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Free-lance director Brian Sage has been named as Director for the Annual Production. Brian Sage is a freelance actor, director, educator, and theatre manager. He is a graduate of Wayne State University where he earned his MFA in Acting while performing as a member of the Hilberry Repertory Theatre Company. He earned his BA in Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University. Brian also had the honor of studying with the Moscow Art Theatre School. He is a certified and associate teacher of the Michael Chekhov acting technique with the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium. Brian has taught at a number of universities including Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, Jackson College, and Ohio Northern University where he was an associate professor, producer, and director of the School of Visual and Performing Arts.

Brian’s seventy plus professional acting credits run the gamut from the classics to contemporary musical theatre. He’s worked for a variety of companies in the Great Lakes region including Tipping Point Theatre, Performance Network Theatre, The Jewish Ensemble Theatre, The Encore Musical Theatre Company, The Marriot Lincolnshire Theatre, First Folio Shakespeare, Theatre Building Chicago, and Tibbits Opera House. Brian has received multiple Wilde Award nominations for his acting work including “Best Actor in a Musical” and “Best Supporting Actor in a Musical” for his portrayals of Max Bialystock in The Producers and all nine members of the D’ysquith Family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

Brian has directed a wide range of projects that include classic plays, contemporary musical theatre, and new works. His Detroit Public Theatre production of From Broadway to Obscurity was recorded for PBS in summer of 2020 as an initiative to bring theatre to a home audience during the Covid-19 pandemic. That production has garnered multiple awards including a Wilde Award for “Best One-Person Show” and a Michigan Association of Broadcaster’s Broadcast Excellence Award for the PBS version. In addition to the All-Ohio Head Over Heels, he will be returning to Ohio Northern University this winter to direct Lindsey Ferrintino’s Ugly Lies the Bone.