Bryann Burgess and Tonya Cobb

[00:04] BRIAN BURGESS: Hi. My name is Brian Burgess, and I'm 35 years old. And today's date is March 24 in the year 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. And I'm here today with my friend and co worker, Tanya Cobb.

[00:32] TANYA COBB: Hi, I'm Tanya Cobb. I am 43 years old. Today's date is March 24, 2024. We are located in Columbia, South Carolina, and my relationship to Brian, as we are coworkers and friends. Right, Brian, thanks so much for joining today to talk. We want to talk a lot today about just how we know each other and talk about our new nonprofit organization called Papa Tank Theatre for inclusion, and talk to you just about your history and the arts and just all of your accomplishments. You've had so many accomplishments in your time here, and I'm just so excited to talk to you about them. Do you want to talk about, real quick how we know each other?

[01:24] BRIAN BURGESS: Sure. Absolutely. So I know Tanya, and the very first time I met her was through the board of directors meeting with the Columbia Children's Theater. And one thing led to another, and we decided to start a theater for inclusion and entitled the Papa Tank Theater for inclusion, named after my grandfather, Papa Tank. And it was just an incredible experience not only to be involved with Columbia children's theater with you, but to finally do a theater for inclusion, Palpatine theater for reclusion together. And, you know, I have a great connection together, and I knew from the very beginning I wanted to have you as my friend.

[02:20] TANYA COBB: Oh, I feel the same way. We. I remember those days on the board with this local arts organization during COVID It was such an odd time. Like, we were on Zoom calls with each other, right? Like, the whole. The whole board is on Zoom calls, which was odd enough to begin with, but you just always. You always had this spirit where you spoke your mind and you wanted to be heard, and everybody heard you. You did such a good job with that. I just remember being always so inspired by that. First of all, it's not something I do easily share exactly what I'm thinking and when I'm thinking it, but just to be on a video call with 15 other people and to say exactly what I want to say when I want to say it. You did such a good job of that always. And, you know, we did. This part of our board was a cultural equity board, and you always did such a good job of expressing and inspiring other people to care about inclusion and acceptance, and I just. That's how we met. Right. That's how you inspired me. And I knew from that moment that, you know, we had to do something, and, you know.

[03:30] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely.

[03:31] TANYA COBB: Yeah. And you and Larry Henry together created this organization, and I'm so grateful. You know, you guys have done such a fabulous job at founding an inclusive arts organization, and I can't wait to see all it does in the future.

[03:47] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely. I agree. We do have a bright future with the Papa tank theater for inclusion.

[03:53] TANYA COBB: We do.

[03:54] BRIAN BURGESS: Yeah.

[03:54] TANYA COBB: Tell me about your journey getting there, though. You've done so much in the arts world. Just tell us all about, like, what all you've done in the. In the arts community and performing arts.

[04:05] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely. And first of all, thank you very much. I started in the. In the creative ways when I was really young, and I learned how to sing and dance as soon as I could walk and talk. And throughout being homeschooled, even before being homeschooled, we had, my parents and I were helping each other, trying to find the best teachers out there for me, whether it's through singing or doing piano or doing acting, you know? And I've always been a very creative person growing up, and, like, I would literally become my own director, music director, choreographer, you name it. And I would perform, like, showcases for my parents, family, and friends. And it was so much fun doing that, you know? And I did some showcases with my unchurched children's choirs, which were a lot of fun and helped me to create and to be myself through the whole creative process, you know? And now I'm currently performing at town theater. Been in about 1314 shows there. And I had a breakthrough moment with the papa ting theater for inclusion because I landed my first leading role ever in lemonade, and that was so much fun. And I enjoyed the whole process. Like, and of course, we have amazing company of performers, you know, whether they are in a wheelchair or if they're. If they couldn't hear or whatever, you know, down syndrome on the spectrum for autism, you know, what matters is that we're all friends, and we have so much fun being together, having friendships with them.

[06:17] TANYA COBB: Absolutely.

[06:18] BRIAN BURGESS: And to create and have fun, that's what we're all about, you know? And I just feel like that throughout my life, it's been all about inclusion and acceptance, and I learned about that Rick college at USC, gogamecocks. I just learned love and acceptance and inclusion and what it means to me and what it should mean to everyone out there to experience that love and acceptance and inclusion.

