Olga Sanchez Oral History Interview

Olga Sanchez introduces herself and some of the jobs she has had as a director, actor, educator, and writer. She continues by talking about some of the productions in which she has performed and the ones that stood out to her or challenged her most. She also mentions the ways in which she prepares for a performance. Olga shares a bit on which people working at Milagro have had a big impact on her. She shifts her focus to talking about the generosity of Milagro and what she considers to be a key to the success of Milagro. She mentions how putting the work out there has led to a positive response from the community and a reciprocal generosity. She goes on to talk about the growth of the Latino/Hispanic community and the internal growth of Latino acting talent. Olga also touches on Milagro’s efforts to open itself more to the community. She shares some of her future plans and talks about the miracle of Milagro. In conclusion, she expresses her gratitude for Milagro and talks a bit about how Milagro feels like home.

Olga Sanchez is the Artistic Director (AD) of Milagro, a post she has occupied since 2003. She is described as a person who wears many hats: actor, director, writer, and educator. She graduated from Hunter College, C.U.N.Y. Her work as a director has been seen across the world from Portland to New York, Peru, and Cuba. She is a founder of La Casa de Artes, a Seattle-based non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating Latino arts and culture. She holds an MA from Pacific Oaks College NW and in 2005, received a Portland Drama Critics’ DRAMMY award. Olga is also a founding member of the Portland-based Latino writers group Los Porteños, and currently serves on the Executive Committee for Theatre Communications Group’s Board of Directors. She is on the Steering Committee for the Oregon Latino Agenda for Action, a member of the Greater Portland Vancouver Indicators Diversity and Arts & Culture committees, and a graduate of the Hispanic Metropolitan Leadership Program. Olga stepped down from her post as Artistic Director in 2015 in order to pursue a doctorate in theatre arts from the University of Oregon.