Brett Rickaby

The son of a dairy farmer in Shafer, Minnesota (population 81), Brett Rickaby attended Chisago Lakes High School where, as a senior, he received a letter from a professor at the University of Minnesota in Duluth encouraging him to attend their theatre program. Taking this as a sign, he enrolled at UMD and did not get cast in a single production his first year. Briefly, he considered hanging it up to become a tree trimmer, but re-dedicated himself and was cast in seven full-scale productions his sophomore year. By senior year, he had won the acting equivalent of Heisman Trophy, The National Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. That fall he received a scholarship to attend New York University's MFA program. Rickaby performed in numerous New York and regional theatre productions including The New York Shakespeare Festival, The Roundabout and The Actors Theatre of Louisville. In 1995, he was hired by to play Jigger Craigin in the National Tour of "Carousel."