Brian Shucker Award
About…
THE BRIAN SHUCKER INSPIRATION AWARD is given at the conclusion of the final performance of each production to the cast or crew member whose dedication, commitment and generosity of spirit touched, inspired and set an example for others throughout the course of the production.
As one of the founders of the Tri-School Theatre program, Brian shared his professional expertise and passion for musical theatre with the Tri-School Theatre students as Musical Director of the 1990 production of Hello, Dolly!, as accompanist for Some Enchanted Evening and The Gift Of The Magi, as well as for a number of workshops throughout the 1989-90 season.
Brian wrote his first musical while he was in high school and began his professional career at the age of 18 in the musical revue A-5, 6, 7, 8. He subsequently went on to appear in more than 20 productions, all musicals. As a pianist and musical director, Brian toured America with two different cabaret acts and served as resident musical director of Orange County’s Curtain Call Dinner Theatre. Always interested in encouraging young people in the arts, Brain worked with the Young Americans, the Imagination Machine, Orange County High School Of The Arts, and Tri-School Theatre. Brian’s original musical, Babes, opened off-Broadway the summer of 1992. The musical garnered him the L.A. Drama Critics Circle and Dramalogue Awards for best music.
Brian made his last visit to Tri-School for West Side Story auditions in February 1991, having been released from the hospital a few days earlier. He said at the time that he had a burst of energy and wanted to use it. Brian lived every day to the fullest and chose to give the last healthy year of his life to Tri-School Theatre students. His life and death served as an inspiration to all who knew him.
With this award, Brian Shucker’s gentle presence will always be a part of the Tri-School Theatre and now Trinitas Arts Conservatory and the music of his life will live in the hearts of those whose lives he directly and indirectly touched. Brian Shucker died on April 12, 1991, of a brain tumor caused by AIDS.