[06:52] TANYA COBB: That's so amazing that you're right. That's what the new nonprofit is all about that you're running. It's just. It's about inclusion. It's about having no limits. No labels.

[07:04] BRIAN BURGESS: No limits.

[07:05] TANYA COBB: Yeah. Creating a performing arts organization that is for all, abilities of all, and that just shows. And everything you've done leading up till now, that's your life. About being included in acceptance, and you've had such great mentors in your life that brought you along and included and accepted you and created space for you to, you know, be self expressive and follow your dream of performing arts and music and all those great things. Just incredible.

[07:39] BRIAN BURGESS: I really had to agree. I would love to give them a shout out right now because they have been huge supporters of me, and I have learned so much from them, and.

[07:51] TANYA COBB: Absolutely.

[07:53] BRIAN BURGESS: And I really want to thank all of my teachers for not only mentoring me and for teaching me, but for challenging me in a good and healthy way, and I appreciate them. And if you're. And if you guys are listening in, I just want to say thank you so much, and I love you all very much.

[08:12] TANYA COBB: I love that you're always so good at that. You're grateful, and you share that. You share that attitude of gratitude, you know, with people, and it's such a great gift. When did you fall in love with the performing arts? When do you. Can you remember? Back when.

[08:28] BRIAN BURGESS: Oh, my goodness.

[08:28] TANYA COBB: Seems like it's been a part of your world.

[08:30] BRIAN BURGESS: It's been a huge part of my life. Life. As I mentioned before, I've been a very creative person, you know, with doing recitals and concerts, everything from my family and friends, you know, and that just really sparked my interest and my parents and I really caught on to what was going on. And so my whole life has been finding the right teachers in my life. And sometimes it's hard to find the right teachers, but I feel like I really found them, you know? And they have helped me to grow and to learn to be challenged and. But to experience the pure joy of.

[09:12] TANYA COBB: It, you know, that's amazing. It's such a cool, just amazing.

[09:18] BRIAN BURGESS: I love it. I love that you tell people and there are no limits to what you can achieve.

[09:22] TANYA COBB: That's it. That's it. And that for you to have that spirit, too, just is so wonderful. Love it. Okay, we talked about USC. Tell me about some of the people who have influenced your life. You mentioned your parents and some of your educators. Anyone else you can think of, or you can talk more about them, even who all have influenced your life?

[09:44] BRIAN BURGESS: I have had so many people who have influenced my life, like my parents, Jim and Kitty burgess. Love you, mom and dad. And of course, I have a very huge family and friends who have been so supportive, and I thank them so much for their continuing love and support. And, oh, my goodness, I have a long list of names for my family, but I also would love to get a shout out to my cousins as well, that they have really influenced my life, especially my cousin Blake Neely and his son Jacob Neely. Love you both, by the way, but they're composers, you know, and they have helped me both musically and also as a family member, so. And I love them. I love my family a lot. I love my friends a lot, and, oh, my goodness, especially my grandparents. I love my grandparents a lot. Even though they have passed on, I feel like that they're still in my heart, and I feel them everywhere I go, especially with my grandfather. Papa tank.

[10:56] TANYA COBB: Yeah. Tell us about him. Tell us about papa Tank. He's got an incredible story.

[11:00] BRIAN BURGESS: He really, really does. He served in the army in world War two, and I tried really hard not to cry, but, um, it's an incredible story, but he really means a lot to me. He is my mom's and also my uncle Bill's father and my grandmother Nanna, I call her nanny. He was her husband. And so they basically, he basically traveled everywhere because he was stationed in so many places. And he actually met my grandmother in the Philippines, and they got married there. And together they grew a very beautiful family, my mom and my uncle, you know, and some. Somewhere he was captured. He was a prisoner of war and, by the Germans, but he managed to survive all of that. I don't know how he did it, but he did. It didn't matter if he was hungry or thirsty or if he was being rained on. He put 1ft in front of the other, and he's my hero. He was very courageous. And one of my favorite stories that my mom told me was that there was a german family who lived in a farm, and they saw how they saw my grandfather and they saw how run down he was, you know, that he was hungry and thirsty and everything, and they took care of him. And right before he left their farm, two of the little girls, two of the farm girls, they brought eggs for him to nurture, to suck on for nourishment. And it's one of my favorite stories, and I want to thank that family for doing that. And if it weren't for them, my grandfather would not be alive, and he would not see my mom or my grandmother or my uncle, you know, but he did survive it. He managed to get back home, and.

