Professor was mentor, friend to his UCF students
Mark Brotherton educated Central Florida theater students for 25 years, while also making his mark on local stages and behind the scenes as director, writer and choreographer.
But more than a mentor or colleague, Brotherton was remembered Thursday on social media as an approachable, warmhearted instructor who gave his students the confidence boost they needed to pursue a career in the unpredictable world of the performing arts.
“You saw in me what no one had,” wrote University of Central Florida graduate Abby Jaros, chosen by Brotherton to star in a production of “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” “You took a chance on me, the biggest compliment an actor could ever receive.”
Brotherton died Thursday of complications caused by cancer, according to his sister, Donna Brotherton Lenahan. The UCF professor, 61, had moved to hospice care earlier in the week after a brief hospitalization.
His impact was felt beyond the UCF campus because of the university’s partnership with two of Central Florida’s most prominent theaters, Orlando Shakes and Orlando Repertory Theatre, where Brotherton acted and directed.
“Our stages and audiences — and me — at Orlando Rep benefited immensely from your stellar talents,” wrote artistic director Jeff Revels, one of hundreds paying tribute on social media. “Your storytelling, no matter if the character was George Bailey or Otto Frank or a slug in ‘Beat Bugs,’ was imbued with rich emotion and a display of the deep human spirit.”
In the 2017 year-end Orlando Sentinel Critic’s Picks, Brotherton was named top director of a musical for his work in Theatre UCF’s “Of Thee I Sing.”
“Mark Brotherton took an old-fashioned musical and made it sing to modern audiences as each production element, including a high-energy cast, came together with precision and flair,” read his honor.
His attention to detail won him recurring praise from critics throughout his career, including a rave review from the Sentinel’s Elizabeth Maupin for a 2000 production of Theatre UCF’s “Orphans.”
“It’s up to Brotherton to bring all of this together,” she wrote of the play’s complex elements, “and he does so in ways that never call attention to themselves.”
Former students recalled his unstuffy teaching style, which could include riding a skateboard in class or dissecting theater over beers at Applebee’s.
“Nothing was finer in my educational days than hearing your cutting wit and your sarcastic tone,” wrote actor Michelle Knight. “Gaining your confidence and friendship continues to be one of my greatest accomplishments.”
His devotion to educating went beyond his own students.
“Even though you were never directly my professor you still treated me like you were,” wrote Joshua Roth. “Always a tip here and there, and always an open ear in your office.”
Michael Wainstein, director of UCF’s School of Performing Arts said that dedication epitomized Brotherton’s style.
“Mark lived and breathed his students and theatre,” Wainstein wrote in an email. “Whenever he and I talked, he was always scheming about ways to make the show he was directing better, or his classes better, or how to help a student that was having problems, or about a classic play he loved.”
He enjoyed staying in touch after graduation — and continuing to provide guidance — former students said.
“At every turn in my career — you have cheered me on, encouraged and inspired me,” wrote director Aradhana Tiwari.
“I will miss the catchups around a bucket of beer,” wrote Jaros, who toured with hit musical “Hamilton.” “I will miss the phone calls when I got my big gig. I will miss the loving texts/ voice mails. The laughs. The cries. The in-betweens.”
Raised in Brooklyn, New York, Brotherton received a bachelor of fine arts degree from the State University of New York at Purchase and a master of fine arts degree from Penn State. He taught at University of Oklahoma before taking a job at University of Central Florida in 1995. At UCF he taught everything from beginning acting to specialty dialects.
Brotherton was teaching two classes this semester before he fell ill.
“He literally taught up to the last minute he could,” Wainstein said. “Hopefully he will keep teaching us as we remember his words, his plays, his amazing performances and his friendship.”
Donations in Brotherton’s memory are being accepted by the UCF School of Performing Arts theater department at ucffoundation.org/givenow, with the hope of establishing a scholarship in his name.
Eric Ulloa, author of “26 Pebbles,” credited a class taught by Brotherton with expanding his career from acting to playwriting.
“You were the first to take a chance on me freshman year in your all tap-dancing musical when I had no damn clue how to tap, and you were the last to send me out the door, knowing the full powers I had as a creator and as an artist,” Ulloa said. “Fourteen years later, on my first trip back to UCF, you stood outside the theater as I walked up with that cherished smile and twinkle in your eye and said, ‘You’re published.’ … You’ve changed so many lives for the better, my friend.”
Loving classic films can be a fraught pastime. Just consider the cultural firestorm over “Gone With the Wind” this past summer. No one knows this better than the film lovers at Turner Classic Movies who are confronted daily with the complicated reality that many of old Hollywood’s most celebrated films are also often a kitchen sink of stereotypes. Last summer, amid the Black Lives Matter protests, the channel’s programmers and hosts decided to do something about it.
The result is a new series, “Reframed Classics,” which promises wide-ranging discussions about 18 culturally significant films from the 1920s through the 1960s that also have problematic aspects, from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and Mickey Rooney’s performance as Mr. Yunioshi to Fred Astaire’s blackface routine in “Swing Time.” It kicked off March 4 with “Gone With the Wind.”
