Angry Pigeons: Lila Satori

Lila Satori, Northwest Academy junior and thespian, is dipping her toes into stage managing for the Oregon Children’s Theatre’s (OCT) production of Spider.

This past July, Satori auditioned and was accepted into Young Professionals (YP), an OCT program exclusive to high school students. In August, she auditioned for her first play with the company: Spider, a world premiere production running this fall. 

Although she wasn’t cast to act in the play, she was offered the opportunity to stage manage. Unlike acting, singing and dancing, this isn’t something Satori was familiar with, but she eagerly took on the challenge in hopes of adding a new skill to her repertoire.

“I had never done it before,” Satori said, “but I thought, ‘You know, I came to try new things.’” 

Not only is she growing her high school resume, but she’s expanding her skill set. Satori has always gravitated towards leadership roles in her theater experience, so her position as stage manager came naturally to her. She takes care of the daily call (a log of past rehearsals and a plan for future ones), the rehearsal reports (details for the entire cast and creative team), tech rehearsals (directing actors and keeping the show running smoothly) and board operation (queuing the lights and sounds as the show runs).

“I’m the one who’s in charge,” Satori said.

Satori began singing at age three, and started acting in her elementary years with the encouragement of her mom, who studied acting in college. She participated in any and every school production and later worked with Northwest Children’s Theater (NWCT) of Portland. In fifth grade, Satori performed in her first musical with NWCT, an original called A Mistletoe Mystery, which traveled to retirement homes during the holiday season.

It was then that Satori’s focus shifted towards musical theater because “the musical put together all the things I liked.”

Her passion continued into middle school but was impacted by the pandemic. Despite the interference, she took online acting classes and workshops to hone her skills for high school, and upon enrolling at NWA for her freshman year, she was decided on how she wished to spend her time. 

“I knew I wanted to do theater,” said Satori.

In her first two years at NWA, Satori formed a close connection with Wade Willis, the recently retired Theatre Arts and Vocal Director.

“He was a great teacher and mentor – just a really kind person,” said Satori, “It was really amazing to have someone that I admired as an artist think that I could do these things.”

Willis’ mentorship and encouragement alongside Satori’s continued hard work led her to land two lead roles in NWA’s theater program in her sophomore year. During NWA’s fall production of She Kills Monsters, she played Agnes Evans, an adventurous cheerleader; and in the spring, she played Hope Cladwell, the naïve-spirited female lead in Urinetown.

Satori’s favorite role however was one she played in her freshman year during the school’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. She was cast as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre, or “Schwartzy.” It was a role she initially didn’t care to have, but inevitably found it suited her very well.

“It was really perfect for me and it was really rewarding to play that role,” said Satori.

She believes that her acting with Willis and the NWA theater program alongside the vocal and dance classes she’s taken at NWA helped her to get into the Young Professionals (YP) program. With college on the horizon, Satori is setting herself up for success.

“Because I am in a professional company,” she said, “that says something about my character and my experience. I’m very thankful that I’ll be able to say that when I’m applying to colleges.”

Despite the numerous duties Satori fulfills, she’s yet to be overwhelmed by balancing YP with her school work. She was initially concerned about having enough time to complete her homework, but has easily managed it with her schedule. 

“I have not been stressed throughout this whole thing,” said Satori, “It has been a very time consuming process, but I was never worried about it.”

Spider runs from October 20 to November 5, 2023. Visit the OCT website for tickets and more information.