All the World's A Stage

Alec Lugo ’16 was about 11 when he saw his first live stage performances.

Little Shop of Horrors was a Halloween production in his community that year: “There was gore and blood and singing, and it’s happening right in front of me. It’s a spectacle,” he said. “I told my dad, ‘I want  to do that.’”

By Christmas of that year, Lugo had landed a role as Bob Cratchit in a community production of A Christmas Carol. More than a decade later, the acting bug persists.

At Pacific University, Lugo double-majored in theatre and media arts. Today, he is performing professionally and works as a graphic designer, videographer and media consultant for Portland area theatre companies.

“I thought of (my two majors) as two sides of myself. The media side was the business aspects of my life. Theatre was the creative,” he said. “Now, they’ve kind of merged into one.

“I couldn’t ask for a better job. It’s a combination of everything I studied at Pacific.”

That education, however, wouldn’t have been possible without tremendous support, Lugo said.

“We could not afford to send any of us to school without scholarships,” said Lugo, who grew up as one of three children in a lower-middle class family in Hawai‘i. “Pacific was really generous.” ■

This story first appeared in the Winter 2016 issue of Pacific Magazine. For more stories, visit pacificu.edu/magazine.