Bruce Chester

Bruce was on February 14, 1968. He up in central Massachusetts, in a deeply Christian family. After seeing the movie Superman he decided he wanted to be an actor. At 13, while training at the Guild Players Touring Company of New England, he appeared in his first professional production, "Of Mice and Men". He trained at the Guild for 2 and a half years. During high school he performed in the musicals, "South Pacific", "Li'l Abner" and "Guys and Dolls" starring as Nathan Detroit. In his junior year of high school, Bruce enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard in order to help pay for college. Bruce started his first year at Salem State College, Salem, MA, and appeared in the third production of "Man in a Raincoat". Other performances were "Saint Joan of the Stockyards" by Bertolt Brecht, "Hair", and "Little Shop of Horrors". Bruce was also a talented drummer and singer. He performed with the Salem State College Concert and Jazz Bands, The Early Music Ensemble, and his own band The Tiles. In 1990, Bruce was commissioned as a U.S. Army Lieutenant and began serving in the National Guard as a fully commissioned officer. In 1991 Bruce started a business so he could choose acting jobs that did not violate his Christian beliefs. In August 1994, Bruce married Annastasia and they had a daughter over a year later. In 1995 he was cast as an extra and hired as the Military Advisor for the prestigious American Repertory Theater's production of "Henry V". In 1997, he appeared at the African Meeting House, in Boston as Frederick Douglass in an original production written by Paul Bogan. In 2003, his unit was called to active duty and sent to Iraq for 15 months. Once he returned from Iraq, Bruce resumed performing.