Not An Act, But Real Life Sarah Rutan

So unfortunately I will not be able to attend the reunion. That weekend, I have shows as well as the Festival's 20th Annual AIDS Benefit. However, I did think it was about time to spend an update.

After high school I headed out to the beautiful state of Montana, to attend Carroll College in Helena. I spent three wonderful years there, going to school and performing in the summers at the Montana Shakespeare Company. Sorry to say I did not end up graduating from that lovely institution. I ended up transferring my my senior to the University of Idaho because the opportunities for theater majors were better. One opportunity in particular, the Rex Rabold Fellowship. This is a fellowship offered to one graduating student from the University of Idaho, it is a one year non-union acting contract at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. If you know anything about theater, you know that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is one of the best regional theaters in the nation. I transferred to the university for the chance to apply for this fellowship.

After graduating in 2002, I was lucky enough to receive the Rex Rabold Fellowship and therefore, January of 2003....I moved to Ashland, Oregon.

Fast forward to 2007. I am still here! I am currently a union actor in my fifth season here at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. So far I have performed in 11 plays with over 600 performances combined. This season I am currently playing Phebe in As You Like It and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew. Some of the other productions have included: The Diary of Anne Frank, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Napoli Millionaria, Love's Labours Lost and others.
I am excited to report that I have recently been offered an acting contract here for the 2008 season under our brand new artistic director Bill Rauch. I will be playing Desdemona in Othello and performing in Our Town.
I feel so blessed to be making a living doing what I have always wanted to do. I work full-time as a professional actor in an absolutely beautiful town. I guess dreams do come true. ( Sorry to sound corny but I have to pinch myself sometimes to believe that I am really doing this as a job!)
The festival runs from Feb.- Nov. so summer is one of our busiest times as you can imagine. I am terribly sorry that I will not be able to attend the reunion. I have included some production photos and the link to the website, if you are interested. I would love to see any of you if you feel like you want to come and see some really great theater in the beautiful town of Ashland, OR.
www.osfashland.org

I love getting caught up with everyone on the blog!