Company Spotlight: Austen Strine and Brandon Beaver

Austen Strine, House Management

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
No, this will be my first year!

Where’s your home base?
Cedar City, Utah. My family lives all over the country, and I feel best when we’re all together, so I guess home base is when my family gets together too.

What’s your education/training background?
Sales training more than anything else as far as vocational training. Lots of music and theatre schooling.

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
Laughter. Making others laugh and enjoy themselves, and in the process getting a solid amount of attention and respect is pretty much what I like best about theatre. I love the groove I get into where I can understand exactly what to do next to keep people laughing, because we’ve become so finely tuned to each other.

How will you spend your time off while here?
I teach voice lessons on the side, and I spend as much time as possible with my wife and son. I audition pretty frequently for professional theaters in utah when the season comes as well. I haven’t had much success, but I know I will soon! …hint hint

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
Well, it’s a chance to let my nerd show. Kind of like a nudist colony, you know? …Okay, it’s not like that at all. Forget I said it. I love to dress up and make people enjoy their evenings. I suppose that’s why I like acting as well, haha!

If it applies, do you have a favorite memory of working in the Adams Theatre?
Ooooh, getting hired is definitely my favorite memory.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Probably something Tony-Stark-ish, like a massive intellect, rather than actual superpowers. Or something really realistic, and slightly boring like photosynthesis.

If you had a time machine, where would you like to visit?
Assuming it was able to travel through both time and space so that you don’t run into anything along the way, probably the future, to a time when mankind has pretty much solved the majority of social issues and dilemmas and can focus on the advancement of science and philosophy.

Brandon Beaver, Actor

Have you ever worked at the Festival before?
First Year

Where’s your home base?
I am originally from Tulsa, OK, but I am currently living in New York City.

What’s your education/training background?
I have a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami (FL)

What brought you to your field and what keeps you doing your craft?
My grandma. She saw at a young age how musically inclined I was and that I could not stop putting on a show around the house. From there, a ton of community theatre and before I knew it I graduated college. I keep in the field because I cannot imagine myself doing anything else as a career. I believe you gotta do what makes you happy no matter what.

How will you spend your time off while here?
VOLLEYBALL!! And I definitely want to hike. I also love almost every card or board game.

What does the Festival Experience mean to you?
An inviting and joyous place to see enjoyable, and hopefully impactful theatre.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Telekinesis. Moving things around without touching them. That’s the dream.