“We know millions of people love these films,” said TCM host Jacqueline Stewart, who is participating in many of the conversations. “We’re not saying this is how you should feel about ‘Pyscho’ or this is how you should feel about ‘Gone With the Wind.’ We’re just trying to model ways of having longer and deeper conversations and not just cutting it off to ‘I love this movie. I hate this movie.’ There’s so much space in between.”
Stewart, a University of Chicago professor who in 2019 became the channel’s first African American host, has spent her career studying classic films, particularly those in the silent era, and Black audiences. She knows firsthand the tension of loving films that also contain racial stereotypes.
“I grew up in a family of people who loved classic films. Now, how can you love these films if you know that there’s going to be a maid or mammy that shows up?” Stewart said. “Well, I grew up around people who could still love the movie.
Jacqueline Stewart is one of the hosts of TCM’s “Reframed Classics,” which features discussions about 18 culturally significant films.
You appreciate some parts of it. You critique other parts of it. That’s something that one can do and it actually can enrich your experience of the film.”
While TCM audiences will know her as the host of Silent Sunday Nights, this past summer she was given a bigger spotlight when she was selected to introduce “Gone With the Wind” on HBO Max to provide proper context after its controversial removal from the streaming service.
TCM hosts Ben Mankiewicz, Dave Karger, Alicia Malone and Eddie Muller will also be part of many conversations. The series, which runs every Thursday through March 25,
will also show “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Gunga Din,” “The Searchers,” “My Fair Lady,” “Stagecoach,” “Woman of the Year” and “The Children’s Hour.”
The goal of “Reframed Classics” is to help give audiences the tools to discuss films from a different era and not just dismiss or cancel them. And Stewart, for her part, doesn’t believe that you can simply remove problematic films from the culture.
“I think there’s something to be learned from any work of art,” she said. “They’re all historical artifacts that tell us a lot about the industry in which they were made, the cultures that they were speaking to.”
Dear Amy: You recently ran a question from “Ghosted by a Friend,” about how it feels when a friend dumps you without explanation.
I have a friend whose best girlfriend of many years ghosted her for no reason. The woman, who had cut off all ties to friends and family, surfaced several years later.
It turned out that she was in an abusive relationship with a man who beat her. She was embarrassed and ashamed. She finally reached out after she got out of the relationship. The two women are best friends again.
So there can be a happy ending.
—E
Dear E: The insight I’ve gained — both from my own life and also from the many questions I’ve fielded about ghosting and estrangement — is that the person being ghosted most often assumes the blame. Blaming oneself is a way of filling the void created when you simply have no idea of why someone has suddenly left you.
It helps to understand that someone who changes direction suddenly might have something important going on in their own life influencing their behavior.
So yes, the scenario you describe presents a very happy ending. This friend managed to escape an abusive situation, and look what happened: her compassionate friend was there, waiting for her.
Dear Amy: I really identified with the letter from “Ghosted by a Friend.” I thought that letter could be about me, because I’m the one who does this to others.
I can cut people out of my life in a heartbeat. It’s a learned behavior from my parents. My sibling did this to me, too.
For me, if a person has lied to me or has hurt me in any way, they are gone.
I felt bad about doing this with one friendship; I tried to repair it, but it was not the same.
If this happens to you, my best advice is to ask the person point-blank what happened, to see if there is anything that can be done to fix it. If they won’t talk about it, let it be. Some of us are just too bullheaded to forgive and forget.
— Ghoster
Dear Ghoster: Your folks taught you how to manage your relationships, and so you repeat this pattern whenever things get uncomfortable. I applaud your insight into your own behavior, and I thank you for sharing it.
Dear Amy: My wife had a male friend who moved away many years ago and broke off all communication with her.
This happened before I met my wife. (He is gay, so it’s not like they had broken off a romantic relationship.)
She is still hurt by him omitting her from his life.
Prior to our wedding 11 years ago, I found him online and emailed him.
I explained who I was and said that we were getting married in February. I thought it would be a wonderful surprise if he attended.
He said he couldn’t make it to our wedding, but that he would contact my wife soon.
A couple of days later I got another email from him, saying that due to circumstances, he won’t be able to contact her.
All these years later my wife still wonders what she did to make him not talk to her.
— Helping Husband Dear Husband: I hope your wife understands that this is not her fault. My theory is that this friend might be caught up in a relationship with a controlling partner.
Dear Amy: I had a similar ghosting experience with a friend of mine and decided to take your advice to get in touch with the person in a nonconfrontational way.
I wrote and sent this to the friend: “Today’s LA Times had a letter from a woman who had lost contact with a friend. (I didn’t write it, but I could have). She didn’t know whether to reach out or just let it go. She was advised to send an email saying ‘I think of you often and would love to hear how you are doing. I hope you’ll be in touch.’ ”
I got an immediate positive response and a plan for the resumption of our friendship. Thank you so much for giving me the tools to correct something that had been bothering me for a long time.
— Grateful
Dear Grateful: What a joyful outcome! Thank you for letting us know what worked for you.
Copyright 2021 by Amy Dickinson
— FSU coach Mike Norvell on QB McKenzie Milton, who is coming off a serious right knee injury