Any-key, swiping the mouse pad, mouse clicks, control+alt+F3 don't work.

Under Power Management, I have it set to suspend when the lid is closed.
Screen saver is currently off per your suggestion, but it makes no difference.

When opening the lid after waiting for it to suspend (as indicated by the power
LED going from solid to blinking) the screen remains blank and now of the
"normal" things makes it fully wake. If I hit the keys to dim or brighten the
screen, I get text "[ 3013.894058] ACPI: Failed to switch the brightness" - even
though it DID "switch the brightness". After this pressing the Enter key lets
me login and takes me to the command line.

If I set it to blank the screen instead of suspend, it recovers when the lid
is opened. I haven't tested to see what will happen if I leave it closed long
enough to suspend due to inactivity.