Michael V. Schauermann; Actor, Therapist On Partners' Aids Issues

Area theater-goers knew Michael V. Schauermann through the identities he'd assume - as Bassanio in "The Merchant of Venice," to Killer Kane in "The Adventures of Buck Rogers," to Dr. Astrov in "Uncle Vanya."

But to the many others who knew Mr. Schauermann as a therapist, an activist and a friend, he was completely genuine.

His workshops, called "Finding Your Heart," on helping people living with partners with AIDS were not only remarkable, say friends, but prepared them for his own death Monday.

"Michael had the uncanny ability to be so open-hearted and vulnerable," said Barbara McDaniel, who taught the workshop with him, "that he made the space seem so safe. He had a profound effect on people.

"As people were saying goodbye to him, if he sensed pain or a question, he'd remind them he was secure with where he was going and would be present at all times."

Memorial services for Mr. Schauermann, 44, will be at 4 p.m. Monday at the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church. He died at home of an AIDS-related illness.

Mr. Schauermann contracted the HIV virus about nine years ago, but remained healthy and active until about April, said his longtime partner Kevin Hadley.

Through the final months, said Hadley, Mr. Schauermann retained the grace and sense of humor he tried to foster in others.

One of his close friends was Dorothy Bullitt, who like many others received a lasting impression from the way he handled his final days.

"He was spectacular, elegant, at peace with dying," said Bullitt, the granddaughter of Dorothy Stimson Bullitt, former owner of King Broadcasting. "He fought it hard but when he realized it was over, he was willing to let go."

Bullitt met Schauermann through his former companion, Gary Wiggs, who was a judge and chairman of the state Board of Industrial Appeals. When Wiggs died of AIDS several years ago, Bullitt noticed how Mr. Schauermann cared for him and likened it to the way Hadley helped him the past few months.

"His death epitomizes to me how sad the illness is," she said. "He was a young, vital man cut down. And it occurs such a cyclical way."

He had his own therapy practice and was active in gay issues but was best known in Seattle for his long association with the Bathhouse Theatre at Green Lake.

Publicity director Terry Healy said he was as comfortable with Shakespearean verse as with comedy, song and dance.

Mr. Schauermann was born in Colorado and moved to Oregon as a child.

He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Oregon, received his master's degree from the University of Southern California and attended the Advanced Acting Training Program at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

He taught high school in the Portland area before moving to Seattle to pursue acting in about 1980. His first performance was in the play "Grease."

He was associated with the Bathhouse Theatre Company since 1985 and acted in a series of plays there, but also performed for many other area playhouses. His final performance was as the character Patsy in "Three Men on a Horse."

He played the role of a killer on the television show, "America's Most Wanted," and was an "R-Head" in old Rainier beer commercials.

In 1989, Mr. Schauermann re-created his grandfather's life as a tent performer in a one-man show at the Boeing Chautauqua, a one-time reprise of the old road shows.

He also was instrumental in the making of the AIDS Video Project's "In the Midst of Winter," a documentary of the effect of the disease and on the courage of those who contract it.

Mr. Schauermann is survived by his parents, Dorothy and Donald Schauermann of Cornelius, Ore.; three brothers: Tim of Schauermann of Portland, Chris Schauermann of Astoria, and Anthony Schauermann of Springfield, Ore., and his partner, Hadley.

Memorial donations can be made to The Bathhouse Theatre, 7312 W. Greenlake Drive N., Seattle, WA 98103. The money will become part of a fund in his name that will help pay regular and guest actors.