JULY 14, 2016 // 11
Actors perform in “Shanghaied in Astoria” during a performance
for sponsors July 6. About 250 local businesses and individual
donors have backed the Opry Company over the years.
the problem, try again.”
Seemingly nothing could
deter her — even a lack of
ticket sales. A decade in to
the performance of “Shang-
haied,” audiences seemed to
be drying up.
“I would call the wom-
en’s shelter and ask if there
were any families who
wanted to see the show for
free,” Niland remembers. “I
didn’t want the cast to see
an empty room. And this
was the 10th year — it takes
time.”
“We tried everything,”
Niland says of the search for
audiences, “dinner theater,
serious plays. Somewhere
along the line it became
clear that we were really
good at melodrama — it
was great for amateur and
professional actors, and it
was great for the barbary
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we live in.”
Around 20 years in,
Niland began directing. She
wrote “Scrooged in Asto-
ria” and “The Real Story
of Lewis and Clark,” two
of the Company’s three re-
peating annual productions.
Eschewing the spotlight,
she has acted sparingly,
only out of necessity. And
while it may seem hard to
believe, Niland maintains
she’s less-interested in
theater as an art form than
for the inclusive, safe space
and nurturing community it
provides.
“I really don’t like
theater that much,” Niland
says. “And I’m sorry to all
my friends out there. I like
the process of why people
get involved in theater, how
it helps them grow, how
it helps them grow more
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that, seeing someone who
feels they’re not capable of
saying a line and eventually
taking a lead role.”
“I provided a playground
For “Shanghaied in Astoria,” dubbed a celebration of Astoria’s
Scandinavian heritage, 26 parts are open for actors, and each
part is triple cast, so about 70 actors participate each summer.
Over the past three decades, the Opry Company has grown
to the point where 500 to 600 people participate each year by
acting on stage or helping behind the scenes.
for that personality to
grow and become a better
person,” she continues.
“All I did was provide a
playground. I made sure
the door was open, so they
could keep doing it. I’m at
the point now where some-
What they needed compli-
mented my skill set, and
what I got in return com-
plimented what I needed.
It was kind of a perfect
synergy.”
Brown came aboard
around the turn of the
century. He began with a bit
of acting, and then lent his
carpentry skills, assisting
Niland with set construction.
In the role of Production
Chair, and a member of
the Board, Brown is one
of many who will come
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void Niland will leave. He
admits, readily, that she will
be impossible to replace —
even by committee.
“I’m heavily involved
and have been heavily
involved with other theater
groups in the area,” Brown
says, “and nobody has been
like Judith Niland. She’s
something else.”
“I don’t believe people
in the community under-
stand the level of dedi-
cation and the amount of
work that Judith has had in
her 30-year career in the
Astoria Opry Company,”
Brown says.
While Niland is irre-
placeable, Brown and the
rest of the Opry Company
family and organization
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forward. Sad as they are to
lose Niland, they don’t feel
like the sky is falling.
“It’s just changing,”
Brown says. “Now is a time
of evolution for the Astor
one else has to keep that
door open.”
—
“The Opry Company
came into my life when
I needed an outlet,” says
Markus Brown. “I needed
to help an organization.
7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
July 7 to Sept. 10
2 p.m. Sunday, July 24, Aug. 14 and Sept. 4
Astor Street Opry Company Playhouse
129 W. Bond St., Astoria
$13 to $21
This summer sees the 32nd annual production of “Shanghaied in Astoria” at the Astor Street
Opry Company Playhouse in Astoria.
Street Opry Company.
We’ve gone through periods
of turmoil, and this is not
like that. It’s time to diver-
sify and expand our board
and committees so we can
meet our mission statement
and commitment to the
community.”
For her part, Niland is
content to step away quietly.
She has forbidden the cast
and crew from throwing any
public party.
“I don’t want anything
to happen,” she says. “It’s
embarrassing. I might throw
my own retirement party.
That was compromise — in
my own backyard.”
In leaving, Niland hopes
to spend more time with
family, and to free herself
to take on the next artistic
challenge, whatever it may
be. “I like that idea that I
still have a good 30 years
left in me, and I like the
idea that I can do something
different,” she says.
“You either keep growing
or you die,” Niland adds.
“I just kind of reached that
point. I pretty much have
taken [The Opry] as far as
my abilities and what I’m
inclined to do.”
As for the company’s
continuing, Niland looks
toward a new generation.
“People love theater,” she
says. “That’s why it’s been
going on since the begin-
ning of man. There’s a lot of
people that it enhances their
lives, and they’re the ones
who need to keep it going.”