Dr. Brian Kelly, DDS

Video above: In addition to The Denver Actors Fund, Dr. Brian Kelly, DDS, offers his charitable services through the Dental Lifeline Network.

Denver Actors Fund’s partnering dentist is also a Broadway veteran

To riff off the Broadway musical “Legally Blonde,” The Denver Actors Fund and Dr. Brian Kelly, DDS, go together like the bend and snap. And to put a ring on that perfect partnership, the Denver Actors Fund unanimously approved adding the dancing, donating dentist to its Board of Directors in February 2021.

Kelly was a veteran of four Broadway productions, including playing Mark during the original run of “A Chorus Line” before pursuing a career in dentistry at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1985. Since 2017, Dr. Kelly has treated dozens of Colorado theatre artists in need of emergency dental care as his in-kind donation to The DAF though his associates at the Dental Center at Thornton Plaza. The total value of Dr. Kelly’s free service to Denver Actors Fund applicants to date is estimated at $83,000.

He does it, he says, because he can – and he should. It’s safe to assume no dentist more viscerally understands the precariousness of the actor’s life than Kelly.

“These people who do theater – the actors, the producers, the stagehands and others – they are underserved and underpaid,” Dr. Kelly said. “Many of them have no health insurance, much less dental insurance. This is a community of people who offer a service. They make peoples’ lives better and happier by entertaining them. And the idea that they can’t afford to go to a dentist because it is outrageously expensive bothers me greatly. They deserve help when they need it.”

Chris Gibley, President of the Denver Actors Fund, welcomed Dr. Kelly to the Board of Directors with a pearly white smile.

“Brian brings a breadth and depth of relevant experiences to The Denver Actors Fund Board: As a renowned dentist for many years, as an educator, as a volunteer to underserved charity organizations, and as a professional actor and dancer. On behalf of our Board of Directors, I am excited to welcome Dr. Kelly to our team.”

Last year, “5280 Magazine” included Dr. Kelly among Denver’s top dentists as chosen by his peers for the 13th year in a row.

‘These people who do theater – the actors, the producers, the stagehands and more – they are underserved and underpaid.’ – Dr. Brian Kelly, DDS

“I will never forget the night Brian tapped me on my shoulder in the lobby of the Arvada Center, introduced himself, and suggested we partner up,” said Denver Actors Fund Founder and Executive Director John Moore. “When he did that, he changed the trajectory of The Denver Actors Fund, and he has since helped dozens of artists from the Colorado theatre community out of some very scary dental situations.”

Dr. Kelly and all his staff “are Earthly angels,” said Phamaly Theatre Company actor Stewart Tucker Lundy, who in December 2020 found himself severely underinsured and in need of urgent and extensive dental care, including multiple extractions and root canals. Dr. Kelly took care of him.

“I have noticed that I smile more now when people take pictures of me, and that I feel a lot more confident speaking to people. I think to myself, ‘They are admiring my smile because Dr. Kelly did such a wonderful job.’ I am truly grateful.”

Brian Kelly was working nearly nonstop as a professional dancer in New York and around the country before he even turned 21. He was raised in the northern Chicago suburb of Glencoe, where he developed a love of theatre in high school. Or, as he put it: “Because I could walk and chew gum, I was considered both an actor and a dancer.” He fell in love with ballet the University of Illinois and was soon performing with the Chicago Ballet.

He was accepted into the American Ballet Theatre in New York in part, he said, because of his 5-foot-5 height. “Mikhail Baryshnikov was there at the time, and they needed short dancers to make him look tall,” he said with a laugh. He danced for a season at Lincoln Center before being cast in the Broadway musical “American Dance Machine.” That show was described as a “living archive of Broadway dancing” and featured the choreography of Agnes De Mille, Michael Kidd, Bob Fosse and others.

‘Dr. Kelly and all his staff are Earthly angels.’ – Stewart Tucker Lundy

He auditioned for “A Chorus Line” on his 21st birthday and was hired into a national touring production, which led to his joining the Broadway company. Frankly, he preferred the touring life, he said, “because you get the per diem.”

