Portland, Oregon
Jeff Hall has been directing the drama program at Portland, Oregon’s Jesuit High School for twenty-five years, a position he originally took on to cover a half-year sabbatical. In 1991, he and his wife Koleen had moved to Portland to further develop The Young People’s Theatre Project, a nonprofit organization that Mr. Hall had started in 1987 while working as a teaching artist in Denver. Before that, he worked as a touring artist and arts administrator, directing and managing productions and residencies throughout the United States and Canada, and in Guam and Singapore.
Mr. Hall grew up in the Chicago area, where he attended Northwestern University. He met his wife while working at a performing arts camp on Flathead Lake in Montana. Portland proved an ideal middle ground between Chicago and Montana for raising their two children, Kelsey and Michael (both now working in nonprofit theatre—Michael in Portland, Kelsey in Washington, D.C.).
Mr. Hall is in his second term as chapter director for Oregon Thespians and has served as president of the Oregon Theatre Arts Association. With his JHS co-director, Elaine Kloser, he leads Thespian Troupe 5575, whose productions have been featured on both the Oregon and International festival main stages.
