Story Photos
 Photo by Greg Ebersole Dana Brown hugs Thuy Hguyen, 18, at a Saturday reunion for actors at Mainstage Theater at R.A. Long High School. Brown, who has taught drama at the school for 27 years, has terminal cancer. |
Bravo! Curtain call for a beloved director
Saturday, January 13, 2007 11:54 PM PST
By Tom Paulu
Printable version
E-mail this articleDuring most of a Saturday tribute to Dana Brown, people who have acted in his plays talked of how it changed their lives and brought them lasting friendships.
But the final scene was reserved for Brown himself.
"I have no idea how long I'm going to be with you," said Brown, 61, who has terminal cancer. "It's in God's hands now.
"Today, this is what it really means," Brown told the approximately 400 people gathered at the newly renamed Dana Brown Mainstage Theatre at R.A. Long High School. "It means my family. It means people I love to the core of my being. Wherever I end up, you will always be in my heart and every fiber of my being."
Browns' friends organized the event so that Brown and Mainstage alumni would have a final chance to visit with each other.
Brown, who has taught drama and directed plays at R.A. Long for 27 years, is leading rehearsals for what he expects will be his last show, "Noises Off," which opens Feb. 22. "I have good days and I have bad days," Brown said. "This is a good day."
He saw people he hadn't seen for years, some of whom came from out of state.
Bent Hanlen, a 1988 R.A. Long graduate, flew in from Chicago, where he's a standup comedian. "Without him pointing me in that direction, I don't know if I would have started it at all," Hanlen said.
Brandon Jerwa, who graduated in 1991, later became a radio DJ. "A lot of that came from the confidence that came from Dana," Jerwa said.
"As busy as he was, he always had a moment" to talk to a student, said Cade Ward, another 1991 grad.
Dozens of other Mainstage alumni appeared in a 45-minute video shown during the tribute. They called Brown a second father, someone who drew them out, someone prevented them from dropping out.
In several cases, two generations have acted in Brown's plays. At least five couples known to event organizers met on the stage -- one of them was master of ceremonies Rick Little and his wife, Lorraine. One couple who were both in Mainstage named a daughter "Dana" after Brown.
Bethany Pithan, class of 99, transferred from Toutle Lake so she could be more involved in Mainstage. She went on to get a theater degree. Today, she and Jennifer Cheney, class of 1986, are co-directors of Longview Stageworks, a local theater company.
One of Brown's trademarks is zero tolerance for actors who arrive late to rehearsals. That can be traced to the theater instructor at the Spokane high school Brown attended, according to his boyhood friend Jim Brown.
Jim Brown, who also became a high school drama instructor, said he doesn't know of any other high school theater program that mixes students and adults in some shows. "I'm envious of it" and also of Dana Brown's support from the school district and community at large, Jim Brown said.
Another Dana Brown trademark is the sailor-style cap he's seldom seen without. A retired one, autographed by Brown, was raffled off Saturday. Little read a list of Dana-isms, including "let me say it in words you can clearly understand."
After Brown is gone, the shows will go on in the theater that now bears his name.
"You are Mainstage, and when I'm gone I expect it to continue," Brown told the teary-eyed assembly. "If it doesn't, keep your eyes open because sooner or later you're going to hear something and it's going to be words you can clearly understand."
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