Freedom revoked for artistic director

Audience members waiting in the lobby recently for the start of an improv show at the Onyx were startled to see artistic director Brandon Burk being led away in handcuffs. It was perhaps the most dramatic “end of a reign” in modern local playhouse history.

Let’s back up.

The 31-year-old Burk, a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Master of Fine Arts performance program — and the dialect coach for the Strip’s production of “Spamalot” — was arrested nearly six years ago on a DUI fatality charge. He had spent several hours drinking at the Rio following a performance there in “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.” Burk wound up driving the wrong way on the freeway and killed a man who had just gotten back the day before from military service in Iraq. He was sentenced to 5½-14½ years in prison.

He was incarcerated in Carson City where he was an active organizer of the inmates’ Alcohol Anonymous program. He also conducted a Shakespeare class. I was visiting him once when a prisoner came up to our table and said, “Brandon, I hope just because you have a visitor that doesn’t mean Shakespeare class is going to be canceled.”

In April he became part of a local work-release program. The Onyx hired him in June as artistic director, where he initiated a popular “affordable Broadway” series.

Burk’s partial freedom came with a lot of restrictions. He was supposed to go only to work, eat meals within the theater’s shopping complex and stay off the Internet. Some of the rules were curious. For example, he was permitted to serve liquor (despite his having been arrested on a drinking charge), but was not allowed to work in a tattoo parlor (despite his having no relationship with either needles or tattoos).

The same day he was handcuffed at the Onyx, he had been granted house arrest, which was expected to take place in about two weeks.

On Jan. 28 two prison officials made a surprise visit to the theater and found Burk in possession of an iPad. (Can you imagine the poor actors who were performing improv that night? Their audience had just watched the theater’s chief being hauled away and minutes afterward they had to go onstage and try to make them laugh.) Of course, it’s not about the iPad. It’s about a prisoner being given privileges and abusing them.

Burk, speaking from the Southern Desert Correctional Center, says he’ll likely be incarcerated at least until November, when he could be released on parole. If the attorney general throws an additional charge at him for his iPad violation, he could get up to 36 months more.

Burk feels he blew a great opportunity. He says he became arrogant. The more freedom he was given, the more he wanted. He’s upbeat, though, in that during his tenure at the Onyx he kept his vow of sobriety.

Local entertainer (and host of the podcast “LVTAPS” on LVTAPS.com) Lysander Abadia is currently taking care of the playhouse’s day-to-day operations. He had been named Burk’s assistant just days before the incident. The two continue to communicate about theater policy.

Onyx owner Mike Morse says he’ll hire Burk back as artistic director no matter how long his time in prison.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat@ aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.