Tucked away in the projection booth, far above the stage and screen of the 96-year-old Sunset Theatre in downtown Asheboro, North Carolina, we found Tyler “Ty Bru” Brueilly prepping for his “Mighty Grand Finale” event, an hour before doors open.
“It always comes down to these last few minutes. I can plan for months, or I can plan for a few hours, I feel like the universe will show me the same results…and these results start showing themselves right here and now in these minutes, and we will all blink, and it’ll be tomorrow.”
Brueilly speaks softly, with a bit of nervous panic and a grin, but his message is loud with a veteran approach of someone who has planned, organized, and directed over 1,000 events in his professional career.
“I found out pretty quickly that I could throw really special parties in my dorm rooms at Appalachian State University back in 2000. They quickly became legendary, I still run into people when I visit Boone that recall them, at least a dozen people found their wives or husbands at my parties, and last I checked they are all holding strong. Starting in Doughton Hall and then moving over to Hoey Hall, before I moved right smack dab in the middle of King Street with a second-floor apartment. Those five and a half years I spent in Boone really showed me that I knew what I was doing when throwing an event, party, or celebration, and here we are 20 years later with over a rack worth of events, now in a much more professional, formal manner.”
When we asked Ty about expected turnout, he had an unexpected yet logical response. “Prior to showtime, I’ve never really concerned myself with turnout. You get to drowning quickly that way, my focus is the quality of the event and the content that it provides, I can control and curate that, yet with turnout it’s always an unpredictable dice roll, especially with the unique and innovated way I incorporate so much and in a city like Asheboro, you know, today, from 1-10 pm we are having like five events in one.”
Looking at the event program, which we found out was graciously donated by Hunsucker Printing Company, he isn’t lying. Firstly, renowned N.C. artist Casey Mull has a complete, proper exhibition with sculptures (Faded Zodiac), a full painting series (Life Is Fun And Games), and his newly adopted metal relief pieces on the theatre stage and throughout the VIP area. Second, Brueilly is phasing out of his 10-year endeavor of fashion design, hosting his final fashion show. Thirdly, the hometown premiere of ‘7eventh 7irkle’ followed by a Q&A panel with cast and crew, moderated by Carl J. Grasso. Then, for holiday morale boosting, a Christmas Sweater Contest right before an hour-long Mighty Comedy Night 3, programmed by TFoxx, nightcapped with an MTTS Reunion concert, honoring one of the artists, Big Jaton, who passed away on Thanksgiving Day.
“Yeah, I am known for cramming as much as I can, I learned it’s a great way for industry professionals to network and build, unless they get wrapped up so much in the turnout, they miss out on that opportunity and that begins to ruin the vibe of any event, once someone starts complaining about that, it spreads like wildfire and I really try to stomp that out on sight. I promote the hell out of all my events, but I approach these events each and every time for the people involved. I do it for them because someone did it for me. I want them to have a safe and comfortable space and environment that they might never get the chance to experience, and then spread their wings and fly with it, ya dig? Like really fly with it, as a director and programmer, I’m giving golden laced diamond necklaces with these opportunities at venues and event spaces in which I have worked hard and for years to establish trust with, that most people just can’t gain access to.”
And what a stunning venue the Sunset Theatre is, managed by Taylor Crawford. Audiences are transported to a different time, with captivating accents everywhere you look. Mainly used for stage productions, both adult and youth theatre companies, the venue also houses regular Blue Grass nights, often with area legend Tim Moon, Friends Of The Library Sunet Signature Series events, with the most recent with special guest Derek Hinkey (Netflix American Primeval). Sunset Theatre also teams up with Adventures In Theatre for summer camp programs for the area youth, and with the help of Brueilly, they are planning for the third annual Mightier Than The Sword Awards at Sunset Film Festival, scheduled for August 7-9, 2026.
As I sit and watch the array of entertainment, culture, and arts that this Mighty Grand Finale incorporates, impressive is such a weak word for it. I notice the empty seats, but I also notice the many occupied seats from the main auditorium to the balcony, I heard from a man that flew in from Milwaukee just to attend, and there I began to learn much more about Brueilly during this process than I did talking with him or knowing the little bit I did before he sent our office the press pass. His attention to detail is impenetrable, as he takes what he sees in life and displays it for all to observe and enjoy, and for 9 hours, he did just that.
The highlights of this Mighty Grand Finale were threefold.
1. The hometown premiere of ‘7eventh 7irkle’; I have never witnessed such an experimental experience of expression as the 16-minute short film that Brueilly screened during the 6 pm block. It was powerful, it was shaking, it was dark, grim, totally unhinged at times, and above all, miraculously astonishing in almost every way. Based on Brueilly’s interpretations of Canto XIII of Dante’s Inferno, this is his eleventh installment into the ‘Shucks Cinematic World’ that began in 2017. I am planning a rabbit hole dive into the previous ten installments asap.
2. Mighty Comedy Night 3; What a treat this was. Asheboro High School turned Marine, TFoxx put together his first lineup and show, by assembling a dream team of sorts, with two Asheboro area comedians, Major Keys & Dusty Cagle, who, after researching, have become titans in their field, and rightfully so after seeing them on stage. TFoxx then added powerhouses Angie Schultz, Sauce Got Jokes, and Maya Wells, who all have supremely active and strong presences, to round out an hour full of fun and laughter, something fairly new to the Sunset Theatre. Initially intertwined in the MTTS Awards at Sunset Film Festival, it has become a standalone event as well as being a part of multi-faceted Brueilly events.
3. The Artwork of Casey Mull; I’ve never quite seen anything like what he does, notably the sculptures that he meticulously welds together, which will leave you just as frozen as the sculptures themselves as you take it all in. Living in China as an expatriate for 18 years, Casey has lived a life full of equal amounts of love and loss. According to Brueilly, his brother and father passed within four years of each other, and as a viewer of his artworks, you can see the inspiration that both have had on these pieces, which are also highly inspired by the Chinese Zodiac.
As I left the theatre, I was able to catch up one last time with Brueilly after he kissed his wife and two sons goodbye, and I saw the adrenaline begin to fade from his trajectory.
“I feel like this one was better than the last one (May 2025), and I feel that way with each event I do; when I don’t feel that way, I will reanalyze. This was an appropriate way to finish celebrating this 20 year anniversary of Mightier Than The Sword, it’s been a magnificent year and I am fortunate to have reconnected with so many people who have contributed in their various ways to what we have accomplished since 2005, meeting regularly with Tenacious, J Bryant, Westtopher, William Zaybiane, Marshall Alexander and Cowboy Elad XIII has been soul strengthening. I’m particularly proud of the cast and crew that showed up today to represent and talk about ‘7eventh 7irkle’, and also can’t applaud TFoxx enough for putting together a great first comedy show, and Casey for creating so much high-end art. Cheers to all the MTTS Reunion concert participants, and now is the time when I concern myself with the turnout! I got to keep reminding Asheboro that they asked for this, they demanded it, and we supply it, now they need to step up and attend it a little more, because in five years, for our 25th anniversary, we are going to shed a lot of our skin. So I’m making that clear now, that Asheboro has five years left of events like this before a shift, so support while it’s here, we are moving on to the 21st year, which will be our OLD ENOUGH TO DRINK year, so yeah, yeah, yeah, cheers to that!”
