Why read Brian's resume when you watch it? Check out this brand new Musical Theater Demo Reel, including clips from Brian as "Patsy" in SPAMALOT, "Horton" in SEUSSICAL, "Seymour" in LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, "The Cowardly Lion" in THE WIZARD OF OZ, "Billis" in SOUTH PACIFIC, "Barfee" in THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, as well as a few cabaret performances!
Brian was thrilled to return to the Goodspeed Opera House for another new musical! (This time, wearing significantly less than when he was there for BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE.)
With music by Scottish-Canadian singer/songwriter Johnny Reid, Bob Foster, and Matt Murray, MAGGIE made its US Premiere at "the home of the American musical" in the summer of 2024, led by WICKED's Christine Dwyer in the title role. With Theatre Aquarius' Mary Francis Moore at the helm and COME FROM AWAY producer Michael Rubinoff producing, this is sure to be just the beginning for MAGGIE!
This beautiful musical is a tribute to Johnny’s Granny and the people of an almost forgotten generation. Set in Scotland between 1954 and 1976, it is a celebration of family, community, the joy and the laughter that can be found, even in the darkest of times. After suffering an unthinkable loss, Maggie must rely on her strength, sense of humor, and fiercely loyal friends to raise her 3 young boys, to protect them from the harsh and ever-changing world around them.
Sounds heavy, right? Sure. That is, until Brian enters the story as "Geordie Parven," "a man who walks the streets in nothin' but a Speedo any time the bloody sun comes out!"
Just when the audience needs to breathe, to smile, to laugh....here comes Brian in "a scene-stealing turn as a very confident local man who has no qualms about wearing a Speedo."
In not much besides "Scotland's greatest invention," "Hoffman knows how to balance the humor with the endearing, sweet side of Geordie, and the audience clearly enjoys every moment that he is on stage."
Follow the occasionally fully clad "Geordie" and the rest of this incredible family of artists as we continue our MAGGIE journey.
Culminating in years of assistant directing, leading educational programs, and private coachings, Brian finally made his directorial debut at the Opera House in Havre de Grace, Maryland with a small, unknown musical:
After performing his solo concert ("From Baltimore to Broadway") at the Opera House in the Spring of 2022, Brian was invited back to his home state of Maryland to tackle the late, great Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece in an opportunity to give the incredible local talent a "pro" experience. Brian was joined in this murderous endeavor by his partner Andy Hudson as his Musical Director and dear friend from growing up in the Baltimore dinner theater scene Marguerite Shannon Willbanks as Choreographer.
Review highlights include:
"Hoffman' s staging in a word is brilliant! He takes set designer Sammy Jungwirth' s simple but artistically perfect set and transforms it into an entire section of London. His use of the doors to create the illusion of levels stands out as an example of his genius. Hoffman is aided by lighting designer Tyler Bristow in making something small appear larger. Bristow not only sets the mood through the production to a tee, making it appear that the stage is several locations at once allowing for a fluid yet believable experience. Additionally, Hoffman' s placement of the singers during certain scenes adds to the whole Fleet Street experience. Actors move off stage as well as line the stairs at times making you feel like these 17 people have the vocal power of the entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir."
"The actors kept things moving...Pieces were moved off and on by the cast quickly and with purpose. The multiple uses of (a) trunk tied in well and it was interesting to see actors setting up for the next scene because it all fit so well."
"Andy Hudson doubles as the Musical Director and Sound Designer and he performs both tasks like Gordon Ramsay preparing his signature dish. Snap, Crackle and Pop were forced to stay in a cereal bowl that night as the stage belonged to Hudson. Everything was crisp and clear. His actors and his board combined for an outstanding performance."
Brian is incredibly grateful to all involved, onstage and off, in his directorial maiden voyage. It was...in a word...killer.
Pies & blades forever.
Decked out in the silver tux with the matching turquoise cummerbund and tie, and those contacts that change your eye color to aqua blue, Brian recently starred as "Barry Glickman" in THE PROM at Tent Theater Company!
Head over the
Sights
page for some fabulous pictures of the most gorgeous jacket Brian's ever worn onstage as well as more video clips!
Brian is thrilled to check his 50th state off of his list this summer while directing SEUSSICAL for the Musical Theatre Program, as well as Acting, and the Broadway Song Workshop at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp in Sitka, Alaska!
And Brian's not the only one celebrating a 50th milestone! As their website states, "The Sitka Fine Arts Camp was founded in 1973 to provide isolated Alaskan communities with little or no youth arts programs exposure and training in the arts. Because of remoteness and low population density, Alaskan youth are at a severe disadvantage in access to high quality arts. For the majority of the students, SFAC continues to be the only opportunity they have in the state to learn and work with professional artists. Building from its original mission, the Fine Arts Camp has become a nationally acclaimed program providing opportunities for students to study the arts across a wide range of classes and disciplines with national leaders in arts education, serving approximately 1,000 students annually from Alaska and throughout the world!"
Brian always loves working with Young Artists and we all know how near and dear SEUSSICAL is to this "pendulous pachyderm," but to be directing and spending a month in Alaska....just amazing! Sea Lions, and Otters, and Bears...Oh, my!
