R.I.P. Aaron Baker

Aaron Baker (right) With Cara Moretto in “Spacemen from Space”

The promised excursions to Last Rites Gallery and Gotham Burlesque ended up not happening yesterday, and for a reason that still has me reeling.  Just before going on to speak up in Hudson, I got sucker-punched with the news that our friend and colleague Aaron Baker had suddenly and mysteriously died. We are all stunned with the suddenness of it. He was just HERE a minute ago. It’s all so bewildering.

I had the pleasure of acting with Aaron at least four times, in my productions of Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (2007) and Kitsch (2009), in Michael Gardner’s Ninja Cherry Orchard (2009) and Ian Hill’s Spacemen from Space (2010). Those two last-mentioned performances were essentially star turns — a comic persona was beginning to assert itself, one based on his super low-key, under-stated personality. His performances got howls in both those parts. He was also a whizbang writer; I enjoyed seeing his work at the Battle Ranch and his technology-environmental based collaborations with his partner-fiance Gyda Arber, whom we can’t stop thinking about today.

More than this, Aaron was part of the fabric of the family of artists who make their home at Williamsburg’s Brick theatre, an inevitable presence at so many happy celebrations, from the usual actor’s after-show drinks, to weddings and baby showers to (now that I think about it) even Christmas, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July.

That steady personality extended into his actions. He was a trouper. He supported his fellow artists.  He was always pitching in. And I never heard him knock anybody else.

This is a sad development and we will miss him.