sports. He was offered an art class (nope), a speech class (rejected), then finally a theatre class, specifically technical theatre. Hmmm, he thought, that might be a little like shop class. Bryan gave it a try and found he had a talent for it!
But no on-stage work yet! Bryan hated actors. He especially disliked a certain youthful celebrity actor who attended his high school. Which led to “The Fiddler on the Roof” incident. Bryan was the stage left crew manager, having also designed the lights for the show. The set changes were tricky and timed with a stopwatch. Bryan and another crew member were in position for the next set change, when along came aforementioned celebrity actor, telling the “techies” to “get out of the way” of the actors. Tensions were already high, and Bryan snapped. He led with his fist but was stopped by a colleague who then locked Bryan out of the theatre until he cooled down. The next day the cast received a lecture about professional treatment of the crew!
At some point Bryan was urged by an observant teacher to take an acting class and he discovered his on-stage talent. In college he minored in Theatre (no major available) and majored in Psychology. His senior paper was on “mental cuing errors”, seeking to explain why actors forget their lines.
After some eventful years in his late 20s (joined Army Reserves, was scheduled to go to Iraq, got injured in training which nixed the Iraq trip, had two back surgeries), Bryan ended up in DFW, auditioning for a radio play with Rich Frolich’s Texas Radio Theatre Company. He got the part, and everything he has done since then has flowed from that happy happenstance! Rich introduced him to Michael Serrecchia, Michael introduced him to other opportunities, and somehow in a show somewhere Bryan met Scott Nixon who invited him to see “XSR:Die!” Bryan’s future with Pegasus took off from there!
Bryan loves the Living Black and White shows for many reasons. He appreciates the style of the shows, the history behind them, the era in which they are set. In particular Bryan loves knowing he can invite any family member of any age and they’ll enjoy the evening.
As for his relationship with Pegasus, Bryan finds Pegasus folks to be a supportive and encouraging group. People are treated well and there is a sense of family. Bryan especially enjoys the ongoing collaboration with director Michael Serrecchia, whose creative vision always makes room for the actors to grow.
Outside of theatre, Bryan makes time for outside interests that include road trips with his family. If there’s a cave along the way, they’ll stop. If there’s a site with historical interest, they’ll stop. (Ask him about the defunct insane asylum in West Virginia.) For Bryan, in life and in theatre it’s all about the journey and your traveling companions.