Check out
fineartscamp.org
for more info and we'll see you at camp!
Summer 2019 finds Brian making a mess of things yet again as the cognitively challenged "Jiggs Thomas!" That's right: BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE is on the loose at the historic Goodspeed Opera House!
After sold out runs at Delaware Theater Company and Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Brian is thrilled to be back in Naomi, FL (via East Haddam, CT) with Tony Award winner John Rando (Director), Chris Bailey (Choreographer), and, of course, Bill Berloni (Animal Director), Bowdie, our canine star, and the incredible cast that has been assembled for our latest adventure, including J. Robert Spencer, Isabel Keating, Roz Ryan, and singer-songwriter David Poe!
This trip to the grocery store is especially exciting as it marks Bill Berloni's return to the Goodspeed where his career began years ago with another show about a kid and a dog! (Something about when the sun will come out...?)
Not since Annie has a stray dog inspired such joyful noise! In a Southern town filled with lost souls, a new leash on life is just around the corner when a preacher and his daughter take in a mutt named Winn Dixie. Kate DiCamillo's beloved, award-winning novel about a quirky community learning to get along has a heart-warming score by Grammy and Tony winner Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening) with book and lyrics by Tony nominee Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde, Mean Girls).
Read all about the latest cast in the Playbill announcement and then come on down to the Winn Dixie, running wild (and extended by PUP-ular demand!) at Goodspeed this summer!
by Joe Amarante
The Shoreline Times
It's one thing to have a dog star in movie; it's another thing in a live stage musical. But that's where Bill Berloni comes in, overseeing animal direction for many shows, including The Goodspeed's new summer offering "Because of Winn Dixie."
The story's new-ish musical, with music by Duncan Sheik and book/lyrics by Nell Benjamin, did have two previous productions in Delaware and Alabama, but Goodspeed's well-earned rep as a musicals' mecca could propel it further. The tender tale based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo will run Friday, June 28, through Sunday, Sept. 1, at the theater on the river in East Haddam.
Berloni trains the show's title character —whose real name is Bowdie. But handling Bowdie on a daily basis for the run of the show will be actor/handler Brian Michael Hoffman, a character actor with not only the gift of gab but a way with canines. He's worked with Berloni for almost 20 years.
"As an actor, you're always looking for that side hustle ... waiting tables or temping between acting jobs," said Hoffman. "And ... so Bill has become my day job instead of temping or waiting tables."
Berloni had shied away from using actors as handlers, worried that it took such time and effort to train animals (he uses rescue dogs), said Hoffman, noting that "he didn't want to start rescuing actors, too. ..." Hoffman stepped in years ago when the handler on a tour of "Annie" was having trouble getting to far-flung engagements on time. So he began helping drive the animals' van and even keeping the animals in his hotel room.
It led one day to a morning TV interview at a local station (in which Hoffman excelled) and he was elevated as main handler on the tour. Many such shows followed. ("I started getting calls from theaters as an actor and a handler," said Hoffman.) And despite the danger of a dog paying attention to that character actor on stage instead of the star, it works for a tour when Hoffman does double duty.
"The price of it is picking a lot of dog poop up, but their resumes are better than mine so I will clean up after them," Hoffman jokes of his side job.
The Winn-Dixie story is best known as a 2005 movie that was pleasant but only modestly successful. A preacher and his daughter, Opal, in a sleepy Southern town, take in a mutt named Winn Dixie (named after the market where she finds him). The dog helps her deal with missing her absent mother and other childhood challenges.
Hoffman has worked the show in its two previous venues as it evolves. There's never been a musical like this that stars a dog in almost every scene, said Hoffman, and Berloni knew he needed all hands on deck.
"Even if Brian the actor is only called from 12:30 to 2 for rehearsal, Brian the Dog Boy — that's my affectionate term for myself— is actually called from 8:45 in the morning until 6:30. Because now ... Bill and I have such a long history, I can look at his face and know what he's thinking, or he'll say, 'Hey, remember that thing we did for 'Peter Pan Live' on NBC,' let's try that."
Hoffman also takes notes on every move the animal makes "because we've never had over 200 cues for an animal in a show. So, it's a lot but I'm thrilled to be a part of it."
Opal will be played by Josie Todd. Sophia Massa plays little Sweetie Pie Thomas. And Hoffman plays Sweetie Pie's dad, supermarket assistant manager Jiggs (like the other parents, not in the film version).
The "Bowdie" name traces to the initials of the show's title, Hoffman noted. The dog was rescued to play Winn Dixie five years ago but he also was fast-tracked to do "Peter Pan Live" on TV.
"He's so smart; he has these incredibly soulful eyes," said Hoffman. Asked about Bowdie's breed, Hoffman said, "We know he's poodle and something very, very big. ... I say poodle and a horse, potentially."
Every Spring, Brian loves collaborating with the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. This incredible program cultivates the up and coming creatives as they hone their skills and refine their ideas. Most of the time, this is the first time the writers are hearing their material performed by professional artists and it gives Brian a chance work on sight reading and making big, bold choices in a very short (usually 3-5 days) rehearsal process.
