MICHEAL MINTHORN

Micheal Leslie Minthorn was born at Ft Campbell, Kentucky on June 23, 1955. A direct descendant of Chief Yellowhawk, he is part of a long line of soldiers and warriors on both paternal and maternal sides of his family. Minthorn himself served in both the Army National Guard and US Army Reserve attaining the rank of E-7 Sergeant First Class (1981 to 1996). He served as an Assistant Surgical Wardmaster with the 98 th General Hospital, Nurnberg, in support of Operation Desert Storm 1990-91. His military service awards include the Army Commendation Medal and Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal as well as numerous written commendations for excellence in medical operations and for his medical teaching ability. He taught and lectured for the US Army Reserve Forces School on the campuses of Portland Community and Central Oregon Community Colleges. Civilian awards include inclusion as a member of Who’s Who in American Junior Colleges (BMCC, 1975). He completed student teaching in vocal music education in the late 1970’s. As a registry nurse he commuted between Portland and San Francisco for more than a decade and has practiced in most of each city’s metropolitan hospitals. He has practiced occupational health, home health, hospice, addiction treatment, family practice, and psychiatrics. He has served or chaired on numerous boards to include the Umatilla Tribal Education Board & Scholarship Commission, Umatilla Tribal Health Commission and the Umatilla County Chapter of the American Red Cross. He is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation of Oregon. He currently is serving a two-year appointment on the Oregon HIV Care Coalition, responsible for the planning of federal funds dispersed in this state as part of the Ryan White Care Act. Most recently, Micheal’s last employment before returning to school was as the Casino Director & then the Director of Slot Operations at Wildhorse Casino & Resort (1998-2002). He has a 28 year old son named Micheal who lives near his mother in Virginia. He studied both drama and music as a child through high school, and began college as a theatre major but was lured away by vocal music and opera. Micheal is very happy to be back in the theatre arena!

Micheal has studied voice with G. Richard Muhle and Thomas R. Blaylock. He has performed with choirs under the direction of Jacob Avshalamov, Norman Leyden, Robert Shaw, Bruce Brown, David York and others, and has studied in choral workshops with Norman Luboff, Frank Pooler, Jester Hairston and many others. Minthorn appeared for several years in the Happy Canyon Night Pageant during the Pendleton Round-Up. He has studied acting with Janet Mouser, Robert Clapp, Susan Parks-Hilden, Joanna Goff and Ken Bush. He studies directing with and is advised by Ken Bush. His studies in theatre/stage management are with Kenn Wheeler and in Theatre Pedagogy with April Curtis.

Micheal holds a Certificate in Practical Nursing from Clark College (1985), and a Certificate in Gaming Management from the University of Nevada, Reno (1998). He also completed a year-long series of workshops given by the American Management Association at Wildhorse Resort (2001). He has received numerous other certificates and sheepskins, both military and civilian over the years. While he vowed that he would NEVER work in the obstetrical field as a nurse, his family has demanded and received his assistance at the birth of several of his nieces and a nephew! He narrowly escaped having to deliver his god-daughter himself along with her father in 1983 after the doctor decided that she wasn’t due for another eight hours, walked away, and then she appeared anyway thirty minutes later!

Micheal will graduate in May 2005 with a BS in Theatre Arts with concentrations in Directing, Acting, and Theatre Pedagogy. While working to build a reputable portfolio for theatre grad school, he hopes to land spots as a guest director in what spare time he has available, because he also intends to immediately enroll in the School of Nursing at OHSU LaGrande in June 2005 to complete a BSN. Micheal happens to believe that a TRULY happy thespian is also an RN ( just to be safe)!! J

You will find, for now, that Micheal’s theatre resume credits are small…..but his heart, abilities, and motivation are BIG! And, the list will continue to grow!