Theatre arts alum takes SOU hands-on experience to great success in Portland
Born and raised in Bellingham, WA, Liam Kaas-Lentz ’02, was introduced to Ashland, SOU and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) when he was a student at Sehome HS. His theatre teacher took around 20 students to OSF annually and they stayed on campus for each trip. When it came time to apply for college, he already admired Ashland and the SOU community and for him, staying with SOU would keep his attachment to a small-town atmosphere like he was accustomed to, while being close to a theater like OSF.
Liam stayed in Cascade Hall his freshman year and worked backstage fall term on SOU theatre productions. By the second term, he was an assistant stage manager. “My theatre education began almost immediately at SOU. I had practical and hands on experience from the get go. A fantastic start!” he said. Under the tutelage of Deborah Rosenberg and Chris Sackett, he blossomed in such SOU productions as “Cabaret” featuring future Hollywood star D’Arcy Carden ’17, Tony-Award winner Ruthie Ann Miles and Joseph Morales. “The entire SOU experience was wonderful for me. Where else could you go and get that hands-on experience right from the start and take poetry courses from a legend like Lawson Inada, who helped give me a voice in the world?” he added. He graduated summer term of 2002 with his bachelor of fine arts in theatre arts-stage management.
After graduation, he picked up an apprenticeship as a Stage Manager for the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY for a year, then moved to Portland the winter of 2003 working as a freelance stage manager. He worked as a stage manager for the Sojourn Theatre in Portland for five years and simultaneously, earned a master of education degree from Portland State University. After earning his MEd, he became the Production Manager for Portland Playhouse, a small non-profit theatre.
In 2013, Liam was hired as the Stage Manager for Portland Center Stage (PCS). He was promoted to General Manager and was recently named the Managing Director. PCS is the largest theatre in the Portland-metropolitan area with 65 full time, 20 part time and 100 temporary employees. The main stage seats 600 for six performances annually and a smaller, 225-seat stage hosts two to four performances per year. “We have an annual budget of $10 million and host 80-100,000 people each year but what I’m really proud of is hosting and educating 5,000-plus high school students every year with student matinees, workshops and tours. The next generation of artists is vital to us and the community,” said Kaas-Lentz.
“At SOU you do the thing! In the theatre program, we got to do things hands on from the get go. There was no transition into more important responsibilities. We got right after it. At the big schools you end up watching others for several years. I had some classes with 10-12 students and didn’t have to wait to get my opportunity. You simply cannot learn unless you’re touching it-manipulating it. Just doing observations in our field doesn’t work. That’s the epitome of SOU across campus!”
Learn more: Portland Center Stage
