Communication, Media & Theatre Arts

Biography

Professor Bridges has been directing plays for more than forty years and has been teaching theatre arts and directing plays at Eastern Michigan University for more than three decades. For example, he directed Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (2024), Pipeline (2022), and North Star (2020) for Eastern Michigan University Theatre. Bridges is the recipient of the Fulbright U. S. Scholar award which allowed him to teach undergraduate and graduate theatre courses and to direct Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (2016) at the University of Ghana in Accra. Coincidentally, during this period he also co-directed another production of A Raisin in the Sun at the National Theatre of Ghana. A U.S. Army veteran, Bridges was the stage director for Stories of Service: An Evening with Veterans at Hill Auditorium (2018), a public storytelling event in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He also wrote and performed “A Salute to Fatherhood” for the Big-Hearted Stories: On Purpose storytelling event at the Mendelssohn Theatre in Ann Arbor. Bridges holds memberships with the Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. He last appeared in a feature film as Rudy in No Sudden Move (2021), sharing the screen with Don Cheadle. Having acted onstage, Bridges played the role of Dr. Joseph LeVay in Stick Fly (2023) at Eastern Michigan University Theatre. And he originated roles in two world-premiere plays at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Michigan. First, he played Lenny in Mitch Albom’s Duck Hunter Shoots Angel (2004) and later Bridges played Johnny in Paul Stroili’s A Jukebox for the Algonquin (2023).

Education

• MFA, Theatre (Directing), Western Illinois University, 1992
• BA, Speech/Drama, Cameron University, 1983
• Teacher Certification, Cameron University, 1985–1990

Courses

• CTAR 100 Theatre Appreciation
• CTAR 100 Theatre Appreciation (online)
• CTAR 151 African American Theatre
• CTAR 151 African American Theatre (online)
• CTAR 158 Fundamentals of Acting
• CTAR 155 Producing Theatre
• CTAR 355 Play Direction

Advising

• Theatre Arts, BA, major and minor

Professional Affiliations

• Actors' Equity Association
• Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists