Oral history interview with Sanje Sedera conducted by Kristel Peralta, Cecilia Winchell, Ayrton Yamaguchi, and Stefani Evans on April 16, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Sanje Sedera discusses growing up in Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, with his family. He shares his educational history, moving from Sri Lanka to Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia as a high schooler to learn English before immigrating to the United States to attend Idaho State University. Sedera discusses the political unrest and civil war that took place in Sri Lanka between the Tamil and Sinhalese people, and how he grew to appreciate political activism instilled in him by his paternal grandparents. Sedera shares his employment history working as a manager for K-Mart, an opportunity that brought him to Las Vegas, as well as his entrepreneurial pursuits of owning a mortgage business and becoming a realtor. He talks about the financial crisis of 2008 that led to losing his business, his attempts to run for public office, and how he helped to form Nevada's Asian American Democratic Caucus. Sedera concludes with a discussion of his Buddhist practice and how these philosophies have shaped his life.
Larry Henley was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1957. The family spent one year in Wisconsin, and then moved to Las Vegas in 1973 when he was 15. His schooling was mostly in Oregon, though he graduated from Chaparral High School in Las Vegas in Larry enrolled at UNLV in 1975 and was a student there off and on until 1980, the year he earned his theater degree. It wasn't until around 2002 that he got his master's. Mr. Henley started working at the concert hall at UNLV around 1977, doing lighting design work, then moved to Colorado Springs for three years. He opened the Pike s Peak Center, acting as stage manager and lighting technician, and eventually joined the stagehands' union. While in Colorado Springs, he was married, and he and his wife had a son. The Henleys moved back to Las Vegas so they could be closer to family, and Larry began working part-time on the stage crew at UNLV. He was listed as a classified employee, and this segued into a professional staff position in 1988. Today, Larry is the director of artistic programming and production at the Performing Arts Center. He schedules all performances in the theaters. He also does contracting and billing, works on the Master Series, and recruits speakers for the Barrick Lecture Series. He has made a 20 year career out of bringing entertainment and culture to the Las Vegas scene, continuing a tradition started by other directors.