After three years with “A Chorus Line” in New York and around the country, Dr. Kelly was cast as a replacement in the Broadway production of “The Pirates Of Penzance.” “But the day I started rehearsal was they day they posted their closing notice,” he said.

Kelly’s dentist suggested he consider dental school himself, and Kelly was enrolled at Hunter College to take prerequisite medical courses when he landed an audition for “La Cage Aux Folles” as one of the ensemble “Cagelle” dancers.

“I go into this room and they asked if I can sing,” he said. “I got one note out from the song ‘Make Someone Happy’ when I heard this voice from the back say, ‘He can sing.’ That was it. Someone told me, ‘Shave your beard; we’re going to put you in drag.’ Then a couple of weeks later, I got called back in for the role of Francis, who plays the stage manager. So I go in, and that’s when I hear that same voice from the back say, ‘You shaved your beard!’ And I said that I was told to, because I was cast to play drag. And he just said, ‘Grow it back!’ That was Arthur Laurents – the man who wrote ‘West Side Story.’ ”

After 2 1/2 years in “La Cage Aux Folles, Kelly moved to Boulder and graduated second in his dentistry class at the University of Colorado in 1989. Dr. Kelly holds the distinction of being the only dentist to have achieved perfect scores on the National Board Exams for Dentistry, Parts I and II.

But after graduation, he didn’t have an immediate job, so he began dancing for a wide variety of local companies, including Colorado Ballet and The David Taylor Dance Theatre. “I met my wife, Nan, in ballet class – and she hated my guts at first,” he said with a laugh. They now have two daughters.

*Dr. Brian Kelly takes it all off as Harold in the Arvada Center’s ‘The Full Monty’ in 2005. Photo by P. Switzer.*

Dr. Kelly has occasionally returned to local stages, with a resume that includes productions at the Arvada Center, Aurora Fox and Candlelight Dinner playhouse in Johnstown. At the Arvada Center, he played Cosmo in “Singin’ In the Rain,” Chip in “On The Town,” Benny Southstreet in “Guys And Dolls” and Harold in “The Full Monty.”

Throughout his time as a partner at The Dental Center, Kelly has unofficially provided free dental care for uninsured artists in the local dance and theatre communities. He also has provided free dentistry for the disabled and other underserved communities through the Dental Lifeline Network, Donated Dental Services, Denver Rescue Mission Dental Clinic and the Stout Street Dental Clinic.

It was when he read that The Denver Actors Fund had paid the dental bill for a member of the Arvada Center’s “Sister Act” ensemble that he decided to reach out and suggest a collaboration.

“I am a lucky son of a bitch,” said Kelly. “I got to do exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I danced at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Shubert Theatre, The Palace Theatre and a lot of other places. I got to go to dental school, and I got to make a good living. But a lot of these people make $24,000 a year, and a root canal can cost them $3,000. So how can I not help?”

Denver dancer Rose Metcalf recently developed an ache in two teeth but, without health insurance, she turned to The Denver Actors Fund for help. “Generating a livable income as a theatre performer is already a feat,” Metcalf said. “Throw in a pandemic, and so many of us are experiencing ongoing financial hardship right now.

“When my toothache became debilitating, I was without options. The Denver Actors Fund was my glimmer of hope, and I cannot tell you what a relief it was to get the help I needed. Not only did Dr. Kelly gift me with excellent dental care, he did it with show tunes and stories of his time on Broadway. I honestly don’t know what I would have done without Dr. Kelly, his team and the aid of The Denver Actors Fund.”

For his efforts, Kelly won a 2017 True West Award as a “Difference-Maker” in the local theatre community. Added Gibley: “As Brian says, ‘For it is in giving that we receive.’ ”

Kelly fills a vacancy on the Denver Actors Fund Board of Directors that opened with the recent resignation of Secretary Penny Dwyer, who accepted a three-year term in 2015 and went on to serve for five. Gibley has announced that current Board member Fletcher L. Woolsey will become the new Secretary.

Other current DAF Board members are Dr. Kelli Lewis, Gail Bransteitter, Elizabeth Scott-McKean and Kenny Moten.

Note: Colorado theatre artists should not contact Dr. Brian Kelly directly for dental care. Here is the application to apply.

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