[13:25] TANYA COBB: He had an incredible spirit.

[13:26] BRIAN BURGESS: He had a very incredible spirit. He really, really did. And he inspires me so much and motivates me to keep going through life, to not give up, and no matter what, always keep looking forward and keep 1ft in front of the other. And that's why I wanted to do a theater for inclusion, you know, because I love inclusion, what it means to me in my journey, and I love my family and my grandfather so much. And I also love all the art programs out there, whether it's visual art or theater, dance, music, everything, you know? And to have that and pure joy of that along with inclusion, it just means everything to me.

[14:19] TANYA COBB: Yeah, that's so good. So I think his spirit lives on in you, and you can tell it, like, just that. Your spirit of not giving up and not taking no for an answer. I think a lot of your life, you've pushed through a lot of boundaries, and you've created things and done these amazing things in the theater world. And you mentioned it. It's why the theater is named after Papa Tank.

[14:48] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely.

[14:49] TANYA COBB: He just had that spirit about him, and that's the spirit that is Papa tank theater for inclusion.

[14:55] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely, absolutely. Especially through college. It was hard getting used to a really big campus, but I was like, no. No way. I can do this. My grandfather has taught me so much about having courage and having faith in myself, and it's like I was. I'm gonna stay here. You know, I thought about throwing in the towel, but I was like, no, no, no. I'm not gonna give up. My grandfather's not give up, which means I can't give up, you know?

[15:26] TANYA COBB: Yeah. And then tell us about USC. So you. I mean, tell us about that program and the life program, right, at USC.

[15:34] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely. Yeah. It's called Carolina Life. Life stands for learning is for everyone. It's a two to four year program, and I went for four years, and I loved it. I really, really did. I mean, I met so many amazing people who become my friends. And not only did I take Carolina life classes, like university of 101 or getting used to campus life, you know, but they were very supportive of me, you know, taking voice lessons, acting classes, piano lessons, and, of course, they also supported me in my decision to become a teacher. I decided to become a kinder music teacher, and which was amazing. That's how I met my wonderful friend Alison Schroeder. We started out doing theater together back in 2009. One thing led to another. She asked if I wanted to be her assistant in kinder music, and I said yes, of course. And USC and Carolina life are very supportive of that in a lot of ways. And I, of course, attended a lot of football games, of course, baseball games, basketball games, and just. I enjoyed my four semesters while I was there, and it was an incredible experience, and I want to thank all those teachers and mentors, my friends, everybody. It's been. It was hard getting used to it at first, but, you know, now it's not hard anymore, because I. It was a major accomplishment, because next thing I knew, I graduated in the spring of 2012, and it was an incredible experience. And actually, one of the deans, he met me halfway, gave me the biggest bear hug. And it was when he was handing.

[17:45] TANYA COBB: Me your degree, right?

[17:47] BRIAN BURGESS: Yes, absolutely. It was the coolest, most touching, and sweetest moment. I'll never, you know, forget, you know, what?

[17:56] TANYA COBB: Support.

[17:57] BRIAN BURGESS: All that support. Absolutely. And we had a party afterwards, my house. So we. That was a lot of fun, too, you know, seeing all my friends and parents, my family, everybody. You know, it felt so good to have that accomplishment.

[18:11] TANYA COBB: So fantastic, so amazing. We've touched on, you know, papa tank, and, you know, I know he was such a great influence in your life. And so I wanted to talk to you a little bit real quick about papa tank. Theater for inclusion and what we do. So we are a nonprofits organization that is theater for all. It's an inclusive theater. And would you mind reading the mission statement?

[18:35] BRIAN BURGESS: Sure. Absolutely. Put on my glasses here so I can see it. Okay. So our mission is embracing and respecting the uniqueness of all people. We create artistic opportunities for young artists and families.

[18:59] TANYA COBB: So good. What does inclusion mean to you when we say the word inclusion? How does that make you feel?

[19:10] BRIAN BURGESS: Oh, my goodness. A lot. There is a lot. But I feel like inclusion, to me, is acceptance, the acceptance to be myself. And that's what I love teaching our students, you know, to. To express themselves, to accept themselves, and to embrace and to include everyone, you know, regardless if they have a disability or not, you know, and that we. We're all in this together because we are beautiful by being who we are, you know?

