10A • February 23, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
DRAMA OF DECEPTION
Jean White-Rice makes directorial debut at Coaster Theatre
By William Ham
For EO Media Group
D
eception, revenge, double-crosses
and a nice, healthy dose of murder:
Yes, it looks like February in Can-
non Beach again. And so it is, as
“Fit to Kill,” by Victor Cahn, kicks off the
Coaster Theatre’s 2018 season.
The play, originally produced in 2003,
runs through Feb. 24, with performances
7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and $25.
A noirish tale of infidelity and murder
with elements of black comedy, “Fit to
Kill” hinges on a love triangle among Jan-
ice (Heather Neuwirth), a self-made mil-
lionaire and CEO of an exercise empire;
Adrian (Aaron Harris), a self-indulgent
trophy husband who gets by on his charm
and chess-playing skills; and Amy (Jessica
Harris), who claims to be a reporter writ-
ing a profile of Adrian.
But all triangles aren’t created equi-
lateral: None of these characters are quite
what they seem, and the stage is set for a
series of dubious alliances and homicidal
schemes that keep the twists coming right
up to the final curtain.
“It’s full of deceit, and no one knows
who’s telling the truth to anyone at any
given time,” Neuwirth said. “I don’t want
to say that it’s a play for our times, but it
definitely fits our moment in certain ways.”
Director Jean White-Rice said the char-
acters are playing a game of chess against
one another. “Each of them is trying to out-
think the others.”
The unusual sense of role-playing ex-
tends to the play’s casting.
“My real-life wife is playing my mis-
tress,” said Aaron Harris, seen most re-
cently in the Coaster’s 2017 production of
“9 to 5: The Musical.” “Not only that, but
I’m doing my first on-stage kissing with
both Heather and Jessica, while being a
deceitful bastard to both of them at differ-
ent times. It’s a bit of a challenge.”
“I see a lot of counseling in your fu-
ture,” Neuwirth laughed.
First-time director
This production represents both a new
chapter and a final bow for one of the
Coaster’s most stalwart participants.
Jean White-Rice has been part of the
Coaster family since 1998, when she made
her first onstage appearance in “On Gold-
en Pond.” Since then, she has worked ev-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Thistle and Rose
Pony Red concert benefits
Cannon Beach Academy
Show to feature
debut songs
from Bill Steidel
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
GEORGE VETTER/CANNON-BEACH.NET PHOTO
The local band Thistle &
Rose is holding a fundraising
concert as a way to support
the Cannon Beach Academy
in its first school year.
The concert will show-
case primarily the work of
Bill Steidel, a Cannon Beach
artist and ardent Cannon
Beach Academy supporter.
The show, titled Red Pony
after one of Steidel’s songs,
begins 7:30 p.m., March 3 at
the Coaster Theatre. The pro-
ceeds will go toward funding
the academy.
“The fundraising money
raised goes directly to sup-
port the school’s operating
budget. We receive 80 per-
cent funding from the school
district and we are responsi-
ble for fundraising the gap,
or the other 20 percent,”
said academy director Amy
Moore. “So this will go di-
rectly toward that 20 percent
gap.”
The idea came from Paul
Dueber, one of the musicians
involved in the folk band
Thistle & Rose, who said the
band has put on fundraising
events like this in the past
during the early days of the
academy’s formation.
“Fit to Kill” cast, from left: Heather Neuwirth, Aaron Harris and Jessica Harris
erywhere from backstage to the lighting
booth, served a term as president of the
Coaster’s board of directors, and estab-
lished herself as one of the theater’s most
recognizable performers.
“I’ve done at least one play a season
since I started, from tiny supporting roles
to leads,” she said. “One year, I was in six
out of seven productions!”
With such a range of experience, it was
only a matter of time before White-Rice
took on the only role she hadn’t yet played:
“Fit to Kill” is her directorial debut.
“I’ve worked with a lot of really good
directors, and I’ve been able to take a lit-
tle bit from all of them and put it to work
for myself,” she said. “I have to say it’s a
lot different from being an actor. I get to
see the form as opposed to just walking
it, which is kind of cool. And it helps that
my first play is small — there’s only three
characters, and, except for one scene, only
two of them are on stage at a time. So I
don’t have to deal with a lot of actors and a
lot of movement; I can concentrate on the
performances. Which helps, because —
well, they’re all such unlikable characters!
They all want to kill each other! I have to
find some way for the audience to come
along with them.”
Swan song
White-Rice’s first turn at the helm dou-
bles as her swan song. “Fit to Kill” will
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Fit to Kill,” a play by
Victor Cahn
WHEN: Through Feb. 24
7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
WHERE: Coaster Theatre
Playhouse (108 N. Hemlock St.,
Cannon Beach)
TICKETS: $20 and $25, call 503-
436-1242 or visit coastertheatre.
com/box-office
BOX OFFICE: Open 1 to 5 p.m.
Wednesday to Saturday; and 1
p.m. to curtain time on perfor-
mance days
be her last stand with the Coaster Theatre
before she moves to Indiana this summer.
“Jean’s been awesome to work with,”
Aaron Harris said. “We’ve really been
working hard to make her proud, especial-
ly since this is her last show with us.”
“Until we fly her back here to do an-
other one,” Coaster Executive Director
Patrick Lathrop added.
“You heard him,” White-Rice laughed.
“It’s on the record! They’re flying me
back!”
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“We’ve lived in Cannon
Beach for years. We raised
our kids here, and they went
to the elementary school,”
Dueber said. “So when the
school closed, we were
passionate to get a school
back in Cannon Beach. It’s
hometown music benefiting
a hometown entity.”
Doing this concert also
intersected with the band’s
desire to debut some of
Steidel’s lesser-known songs
in response to a high demand
for them from audience
members. Many of the songs
are locally inspired, like
“Cedar Home,” based on the
historical Lindgren Home at
Cullaby Lake or “Timber,”
based on the tales of the
Cannon Beach logging mo-
gul George Van Fleet of the
late 1940s and ’50s.
Others are personal to
Steidel, Dueber said, like
the concert’s title song “Red
Pony,” which is a metaphor
for his disapproval of the
Vietnam war.
“We’re kind of walking
back in time and reflecting
on what he’s contributed to
the community,” Dueber
said. “He’s done so much
for this town, including his
work for the school. This is
our attempt to give some-
thing back to Bill, too.”
Tickets are $20 and can
be purchased at Maggie &
Henry, the Cannon Beach
Academy, Cannon Beach
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