Brian grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, and Lincoln, Nebraska. He speaks without an accent, but roots for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Nebraska Cornhuskers. As a child, he appeared on Romper Room.
He graduated first in his high school class and is believed to have been the last cut from his freshman basketball team. As a senior, he played Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. in Funny Girl and graduated 1st in his class.
He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and finished much nearer the middle of the pack. He appeared in An Evening of Beckett with Kristin Linklater. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
For 12 years, he lived in Haight Ashbury in San Francisco. He apprenticed at the Berkeley Shakespeare Festival, made his professional debut in Othello, and sprained his ankle playing ultimate frisbee, but did not miss a performance.
For 8 years, he shared a studio apartment in Greenwich Village with a rabbit named Andrew who then passed away. He misses the rabbit but has kept the studio.
He has performed at the Juilliard School, on Governor’s Island, and with Shakespeare in the Parking Lot. He feigns veganism, but loves sushi, cheese from Murray's, and the cupcakes of Magnolia Bakery.
He listens to Alison Moyet, Philip Glass, and Pulp.
He admires David Lynch, but cannot make heads or tails of Inland Empire.
He likes a dry, earthy red.
He does not smoke, but likes to pretend to onstage.
He practices yoga daily.
Despite his congenitally flat feet, he runs 3 miles on days that the temperature exceeds his age. He loyally wears Adidas, the only maker whose shoes were narrow enough for him as a boy. It doesn't hurt that they've become hopelessly trendy since.
He counts himself fortunate to share life with his parents in West Virginia, his sister in Atlanta, his brother in Cincinnati, and his many friends including a Swiss United Nations diplomat currently in Chad, a wine snob in Battery Park City, and drama teachers in Astoria and Portland.
He has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 2001 and of the New Jersey Repertory Company since 2007. He is a member of the 2011/2012 Burning Coal Theatre Company.
He looks forward to the next Stoppard play, the Second Avenue subway, and the American tricentennial.
