It’s ‘Almost Baroque’ — in time for Christmas
Actors promise to get a
Handel on ‘Scandal’
BY PATRICK WEBB
The show’s title is “Almost Baroque for
Christmas.”
And director Susi Brown hopes audi-
ences will be entertained as the holiday
looms.
The latest show by Ten Fifteen Pro-
ductions opened this week, and continues
Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Orga-
nizers promise every night will be different.
‘Present’
The holiday review is the second pro-
duction at the Ten Fifteen Theater since
COVID-19 restrictions have eased. Brown’s
longtime collaborator Karen Bain directed
the Irish play “The Weir” in October.
“It is always exciting to open the box
again,” said Brown when asked about
emerging from pandemic-related shut-
downs. “It is as if I am opening a great big
present that’s been shoved in the closet for
a while.”
Brown, a retired school drama teacher,
has directed, acted and created costumes
for countless shows in Astoria. Some years
after The River Theater closed, she created
Pier Pressure Productions, which, in part,
led to the development of the Ten Fifteen
Theater. Brown now serves as the theater’s
board secretary.
Patrick Webb
Music and poetry are key components of the acts presented by the performers in ‘Almost Baroque.’ Left to right are Patrick Lathrop, who will
sing a piece from ‘La Cage aux Folles’ and perform a monologue, DanPa Reiley, who will play an original keyboard piece, guitarist Niall Carroll,
who will sing ‘Hallelujah,’ and Jim Dott who will read poetry and perform in a scene from ‘The Misanthrope.’
‘IT IS AS IF I AM OPENING A GREAT BIG PRESENT THAT’S
BEEN SHOVED IN THE CLOSET FOR A WHILE.’
Seeing red
The Christmas show concept began in
Brown’s storage area.
“The whole impetus for this came from
some costumes that we already owned,”
she said. Actors had worn red and white
dresses in a production with a Marie Antoi-
nette-Bastille Day theme.
“I thought we should use them again,
because red and white are good holiday col-
ors,” Brown added.
Serendipitously, she located a bolt of
unused red fabric which she sewed into
vests for the male characters.
The baroque theme was chosen, in part,
because it hadn’t been a focus of many
recent local theater selections.
Baroque generally refers to a period in
European history straddling the 17th and
18th centuries when earlier austerity was
replaced with grand architecture, paint-
ings featuring intricate adornment and
ornate musical styles led by Handel. On the
6 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
- Susi Brown, director of ‘Almost Baroque for Christmas.’
If you go
‘Almost Baroque for Christmas’
Ten Fifteen Theater
1015 Commercial St., Astoria
stage, Irish-born playwright Richard Brins-
ley Sheridan and French satirist Molière
thrived, ridiculing hypocrisy while incur-
ring the wrath of the establishment.
All three figure in Brown’s lineup.
Intrigue
DanPa Reiley is set to open, playing an
original composition on keyboard.
William Ham, who appeared in “The
Weir,” will be emcee, and join a cast of six
others for a scene from Sheridan’s 1777
comedy of manners, “The School for Scan-
dal.” Performing alongside him will be Gigi
Chadwick, Arnie Hummasti, Richard Bow-
man, Cami Lira, Toni Ihander and Liam
Ham.
A review called a 2007 Seattle produc-
tion “a finely tuned skewering of the leisure
class.” A modern London reviewer wrote
that the play is “composed of wit, intrigue,
disguise, perfidy and romance in near-per-
fect proportions.”
Another scene from the same work, a
comic clash between spouses, will feature
Slab Slabinski and Ann Branson.
“We are always arguing about one thing
or another, but most of it is in regards to her
spending habits,” Slabinski explained. “She
loves extravagances.”
He will also sing “Ill Wind,” a comic
song by the 1960s’ English performing duo
Michael Flanders and Donald Swann set
to the bubbly tune of Mozart’s fourth horn
concerto.
Branson is among local actors delighted
to be emerging from shutdowns. She was in
the Cannon Beach Coaster Theatre’s cast of
A holiday review directed by Susi Brown
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at
thetenfifteentheater.com
Attendees must wear masks and show
proof of vaccination. Seating is limited to
allow for some social distancing. There are
no concessions.
“Play On,” which had its dress rehearsal in
early spring 2020 but never opened to audi-
ences because of health safety concerns.
“It is nice to be back on stage as we ease
back into it,” she said. “It’s great to see my
theater friends again.”
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