Brandon, where is home? Where was high school and when did you graduate?: I graduated from David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri in 2011. My family moved to Iowa shortly after that. We currently live in Iowa City.
Tell us a bit about your family, please: My parents are Heather and Robert Young. I have two older sisters, Jennifer and Elise, and I am the youngest. All three of us were born with bilateral hearing loss. Dad is a construction manager at the University of Iowa. My mom stays at home and babysits Elise’s child, Eleanor, who has autism. Jennifer attends Kirkwood in the Parks and Recreation program, and Elise is at the University of Iowa studying accounting.
How did you get interested in stage work, theatre and such?: I started working in the theatre in my senior year in high school and immediately fell in love with it. Theatre can be a new skill you learn each day. I have learned many useful skills such as welding, carpentry, sewing, knots, rigging, theatre design, and so much more. Recently I was the master electrician for the University of Missouri Summer Repertory Theatre. There I practiced all I learned in the area of theatrical lighting. Currently I am Kirkwood’s Theatre Scene Shop Work-Study, plus I work at the Coralville Center of Performing Arts as a stagehand.
Do you have a favorite Kirkwood production, project or event so far?: My favorite theatre production at Kirkwood so far was our 2013 fall play, “Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams.” The play is about an old theatre and theatre people. For a dedicated theater person like me, what’s not to love? Our latest production, which opens in April, is Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” The set and costumes are going to look amazing, both of which are already under construction.
What are your plans after your Kirkwood studies are over?: I plan on transferring to a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Theatre Design and Technology program. I am currently accepted in the University of Central Missouri and the University of Minnesota-Mankato. I am currently setting up transfer interviews.
Imagine that it’s early 2019, about five years from now. Where are you, what are you doing?: I imagine I will be starting to finish a graduate program (hopefully somewhere prestigious) and staring to apply for jobs in the theatre. Ideally I would work on shows on Broadway or on movies in Hollywood.