[19:50] TANYA COBB: Absolutely. And you do such a great job of, you know, I think exampling that, if that's a word, even, you know, just showing our students that, embodying that to our students that, you know, we are limitless. And, you know, just never forget, we were in a meeting with our artist, our four teaching artists one day. They're talking. Yeah, they're fabulous. And we were talking about our values. We were coming up with our values statements. And I remember, yeah, you were talking just about. I think one of them is we are limitless, and one of them is, you know, we don't. What is it? I have it in front of me somewhere about labels. Just that we understand that our work must focus on removing labels.

[20:33] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely.

[20:34] TANYA COBB: You know, and it was such a.

[20:35] BRIAN BURGESS: There should be no labels. It should be about us as human beings now. We love and support each other and to accept and. And include each other, too.

[20:44] TANYA COBB: Absolutely. I don't know how you feel, but I feel like we do a great job at that at the theater. Absolutely.

[20:50] BRIAN BURGESS: We really do.

[20:51] TANYA COBB: Yeah. And you do such a good job at mentoring the students and us all, the staff and all of the volunteers, you mentor us to embody those values and carry this mission forth and create inclusive opportunities for students and just make theater available for any and all. Anyone who's interested in being a performer and being in the performing arts.

[21:15] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely. And the joy of it, too.

[21:18] TANYA COBB: Yeah, for sure. Okay.

[21:21] BRIAN BURGESS: Sorry.

[21:22] TANYA COBB: Well, what. What would you like to be remembered by? Is there anything.

[21:28] BRIAN BURGESS: Oh, my goodness. I would like to be remembered as someone who just includes and says everyone for who they are and to be. As a reminder to everyone, to love and accept and include each other and just to be someone who speaks out for, not only for myself, but for everyone else out there who may not have a voice, but their voices need to be heard. And I love speaking about that, you know, and what that. And what that really means. And I also do a lot of public speaking, and I speak a lot about the empowerment of being someone's voice, being, not only being your own voice, but to. To be the voice for others who don't have a voice, but it's important for them to have a voice, you know?

[22:35] TANYA COBB: Absolutely.

[22:36] BRIAN BURGESS: Our voices need to be heard, for sure.

[22:39] TANYA COBB: Yes. And you do such a great job with that. It's so wonderful. What about. What are you proudest of in your life?

[22:50] BRIAN BURGESS: Oh, goodness. Everything.

[22:52] TANYA COBB: And you should be. Anything stick out in particular, just, oh, my goodness.

[23:01] BRIAN BURGESS: It's literally everything about life accomplishments like singing in the choir at my church and learning how to sing as an alto, you know, because I've been a mezzo soprano, so it's. Sometimes it's kind of hard to deal with that, you know? And growing up, I had some problems with pitch, you know, singing in pitch, you know, but through voice lessons and hard work and dedication, it really helped me so much to be the alto in the choir, you know?

[23:40] TANYA COBB: Yeah, that's amazing. And you put. You can tell you put in the work with things, too. Like, you don't you don't approach it, that life happens, you know, to you. You approach it, that life happens for you, and you go out and you make these opportunities possible, and you do these incredible things, and it's because you put yourself out there and you go for it. It's just so inspirational. It's something I value, and it's just amazing.

[24:08] BRIAN BURGESS: Thank you. Always go for it. And to anyone who wants to be an actor or singer or be a professional musician or acting or whatever, just know that. That you can do it, that dreams can come true, and no matter what, never give up and keep going. You can do it.

[24:33] TANYA COBB: Yeah, absolutely. What are your hopes for what the future holds?

[24:38] BRIAN BURGESS: Oh, my God.

[24:40] TANYA COBB: It's a big one.

[24:42] BRIAN BURGESS: I would love to see my. To kind of further my education, whether it's through music theater. I do a lot with town theater, by the way, so I would love to continue to do that, continue singing my church choir and. Oh, my goodness. And just be me, you know?

[25:05] TANYA COBB: Absolutely.

[25:06] BRIAN BURGESS: You know, just getting out of my comfort zone, doing something big, no matter what it is, dancing with the starts, whatever, you know?

[25:13] TANYA COBB: Yes.

[25:14] BRIAN BURGESS: You know, and just getting out there and continuing to be a voice for others, you know, and to advocate for them, you know, that's. That's always been something I've always wanted to do my whole life. And so my. My future is. I can see my future, but, you know, I would give up. I would give it to God, of course, you know, because he is there, you know, and he knows what my future holds, you know, although I kind of see it, you know, but in my own way. But I know that God is always there to say, hey, I'm with you, you know?

