Since his official July 1 start, Vincent “VJ” Orduña has made history as the first African American to serve as artistic director at the Omaha Community Playhouse (OCP). It meant a homecoming on many levels for the Omaha native, who grew up performing at home, churches and schools wherever his father’s military assignments took the family.
The graduate of Omaha Central, a legacy school in his family, earned a theater degree at Midland University in Fremont, where the prodigy directed a main-stage show at 21. He won a post-graduate scholarship to study at New York Shakespeare Conservatory. He made audition rounds, landing parts in “bus and truck” tours and off-Broadway, all while employed by NYC’s Board of Education SPARK program for young people, directing shows in schools.
“I was very fortunate because the gig with the school district gave me my first grown up job with benefits and I was not worried about paying my rent,” he said…