In the past, Brian has played such unlikely heros as "Louis Foster," a home-schooled high schooler who makes a deal with the Devil to help him find his one true friend (Brent Black and Rob Broadhurst's I'LL BE DAMNED), a snowman magically brought to life to help a troubled relationship (Jesse Goldman and Janine Robledo's THE SNOWMAN), a grown-up "Tootles" (of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys fame) who dreams of taking a certain Wendy-lady away to "Rangoon" in Ben Bonnema and Arianna Rose's THE LOST GIRL, and presented a new spin on "Tiny Tim" in Dan Marshall, James Yates, and Ok Kyun Kang's CHRISTMAS CAROLYN (he's tired of being "tiny," you know)
This year's new team blasted Brian back to the prehistoric age as "Grug," a lovable wooly mammoth, in Theo Terris and Chase O'Neill's THE CAVEMAN. Preserved here (not in amber) is Grug's song about how he thinks he's a bad child but has a plan to be better in his father's eyes. Grug is a sensitive mammoth but, someday, he'll feel like a part of the family and gain self worth.
Galumph over to the Sounds Page to hear "When You're a Mammoth" and more from THE CAVEMAN.
#GrugClub4Life
Brian was recently nominated for a Syracuse Area Live Theater (SALT) Award and a Broadway World Award for his latest trip down the yellow-brick road as "The Cowardly Lion" in Syracuse Stage's THE WIZARD OF OZ! Congrats to all the nominees....and now we wait!!!
Long overdue for a trip back down "Easy Street," Brian returns to Alabama Shakespeare Festival, home of 2017's Broadway-bound BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE, for their summer production of ANNIE!
This trip to the Warbucks Mansion marks Brian's 15th regional theatre production of the classic musical and will add to his well over 2,000 + ANNIE performance count, which also includes 3 national tours and the 2014 movie! "Leapin' lizards," indeed!
Brian is thrilled to return to the airwaves as "your old softy, Bert Healy" while reuniting with his ANNIE 2014 Sony Pictures co-star, Marti ("Sandy")...a true star of stage and screen!
Tune in again soon for updates to the Sights and Reviews pages... oh... and "smile, darn ya! Smile!"
Brian was given a wonderful gift for the 2017 holiday season: He was asked to click his heels and head back to his alma mater, Syracuse University, to reprise one of his favorite roles: "The Cowardly Lion" in Syracuse Stage's THE WIZARD OF OZ!
Directed by Donna Drake, Syracuse Stage and the Syracuse University Department of Drama teamed up with New York City's 2 Ring Circus to create a dazzlingly acrobatic take on everyone's favorite, truly American fairy tale! The cirque-like feats of 2 Ring Circus made it an Oz, and a holiday family treat, never seen before!
At the time of casting, there was no word as to whether or not Brian would be a part of any of the aerial shenanigans. Happily, he kept all 4 paws on the ground while Glinda descended via lira, the Crows performed a triple trapeze act, the Emerald City Gatekeeper performed an incredible hula hoop act, the Flying Monkeys attacked via silk drops, and the Poppies performed a stunning, synchronized Spanish web duo!
Follow the yellow brick...no...that's not right....follow this link to the Sights Page for some pix of Brian's 3rd adventure in Oz and then check out Reviews befitting the King of the Forest!
It's been said that you can't go home but, actually, there's no place like it! (Go, Orange!)
This trip to the grocery store is especially exciting as it marks Bill Berloni's return to the Goodspeed where his career began years ago with another show about a kid and a dog! (Something about when the sun will come out...?)
"Even if Brian the actor is only called from 12:30 to 2 for rehearsal, Brian the Dog Boy — that's my affectionate term for myself— is actually called from 8:45 in the morning until 6:30. Because now ... Bill and I have such a long history, I can look at his face and know what he's thinking, or he'll say, 'Hey, remember that thing we did for 'Peter Pan Live' on NBC,' let's try that."
Every Spring, Brian loves collaborating with the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. This incredible program cultivates the up and coming creatives as they hone their skills and refine their ideas. Most of the time, this is the first time the writers are hearing their material performed by professional artists and it gives Brian a chance work on sight reading and making big, bold choices in a very short (usually 3-5 days) rehearsal process. 
This trip to the Warbucks Mansion marks Brian's 15th regional theatre production of the classic musical and will add to his well over 2,000 + ANNIE performance count, which also includes 3 national tours and the 2014 movie! "Leapin' lizards," indeed! 
Brian was given a wonderful gift for the 2017 holiday season: He was asked to click his heels and head back to his alma mater, Syracuse University, to reprise one of his favorite roles: "The Cowardly Lion" in Syracuse Stage's THE WIZARD OF OZ! 
At the time of casting, there was no word as to whether or not Brian would be a part of any of the aerial shenanigans. Happily, he kept all 4 paws on the ground while Glinda descended via lira, the Crows performed a triple trapeze act, the Emerald City Gatekeeper performed an incredible hula hoop act, the Flying Monkeys attacked via silk drops, and the Poppies performed a stunning, synchronized Spanish web duo! 
