We’re very happy to welcome our newest member: Thomas Nabhan. Learn more about him by reading over this introduction, as read by his sponsor, Barby Dressler:
Tom was born in El Paso, Texas, and grew up loving music! His mother was an accomplished pianist and the only class he remembers from elementary school is Band Class. However, he had to switch from playing violin to the bass because he sat on the school violin! He later gave up the bass because kids teased him about carrying an instrument bigger than he was! Tom went to high school in San Diego and became interested in acting in his early 20s, and has done so ever since.
Tom earned a BA at CSU Northridge majoring in Geography and minoring in History. He got his teaching credentials at CSU LA. He moved to the Pacific Northwest and taught science at a junior high school in Seattle. That wasn’t a great fit, so to save his sanity, Tom moved back to Los Angeles, working in high tech sales for a few years.
Tom moved back to the Northwest to begin a Master’s program in Geography at PSU. He took a job at Legacy Health in education, working with MDs to organize physician continuing medical education. He worked there for 15 years.
Tom met his wife, Susan, later in life, married, and moved to Salem because she had the better job, a professor at Willamette University. After commuting to Portland for 9 years, he retired from Legacy and started Theatre 33. For the past 4 years, he has been running the theatre and working part-time as a substitute high school teacher for the Salem-Keizer School District. Tom wants to take advantage of his semi-retirement to become more involved in the community.
Tom’s interests include: music, playing guitar, cycling (has done the last 5 Cycle Oregon events), sea kayaking, stage/TV/film acting, and making the props for Theatre 33’s productions in his woodworking shop beneath the garage. Tom also enjoys writing and is still trying to pedal the two screen plays he has written.
You may have seen Tom in such shows as the movie, The Thin Horizon, and television shows, Portlandia and Leverage, as well as local commercials. He has also performed in many stage shows from To Kill A Mockingbird to Godspell, and many in between.
Tom and Susan have been married for ten years and attend St. Timothy Episcopal Church.