Michael Brian Dunn as the presumably Italian barber Adolfo Pirelli in the DCPA Theatre Company’s ‘Sweeney Todd. Photo by Adams Visual Communications.

MEET MICHAEL BRIAN DUNN
Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd

At the Theatre Company: Debut. On Broadway: Dr. Zhivago, Amazing Grace, Cats, The Life, Guys & Dolls, Big River, Baby, Sweeney Todd. Off-Broadway: Death of Von Richthoffen and Lenny and the Heartbreakers (New York Shakespeare Festival), Perfect Crime, Kennedy’s Children, Gifts of the Magi, Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, Love in Two Countries. National and International tours: Amadeus, H.M.S. Pinafore (also Stratford Festival Canada), My Fair Lady, others. Regional: The Underpants at Syracuse Stage, The Music Man at Arena Stage, Radio Gals at Cape Playhouse, Crazy for You at Maltz Jupiter, Aspects of Love at The Walnut St., Sunset Boulevard at Portland Center Stage, Reckless at Cincinnati Playhouse, more. Film/TV: Julie & Julia (Ivan Cousins), Law and Order SVU and Criminal Intent.
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• Hometown: Utica, N.Y.
• Training:  Boston Conservatory and NYU
• What was the role that changed your life? Every play I do changes my life in some way. Large or small, it makes no difference. The people I meet, the places I travel to, the experience I gain, the connections I make – they all affect the next one I do, and the next, and the next, and so on. I couldn’t do the play I’m doing now if I hadn’t done all the previous ones before. In some cosmic way, they are all connected to each other. This also helps me when I don’t get a role I wanted so badly. It just wasn’t meant to be. It doesn’t fit into that path I’m meant to be on.
• Why are you an actor? The longer I’m in this business, the more frequently I ask myself this question. Why? There are periods of time when I love what I do. Acting brings me great joy. It allows me to look at life in a different way and to see things from different perspectives. The euphoria and elation when everything lines up in a performance, and you have that connection with the audience, is pure joy. Then there are the desperate times – and every actor experiences them. The times when rejection, self doubt, anxiety and stress consume you. When that happens, you better have a really strong connection to those moments of joy, or you’ll be buried by it. And those joyful moments always return, if you trust.
• What would you be doing for a career if you weren’t an actor? I would want to return everything I have learned in the theater to young people who have an interest and passion for theater themselves. 
• Ideal scene partner: It’s always the scene partner I’m currently working with. Each new partner represents a new challenge of discovering how that actor works. Working with our very own Sweeney Todd, Robert Petkoff, has been such a thrill. His passion, energy and instincts are so spot-on with where I want to go. Not to mention his humor. It is all so important. There is an inherent trust there. And when someone is holding a blade to your throat, that trust carries a lot of weight.
• Why does this production of Sweeney Todd matter? Because the music is so brilliant and complex and the story so compelling that people who haven’t seen it need to. And people who have seen it need to see it again, with this brilliant cast and concept and design. And then there’s DeVotchka! 
• What do you hope the audience gets out of it? I hope the audience is just swept away by this glorious score. I think it’s one of the best musical scores ever written, and I would hope that the audience will forget everything else in the world for just those few hours and experience the world of Sweeney Todd.
  
• Finish this sentence: “All I want is …”
  “… Equality for all!”

​More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter

Sweeney Todd: Ticket information

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; Book by High Wheeler (adapted by Christopher Bond); musical adaptation by DeVotchKa

Previous NewsCenter coverage of Sweeney Todd:
Theatre Company giddily going down rabbit hole in 2015-16
DeVotchKa frontman promises a Sweeney Todd that’s ‘loud and proud’
DCPA announces DeVotchka-infused Sweeney Todd casting
​Where the band meets the blade: Rehearsals open
Co-stars on bringing DeVotchKa’s fresh blood to Sondheim
Video sneak peek with DeVotchKa
Five things we learned at Perspectives: Use a dull blade!
Interview, video: Sweeney Todd actors sing for Denver Actors Fund
Opening Night photo gallery and story

Previous Sweeney Todd profiles (to date):
Meet Danny Rothman
Meet Jean McCormick
​Meet Daniel Berryman 

Previous 2015-16 ‘Meet the Cast’ profiles
Meet Adeoye of Lookingglass Alice and All the Way
Meet Kevin Berntson of The Nest
Meet J. Paul Boehmer of As You Like It
Meet Molly Brennan of Lookingglass Alice
Meet Courtney Capek of A Christmas Carol
Meet Todd Cerveris of All the Way
Meet Brian D. Coats of The Nest
Meet Tad Cooley of Tribes
Meet Paul DeBoy of All the Way
Meet Allen Dorsey of A Christmas Carol
Meet Kevin Douglas of Lookingglass Alice
Meet Napoleon M. Douglas of A Christmas Carol
Meet Brian Dykstra of The Nest
Meet Isabel Ellison of Tribes
Meet Mariana Fernandez of FADE
Meet Kate Finch of Tribes
Meet Ella Galaty of A Christmas Carol
Meet Mike Hartman of All the Way
Meet Ben Heil of A Christmas Carol
Meet Carolyn Holding of As You Like It
Meet Drew Horwitz of As You Like It
Meet Maurice Jones of As You Like It
Meet Geoffrey Kent of As You Like It and All the Way
Meet Emily Kron of As You Like It
Meet Nick LaMedica of As You Like It
Meet Victoria Mack of The Nest
Meet Bianca Mikahn of How I Got Over
Meet Andrew Pastides of Tribes
Meet Ralonda Simmons of How I Got Over
Meet Shannan Steele of A Christmas Carol
Meet Carly Street of The Nest
Meet Samuel Taylor of Lookingglass Alice
Meet Lindsey Noel Whiting of Lookingglass Alice
Meet Jake Williamson  of A Christmas Carol
Meet Matt Zambrano of As You Like It