Rich Brown, who grew up in a small town in Iowa, teaches acting, devising and script analysis as an assistant professor in Western Washington University's theater arts department.
He plays the Wolf in Mount Baker Theatre's inaugural staging of a mainstage production, Stephen Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods," playing through Oct. 9, directed by Mark Kuntz. The play contains adult subject matter, and is not recommended for children younger than 10.
Question: When did the spark of theater strike you?
Answer: The first show I did was playing Charlie Brown in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" in eighth grade. Like most performers, I was first hooked by the buzz of the spotlight, but during college I learned that the work was about and for the audience, not me.
Q: Where did you go to college?
A: I studied theater from my undergrad to my doctoral degree. Undergrad was at Graceland College in Iowa; then I performed improv and theater in Kansas City for a few years before returning for my master's degree at Central Missouri State University; then onward to the Pacific Northwest for my doctorate from the University of Oregon.
Q: What brought you to the Northwest?
A: I love to ride motorcycles. I first came to Washington when I was 25 with friends to ride the Northern Cascade loop. We trailered our bikes from Kansas City to Wenatchee, then rode to Everett, up Whidbey Island, then all the way to Glacier National Park in Montana. I kept riding and thinking "this is where I was meant to live." So when grad school came, I looked to the Northwest.
Q: Why Bellingham?
A: My wife, Kendall, and I moved here from New York five years ago; we came specifically for my job at Western.
Q: Why do you enjoy teaching?
A: At Western I teach because I love to experience full presence, courage and generosity with others.
Q: What has been the rehearsal process for "Into the Woods"?
A: I haven't done a musical for 10 years because I've been drawn to contemporary straight plays or experimental new works. However the last musical I did was "Into the Woods." It's one of Sondheim's best.
He brilliantly mingles and twists all our childhood fairytales into a musical that confronts the complexities of our adult lives today. And it's hilarious, and touching, and entertaining. We all know these archetypal characters, and they still have lots to teach us.
I'm impressed with Mark's ambition. He rented a warehouse in town to build and paint the set, so our earliest rehearsals will be on a completed set in a warehouse! I'm thrilled to work with local actors and professional actors from Seattle. I know I'll learn tons from both groups.
This is a uniquely Bellingham-esque production. We care about quality and we care about locally grown. This production gives us both.
Q: What's your approach for playing the Wolf?
A: Our approach for the Wolf is highly physical. His key number with Little Red (Riding Hood), "Hello, Little Girl," has the Wolf jumping and running all over the large set. So my approach has been to invest in physical preparation as well as vocal work. In one moment at the end of the song, I lift Little Red above my head and spin her while singing the final verse. I'm drenched in sweat at the end of a three-minute number.
Q: What have been some of your most rewarding shows?
A: My theater company in New York toured a production of "What I Heard About Iraq" for about three years. It was a highly politically charged show that elicited much audience reaction.
Since coming to WWU, collaboratively creating the new works "cheat," "US" and "The American Family" has been thrilling. Working together with groups of undergraduate theater artists to generate new works has been intensely challenging and rewarding, simultaneously.
And premiering "Poison the Well" at the iDiOM Theater was a joy, especially when we took it on the road to the Canadian Fringe Festival.
Q: What's fun for you outside of theater?
A: I love to ride my commuter bike, mountain bike, motorcycle - anything with two wheels. My wife and I have been working to create our urban farm for the past three years. This year we added chickens and had our first large fall harvest, which required us to purchase a freezer. And I go see a lot of theater.
