Oral history interview with Arsya Respati conducted by Madison Chang on December 4, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) student Arsya Respati shares his childhood and upbringing in Jakarta, Indonesia and educational background. He discusses his studies at the international BINUS SCHOOL Simprug in Jakarta and his immigration to the United States with his younger brother to pursue the culinary arts at the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at UNLV. Arsya Respati talks about his relationship with his parents and their daily communication, his "aunty" who has helped him adjust to American culture and homesickness, his Muslim faith and traditions, and his employment. He also shares his views on Indonesian politics and cultural diversity, and the diversity of Las Vegas.

Norma Morrow Zuckerman is the driving force behind the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada [JRTN], an organization she co-founded with Charlene Sher in 2010. The endeavor coincided with Norma’s pursuit of an MFA at UNLV a couple of years prior. With the commitment to her studies and to bring professional Jewish theatrical performances to Las Vegas, her energetic personality intensified. In 2007, she performed in The Diary of Anne Frank and noted the audience was supporting Jewish Family Services Agency. Norma could sense the community’s eagerness for professional theatre and she was just the one to deliver it. Over the following years, JRTN produced an array of Jewish-themed and acted plays. Since then she tries to bring The Diary of Anne Frank to the stage annually and finds partners to bring 1400 eighth graders to the performance. By 2012, her commute between Los Angeles, where she is a garment designer/manufacturer with her husband Eugene, and Las Vegas had become routine and her passion for professional theatre in Las Vegas increased. This was the year that The Smith Center for Performing Arts opened. The first theatrical production was Golda’s Balcony, a one-woman drama starring Tovah Feldshuh. It was the spectacular co-promotion by Norma’s JRTN and the Smith Center. Norma was smitten with the theatre from a young age and studied with some of the best acting coaches—Milton Kastelas, Stella Adler, Wynn Handman. In this oral history she recalls the people who have helped her, the performances that have charmed audiences and the value of live theatre.