Wayne Johnson, 1930-2005: Longtime Seattle Times theater critic
By Melinda Bargreen
Seattle Times music critic
SEATTLE TIMES FILE
Wayne Johnson influenced the Northwest theater community during his years (1965-91) as a Seattle Times critic.
At the end of his long career as Seattle Times theater critic, Wayne Johnson turned to his colleagues and said: "I still can't believe, after all these years, that they actually paid me money to go to the theater."
Mr. Johnson, who died Tuesday of a heart attack in a Seattle hospital at the age of 74, had a legendary love of his favorite art form, and it made him one of the most enduring influences on the Northwest theater community during his years (1965-91) as critic.
"Wayne was a great addition to the theater scene," says Peter Donnelly, the ArtsFund president who knew Mr. Johnson well during Donnelly's earlier years as producing director of the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
"He had a very solid knowledge of theater, and a passion and enthusiasm that were contagious. For him, going to the theater was like being a kid in a candy store. He loved the art form, the people, the gossip" Donnelly continues. "I can't imagine the development of the Seattle theater community occurring anywhere near as rapidly without Wayne.
"He was never cheap or mean. His standards were high, but if he really liked something, he could sell a show for you."
When a theater company was presenting a comedy, nobody was in any doubt whether Mr. Johnson was in the house. His exuberant, loud laugh would ring out after every punch line. That laugh was symptomatic of the enormous gusto with which Mr. Johnson went through life. He loved fast cars (especially Alfa Romeos), fast horses (especially at the racetracks) and fast pirouettes (in his later years, he became a dance aficionado).
After the theater, Mr. Johnson would burst into the office and regale the other critics with tales about the evening. Often these tales would segue into a late-night discourse on Beethoven's "Rasumovsky" Quartets or the racing techniques of Willie Shoemaker. From 1965 to 1977, Mr. Johnson also was the newspaper's music critic, and he served as Arts and Entertainment editor for many years. There wasn't much he didn't know about the arts in Seattle.
A later passion of his life was ballet, an outgrowth of his research for the 1997 book ("Let's Go On," Documentary Book Publishers) he wrote on Pacific Northwest Ballet's 25th-anniversary season.
"He fell in love with ballet when he walked into our studios to work on the book," says Kent Stowell, co-artistic director of PNB.
"Wayne came to the ballet all the time and made a whole new set of friends and admirers. He was a friend and we loved him, and we will miss him."
While Mr. Johnson had many enthusiasms, his greatest loves were his two children, Jeff and Katie. He was deeply involved in their lives, coaching their soccer teams and taking pride in their academic and career successes. He was particularly delighted by his three grandchildren.
"Wayne was deliriously happy visiting and taking care of his grandsons, and he took up digital photography to take pictures of them," said his longtime neighbor John Pollock. It was Pollock who took Mr. Johnson to the hospital last Friday when he felt unwell. There had been some previous heart problems over the past decade.
A native of Brighton, Colo., Mr. Johnson earned degrees from the University of Colorado and UCLA. During the Korean War, he joined the Army's counter-intelligence corps as a "spycatcher." He then lived in Vienna, Austria, for a period before returning to Colorado and writing for several newspapers, including The Denver Post. From there, he moved to Seattle in 1965 to join The Seattle Times arts staff.
Mr. Johnson is survived by his two children, Jeffrey Johnson (wife Susan, son Nicholas) of Lake Oswego, Ore., and Katherine (Katie) King (husband Scott, sons Alexander and Sean) of Cupertino, Calif. He also leaves a brother, Samuel Johnson of Laguna Woods, Calif., and a stepdaughter, Jamie Dahl of Portland.
At his request, no services or memorial events are planned. Donations in his memory may be made to ArtsFund, 10 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109.
Melinda Bargreen: [email protected]
By Melinda Bargreen
Seattle Times music critic
SEATTLE TIMES FILE
Wayne Johnson influenced the Northwest theater community during his years (1965-91) as a Seattle Times critic.
At the end of his long career as Seattle Times theater critic, Wayne Johnson turned to his colleagues and said: "I still can't believe, after all these years, that they actually paid me money to go to the theater."
Mr. Johnson, who died Tuesday of a heart attack in a Seattle hospital at the age of 74, had a legendary love of his favorite art form, and it made him one of the most enduring influences on the Northwest theater community during his years (1965-91) as critic.
"Wayne was a great addition to the theater scene," says Peter Donnelly, the ArtsFund president who knew Mr. Johnson well during Donnelly's earlier years as producing director of the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
"He had a very solid knowledge of theater, and a passion and enthusiasm that were contagious. For him, going to the theater was like being a kid in a candy store. He loved the art form, the people, the gossip" Donnelly continues. "I can't imagine the development of the Seattle theater community occurring anywhere near as rapidly without Wayne.
"He was never cheap or mean. His standards were high, but if he really liked something, he could sell a show for you."
When a theater company was presenting a comedy, nobody was in any doubt whether Mr. Johnson was in the house. His exuberant, loud laugh would ring out after every punch line. That laugh was symptomatic of the enormous gusto with which Mr. Johnson went through life. He loved fast cars (especially Alfa Romeos), fast horses (especially at the racetracks) and fast pirouettes (in his later years, he became a dance aficionado).
After the theater, Mr. Johnson would burst into the office and regale the other critics with tales about the evening. Often these tales would segue into a late-night discourse on Beethoven's "Rasumovsky" Quartets or the racing techniques of Willie Shoemaker. From 1965 to 1977, Mr. Johnson also was the newspaper's music critic, and he served as Arts and Entertainment editor for many years. There wasn't much he didn't know about the arts in Seattle.
A later passion of his life was ballet, an outgrowth of his research for the 1997 book ("Let's Go On," Documentary Book Publishers) he wrote on Pacific Northwest Ballet's 25th-anniversary season.
"He fell in love with ballet when he walked into our studios to work on the book," says Kent Stowell, co-artistic director of PNB.
"Wayne came to the ballet all the time and made a whole new set of friends and admirers. He was a friend and we loved him, and we will miss him."
While Mr. Johnson had many enthusiasms, his greatest loves were his two children, Jeff and Katie. He was deeply involved in their lives, coaching their soccer teams and taking pride in their academic and career successes. He was particularly delighted by his three grandchildren.
"Wayne was deliriously happy visiting and taking care of his grandsons, and he took up digital photography to take pictures of them," said his longtime neighbor John Pollock. It was Pollock who took Mr. Johnson to the hospital last Friday when he felt unwell. There had been some previous heart problems over the past decade.
A native of Brighton, Colo., Mr. Johnson earned degrees from the University of Colorado and UCLA. During the Korean War, he joined the Army's counter-intelligence corps as a "spycatcher." He then lived in Vienna, Austria, for a period before returning to Colorado and writing for several newspapers, including The Denver Post. From there, he moved to Seattle in 1965 to join The Seattle Times arts staff.
Mr. Johnson is survived by his two children, Jeffrey Johnson (wife Susan, son Nicholas) of Lake Oswego, Ore., and Katherine (Katie) King (husband Scott, sons Alexander and Sean) of Cupertino, Calif. He also leaves a brother, Samuel Johnson of Laguna Woods, Calif., and a stepdaughter, Jamie Dahl of Portland.
At his request, no services or memorial events are planned. Donations in his memory may be made to ArtsFund, 10 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109.
Melinda Bargreen: [email protected]
