THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2019 // 9
Continued from Page C8
“This hotel was not nor-
mal. This was a real mag-
ical place,” said Herron,
who grew up across the
street from the building,
which was known as one
of the largest coastal desti-
nations from Seattle to San
Francisco.
“I said, ‘somebody’s got
to capture this because peo-
ple will forget what kind of
a world it really was.’”
Bringing the hotel to life
The play will mold mel-
ody and memory from Her-
ron’s childhood on stage
as a team of 10 actors and
eight musicians recreate
the Gearhart Hotel, which
was torn down in 1972,
just months before it would
have earned a protected
spot on the national historic
registry.
Herron spent his sum-
mers swimming at the
hotel’s pool and his falls
feasting in the grand dining
halls. Every New Years Eve,
the Osburns, who owned the
hotel, hosted a party, and
Ms. Osburn rode her pal-
omino horse through the
lobby at midnight.
“My family would tell
me stories about when they
were younger and I didn’t
really believe them,” said
Crystal Rouse, 16, an actor
in the musical. “But to hear
it from [Herron] is just so
cool.”
“It feels like I missed out,
because we don’t have that
these days.”
Rouse gets to relive it all
as Sally Shea, a Gearhart
Hotel lifeguard and heroine
in the musical.
Like every character in
the play, Shea was an actual
member of the Gearhart
community.
“We’re using all original
names,” Herron said. “Every
name that you hear in the
play is actually a person.”
The play, which is set
in 1959 but designed to
encompass any era, is com-
prised of fictional scenes
strongly rooted in Herron’s
childhood. It’s a musical of
Lucy Kleiner/The Astorian
From left: Don and Wanda Warren of Portland play Chefs Mark and Marie. Holly Snook of Clatsop County plays Julie, and Aaron Ford of North Carolina plays
Sandy McCall.
Lucy Kleiner/The Astorian
The musical follows the families, employees and visitors
through a summer at the Gearhart Hotel, ‘the magical place
by the sea.’
Lucy Kleiner/The Astorian
Playwright, composer, co-producer and pianist Mike Herron
will be on stage as George Arnold at the Piano Bar. Herron
grew up across the street from the Gearhart Hotel.
conflict, tragedy, youthful-
ness and love.
Community-supported
play
The hotel brought Herron
a lifelong best friend, Blake
Osburn; his first heartthrob,
Sally Shea, the 18-year-old
who taught him to swim
when he was 6; and his wife,
Moe, the play’s co-producer,
whom he met in the hotel’s
bikini room 57 years ago.
While Herron couldn’t
realize the impact the hotel
had made on him during his
adolescence, its history and
community is the reason he
has returned, and that same
community remains the
foundation of the musical.
Herron’s friend from first
grade, now a master carver,
built all the sets. Another
grade school friend is host-
ing him at their home.
“I could really draw from
the community and relation-
ships,” Herron said.
The play’s orchestra will
even feature two of Her-
ron’s former piano students
— violinist Tracie Andrusko
and bass player Richard
Sarpola.
He taught Andrusko
when she was 6 years old.
Now 52, she is the first
chair second violinist for the
Vancouver (Washington)
Symphony.
Sarpola and his son,
George, will break from pit
orchestras on Broadway in
New York City to play in the
musical. Herron gave Rich-
ard lessons when he was 4.
Herron himself will play
piano for the orchestra.
Special check-in
When audience members
arrive at the theater, they
will be greeted by Janna and
Mallory Osburn, the bio-
logical grandchildren of the
hotel owners, who will hand
out paper keys that signify
entry to the hotel.
“They’re not just get-
ting a seat,” Harris said.
“They’re checking into the
hotel — the magical place
by the sea.”
Throughout the play, his-
toric photos will be pro-
jected on screen to help
those in the audience who
once visited the hotel
remember and to help those
who never got the chance to
experience it.
“What I have always
believed is that a good story
transports you to that era,”
Harris said. “It helps you see
yourself there.”