[25:56] TANYA COBB: Yeah, fantastic.

[25:58] BRIAN BURGESS: No matter what happens, I'm here for you, you know, and just continue to be the person that I want. God. What God wants to see me as, you know, and what other people think. I mean, what other people know about me, you know? And that's just to be who I am and to be the voice for others and just continue on through your life and not giving up, you know?

[26:26] TANYA COBB: Will you do that for all the people that you or your colleagues? You inspire us every day to keep doing that, keep pushing forward and, you know, hearing your advocacy and spreading it, and you do that for our students, too, at the Papa tank Theatre for inclusion. You show them that anything is possible and to not give up and keep moving forward. And just hearing that inspiration from you, you inspire them to keep doing that and to be excited for the future and what the future holds for them, too. And you show them that it's possible, that anything is possible.

[27:02] BRIAN BURGESS: Thank you.

[27:02] TANYA COBB: Such a huge legacy. And not only that, but creating your own nonprofit arts organization.

[27:08] BRIAN BURGESS: You know, what about you, Tanya What do you. I mean, what's your future, and what do you hope to accomplish as someone who will remember you?

[27:20] TANYA COBB: Oh, man. I hope to continue being the best mom for my boys. That's a big one, right? Being an inspiration to them and sharing your passion with them. Right. That they can do anything, that they are limitless. So you've definitely inspired that in me to carry on and forward to my boys. That and our theater. I think this organization is breaking down walls and barriers.

[27:50] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely.

[27:51] TANYA COBB: And I think that's such a great thing to have in our community and the arts community in particular, just that we can show our students that anything is possible, and they don't have to fit into any kind of mold or anything. They can come in and they can be themselves and bring whatever it is that makes them happy and who they are and that they have a place in our theater. So just. Just that I'm so thrilled for our students and seeing what all they do with their futures, that they have the opportunity to be on a stage or to be in the performing arts, and they may not have had one before.

[28:28] BRIAN BURGESS: I am proud of your sons. I really am. I love your family.

[28:32] TANYA COBB: Thank you. And I love yours, too. You guys are an incredible family. You guys have done some really awesome things, and I know you're proud and you should be. And your family's done such a good job at supporting you and being along your journey with you. I know you mentioned your big family, and they are. They're such a big family. It's so good to have, like, such a great, you know, community behind you like they have been. And it's just another testament to who you are and who your family is and who papa tank was and why his spirit lives on in this theater and he lives on in you, and you carry that, that incredible, not give up spirit take, not taking over an answer, you know, that's what it's about.

[29:16] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely.

[29:17] TANYA COBB: We bring that every day to our students, and it's a. It's just all for the great, better future of everyone.

[29:22] BRIAN BURGESS: Absolutely. And I also see Papa tank through my mom, my dad, and my family who knew him well, you know? And the coolest thing that I can tell you about Papa Tank is that I have his picture in my bedroom, and I have a shadow box that my cousin gave me with all of his medals. That he earned in the army. It's amazing. Not to mention the information he gave me, a little packet of information about each medal that he earned. And then right there, it's very special, you know? And I thank my cousin for that. And I also thank my parents and my family about all the stories that they remember about my grandfather. So I feel like that he lives on through everyone.

[30:10] TANYA COBB: That's incredible. I love that they've shared that with you, too. Just that, you know, they haven't let the stories fade away, right, that they live on. And they're with the stories of their.

[30:21] BRIAN BURGESS: Memories of my grandfather. And I may not remember all of those memories because I really didn't. I really don't remember because he passed away two years before I was born. But I. As hard as that is, I still. I still have him inside me. And I thank goodness for the stories, um, because they're stories of the memories that live on, you know? And as I have them, ascribed all my heart.

[30:52] TANYA COBB: So that incredible spirit, don't ever let it go.

[30:55] BRIAN BURGESS: I will never let it go. I will never let it go.

[30:58] TANYA COBB: Good. Oh, thanks, Brian. This has been really wonderful. I appreciate you so much. I'm so grateful that I get to learn from you and grow with you and carry your spirit with me and your mentoring. I'm just so grateful for you.

[31:15] BRIAN BURGESS: Thank you. I'm very thankful for you, too.