Buck Brigham (he/him) is a director and choreographer at BAAY. While he started as a stage manager in 2024, his time at BAAY spans much longer than that. When he was in 4th grade, Buck participated as a student in BAAY’s school program.
“That got me hooked on theater,” he said. “So, after that, I worked up the courage to be in a show [at BAAY’s downtown campus] and it changed my life.”
One of Buck’s favorite things about growing up at BAAY is how so many of his close friends now are the ones that he met as a student. BAAY programming encourages closeness among participants, and community is central to the experience. Now as an adult and BAAY instructor, Buck gets to help foster that sense of community for the kids he teaches.
“I love my job so much,” he said. “It truly brings me so much joy.”
Buck was shy as a kid and said that BAAY helped him come out of his shell and step into roles with big personalities. He learned to be loud and take up space more confidently in the process. When asked about his favorite part of being a BAAY staff member, he talked about watching his students experience their own growth.
“It’s lovely seeing kids blossom and grow into themselves and develop connections,” Buck said. He also spoke about watching them play with line delivery and show resilience and flexibility while doing all the hard things that theater asks for.
As a queer and gender queer person, Buck described his experience teaching kids as “a really nice opportunity to show them that they can exist and that they can keep doing it.”
Buck encourages all kids with an interest in the visual or performing arts to try a program at BAAY.
“Get ready to be loved. Deeply, radically loved and accepted. Also, get ready to grow,” he said. “There is a magical electricity the moment you walk in. BAAY gives young people purpose and a place where they can belong.”
Written by Quincy Koch