Our community theatre team consists of local theatre, music, and dance professionals, bringing diverse expertise to our productions.
Our Team
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Dana Schmidt
Artistic Director
Dana has a BA degree in Music Theater and has been teaching dance and theatre, directing, and performing for over 20 years. She has worked with almost every theater in Grand Junction and loves bringing the stage to life for kids and letting them find their own avenue for expression - in dance and theatre. She is the Artistic Director for The Theatre Project and Youth Theatre Project
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Joy Potter
Executive Director
Joy Potter is currently Executive Director of The Theatre Project and the owner/director of Creative Avenues, an arts-based preschool in Grand Junction. She has over 30 years of experience in the performing arts including teaching, choreographing, and performing. She has been involved with many other arts organizations throughout the community including Performing Arts Conservatory, Beyond Boundaries Dance Collective, Mesa County's Community Services Block Tri-partite Committee and a past board member of the Grand Junction Commission on Arts and Culture.
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Molly Wertman
Besides her role on the Board, Molly is an integral part of our theatre community. With talents as a costumer, stage manager, and dedicated volunteer, she contributes her skills to numerous productions, enriching our theatre experience both onstage and behind the scenes.
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Lisa Gonsalves
Director
Lisa holds a B.A in English and Theatre and an M.A. in Dramatic Literature and Educational Leadership. With her theatre career spanning over 30 years, in educational and professional theatre environments, she has done a little bit of everything from acting to producing. Lisa's specialties are in directing, dramaturgy, and prop fabrication. Lisa loves a good farce and productions with puppetry! Lisa currently directs shows for our series at The Arts Center, helps with the children's productions, and can be seen in the community show casts. During the day Lisa is the Executive Director at Independence Academy Charter School.
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Abigail Mangum
Marketing Director
Abigail is a passionate theatre enthusiast with a minor in the field, currently serving as a manager at The Theatre Project. She focuses on fundraising and publicity, driven by her belief in theatre's transformative power. Abigail is committed to fostering inclusive and impactful theatrical experiences, both behind the scenes and on stage.
She and her children love to be in as many shows as possible at the Theatre Project.
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Chris McKim
Music Director
Chris is honored to be a part of the Theatre Project. He has been a part of the Grand Valley community for 15 years and has been an active performer throughout that time. He has recently appeared celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Avalon theater as John Abbott in Eclipse, The Beast in Beauty and the Beast, and as Shrek in Shrek. He has also participated as either a director or music director in over 20 local productions. When he isn’t on stage or out mountain biking he works as the Head of the Voice area at Colorado Mesa University, where he teaches voice, performing techniques, and vocal pedagogy.
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Gabe Gallegos
Music Director
Gabe Gallegos, a proud Grand Junction native, recently graduated from Colorado Mesa University with degrees in Music Business and Education. At CMU, he co-founded the Rowdy Brass Band and showcased his leadership as a drum major and section leader in the Maverick Stampede Marching Band. He continues to play locally and directs music for Palisade High School Marching Band and The Theatre Project. Gallegos' journey began with the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, where he rose to drum major, earning awards for his charisma and dedication.
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Sherri Taylor-Pilgren
SHERRI TAYLOR-PILGREN has been involved with theater, both off and on stage, for a VERY LONG TIME! She enjoyed the theater life while attending school in Arizona. Then while living in Los Angeles, California Sherri was coaxed to handle props for a "new" Christmas musical. Of course, this started another wave of enduring the theater life whereby Sherri worked with several theatre companies in the Los Angeles area. After moving to Colorado work life consumed Sherri with no creative outlet; that is, until her "baby" sister stepped in and literally dragged her to talk to the Artistic Director for The Theatre Project. At the time they were starting their production of "Damn Yankees" one of her favorite musicals (she likes the oldies). It was the easiest audition ever and she hasn't stopped with The Theatre Project since! She enjoys assisting with the Stages program, performing onstage or participating as the production staff. She’s been known to bust out some dance moves when needed too.
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Neil Mechamne
Neil is in his 2nd year working with Theatre Project after moving to Grand Junction in 2021 and immediately finding friendship amongst the theatre community. Despite a love of the arts and extensive experience playing the piano, he hadn't done much theatre outside of a couple shows in High School. However, Neil dove right in, participating in several shows and beginning to volunteer with the youth musicals. When the need arose, he took the position of Music Director for several shows, and he very much enjoys the work. He is looking forward to participating and helping direct several more shows with Theatre Project!
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Lacey Webber
Lacey has enjoyed theatre as a spectator for a long time, but got her start into theatre recently when she received a text asking, "Do you want to help me build a dragon?" The result was Dragon in the fall production of Shrek in 2022. Lacey has been hooked ever since! Lacey specializes in set construction and prop fabrication and teaching others how to construct sets and fabricate props, with a middle school class of students who build sets and props for shows for Independence Academy and Theatre Project. During the day Lacey is the STEAM Coordinator at Independence Academy.