Well, there were a few years in between. There were the years when she and husband David Sr. continuously reminded their oldest child to stay focused on his studies. The years they encouraged him to follow his interests in drama and art. And the years when he was the class clown, the life of any party, the kid who fooled his family and friends by calling them on the phone and disguising his voice.

But the musical at Workshop Theater really seemed to grab young David’s interest, Brown said, as she talked about her son and his most high-profile role to date: playing a condemned man in The Exonerated, now playing at 45 Bleeker Theater in New York. The Exonerated appeared on the 2002 list of top 10 plays in The New York Times and Time magazine, and has featured such well-known actors as Richard Dreyfuss, Susan Sarandon, Jill Clayburgh, and Kristin Davis, one of the stars of Sex in the City and the daughter of USC psychology professor Keith Davis.

“My husband and I went to see The Exonerated in November, and it was wonderful,” said Brown, program coordinator and administrative assistant. “David moved to New York about 10 years ago. He’s done a lot of work in that time, but this is the biggest role for him so far and we are so proud of him.”

Reaching into her desk, Brown pulls out a set of photographs that were taken backstage when David introduced his parents to actors Gabriel Byrne, Amelia Campbell, and Amanda Plummer. She also proudly shares photos of the entire Brown family, including youngest son Jonathan, a junior at Airport High School, and daughter Tara Rivers, who works in USC’s Computer Services Division.

David will always have his family’s support, Brown said, even if it is from the other side of the world: this summer, David is filming a movie, Out of This World, in Japan.

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