The Word is In for Living Out

It is no wonder tickets are selling fast for Lisa Loomer’s Living Out. The notices are great and the Conservatory has a terrific group of second year students who bring a diverse assortment of life experience, intelligence and talent to enliven the characters written by Ms. Loomer. In Living Out the second year students are led by Veronika Nunez who as the mother of small child, the effervescent Deigo, has a unique perspective and experience from which to create the character of Ana: An El Salvadoran immigrant who works as a Nanny for an anglo lawyer and makes sacrifices for her employer which compromises her relationship with her own family.

Read what Holly Johnson has to say about Veronika’s portrayal of Ana in the Oregonian:

“..the evening belongs to Ana. In a theater piece that begins … very funny .. but turns into a heart-wrenching drama, Ana is always at the center, and Nunez portrays her in a gemlike performance.”

Read the entire review at
http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2009/04/theater_review_living_out.html

Lisa Loomer’s social comedy is filled with pathos and intelligence, and performed by a talented group of actors. Buy your tickets before they are gone. Only 8 performances left.

Living Out-Opens April 10th

Nationwide Search Finds Executive Director Close to Home!!!

After an exhaustive six month search the Conservatory is pleased to announce the hiring of Nurella Doumitt as Executive Director. A prestigious grant from the Murdock Charitable Trust to create the position of Executive Director propelled the Conservatory to search the country, to interview people from as far away as Virginia and New Hampshire, until finally, we met the right person for this job. Nurella recently was the Director of Admissions and Marketing for Pacific Crest Academy in Camas, Washington and was the Founding Executive Director of The National Conference for Community and Justice here in Portland. She established a regional board of directors made up of corporate, civic and community leaders, developed community, business and government partnerships with Portland Police Bureau, Washington League of Cities, Portland Public Schools, Nike and others. This unique experience in the not-for-profit community, along with with her background in private schools, makes her an excellent fit for the position of Executive Director. Welcome Nurella!

Dressing Room Drama

So, we had rehearsal on Saturday for Living Out. A number of us were in the dressing room and somehow, Vinnie’s elbow or arm bone collided with my nose or maybe my nose collided with Vinnie’s arm bone. Needles to say, I saw stars and they weren’t on the door to my dressing room!



Phoebe whisked me away to the hospital for medical attention. Of course I was asked how this occurred and after explaining that it happened during a rehearsal for a play, the staff was more concerned about what play , where and if I was a visiting actress. I just happened to have some of the post cards for Living Out in my bag and handed them out to the doctor ( who by the way said he would come and bring flowers) and the nurse and asked that they share the information about the show with others on the Hospital’s staff.



So I left the hospital, having done some marketing of the play with my ice bag, a black eye, and pain killers.. We returned to PAC in time to do our last scene.

-Linda Merican