Board of Directors

“I love theater and I love my community. Open Door Community Theatre brings together these two passions in such a beautiful way.”

Colleen Cullen has worked for the Social Security Administration for 30 years in the Twin Cities, Chicago and Baltimore, and is currently the deputy area director for Minnesota and Northern Wisconsin. She lives in Woodbury with her husband, and they have two young adult daughters. Over the past 10 years, Colleen has been involved both on stage and behind the scenes with Woodbury Community Theatre, Ashland Productions and Stillwater Community Theater. She is happy to be contributing her time and talents with Open Door Community Theatre, working with a strong group of people to support live theater and strengthen the community – a “win-win!” as she likes to say. Colleen’s community service includes singing with Spirit Song ecumenical choir and volunteering with the Irish Fair of Minnesota, working with Irish chefs to bring their delicious cuisine to the Minnesota palate. An avid reader and cook, Colleen’s secret aspiration is to own her own catering business.

“As Open Door Community Theatre continues its journey, it is important to stay true to our roots, drive greater engagement with the community, grow talents in individuals, and give to deserving charities.”

Craig Hamer is retired from 3M, where he was an engineer who created process and product solutions for a wide variety of global products. His first interaction with theater was in high school, as a lighting crew member at Woodbury High School. The arts are important to Craig’s entire family, with his wife and son spending time in orchestras, St. Ambrose music ministry and theater pit orchestras, and a daughter who works in ceramic fine arts. Craig was also involved with First Robotics through East Ridge High School as a mentor. In his free time, he enjoys participating in a golf league, curling league, boating, biking and crosswords.

“Knowing that the proceeds from Open Door Community Theatre stay in the community and benefit those that most need it makes it all worthwhile, and binds us all together with an even greater purpose.”

Lisa Cressy, volunteer coordinator for Lakeview Hospice, grew up in St. Paul Park, participating in music and theater in elementary/middle/high school and college. One of her daughters got involved in local community theater and encouraged Lisa and the rest of the family to as well, which led to special times when all four Cressys appeared together in the same shows. Lisa has contributed hundreds of volunteer hours to local community theater, St. Pascal and Spirit Song Choir. Her desire to join Open Door Community Theatre comes from her strong belief in its mission of being rooted in the community: high quality theatrical productions produced, developed and performed by people from our own community. She notes that it’s pretty fun to see your lawyer, dentist or even your teacher up on stage, in the pit or back stage.

“As a past community and school theater volunteer, my experiences were incredibly energizing and positive. I want to be part of building an organization that sustains the experience I had as a volunteer, while giving back to the community for many years to come.”

Colleen Emery’s 32-year career at 3M includes her current role as vice president of plant operations in the Healthcare Business Group. With two daughters who participated in the arts during their K-12 years, Colleen stepped up to volunteer behind the scenes, giving her a greater perspective and admiration of live theater after seeing first-hand what it takes to put on a great performance. Colleen brings a wealth of volunteer experience to Open Door Community Theatre, including serving on educational boards at the K-12 and collegiate level and a local chamber of commerce board. Her interests include home improvement projects, flower gardening, biking, hiking and spending time with family.

“Community theater is special, and Open Door Community Theatre truly understands how important it is to create a welcoming environment where all are accepted. How can you not want to be part of that?”

Alex Berger currently works in Boston Scientific’s Design Assurance division. A theater veteran with over 40 productions in the last 15 years, Alex performed in school productions, with Woodbury Community Theatre and at the Phipps Center for the Arts. His present role is more behind-the-scenes, primarily as stage manager and most recently with Ashland Productions and Theatre in the Round. A proud Minnesota Gopher alum who enjoys golf and board games, Alex notes that the opportunity to help further Open Door Community Theatre’s mission to give back to the community that raised him is particularly exciting, in a time where the world needs the arts more than ever.

“I love Open Door Community Theatre’s mission to bring together the arts and charitable giving, and I look forward to helping the organization grow and become a known presence in the community.”

The director of human resources at Supportive Living Solutions, Stacey Dolan shares a love of music and theater with her husband. After college, Stacey concentrated on folk music gigs around the Twin Cities, and then returned to theater to find a community of like-minded people and feel a sense of connection in performance. She has appeared in productions with Woodbury Community Theatre, Stillwater Community Theatre, Ashland Productions, the Phipps Center for the Arts and Open Door Community Theatre’s inaugural show, “Shrek the Musical.” As a past volunteer at Voices of Hope Women’s Choir, Special Olympics and Sheridan House, Stacey recently took up gardening as a peaceful project, and is very proud of her spaghetti squash harvest.

“Theater was such an influential part of my life growing up. I’m looking forward to all the amazing things we have planned and the future of Open Door Community Theatre, and am most excited about Open Door being a place for kids to find their voice on stage.”

Abigail Peterson is a construction project manager at Minneapolis-based Gardner Builders, where she leads a team specializing in projects at healthcare facilities. She grew up outside of Hudson and found her theater community at a young age at the Phipps Center for the Arts. A performer and volunteer on stages across the east side of the Twin Cities, Abigail appeared onstage in Open Door Community Theatre’s “Shrek the Musical” while her husband worked backstage building sets. They live in St. Paul with their corgi, Murphy. She’s excited to serve Open Door Community Theatre in a new capacity as a board member.

“I love the intergenerational aspect of Open Door Community Theatre; there aren’t many places where people of all ages, from all walks of life, have the opportunity to work together for a common purpose. That is the very model of healthy community that we need so much more of in our world.”

After more than 30 years in professional music ministry, Mary Reimann is delighted to serve as the director of Spirit Song Choir, an independent, ecumenical community choir. Music has always been central to family life for Mary. She grew up with a piano in the kitchen (and the house rule that they were not allowed to play the piano during dinner). As a child, Mary was part of Woodbury’s first community theatre production in 1976, “Sing Out Sweet Land.” As an adult, she has enjoyed performing with her father and children in this wonderful and vibrant theatre community. Mary is passionate about community singing, especially with elders in senior communities, with the Spirit Song Radio crew. She also enjoys walking, hiking, dancing, yoga, and teaching her very smart dog fancy tricks.

“Community theater brings creative forces and community forces together like nothing else. All of those forces came together triumphantly for ‘Shrek’ in 2019 to inaugurate Open Door Community Theatre, and for ‘The Little Mermaid’ in 2022 because we were able to emerge from the pandemic hiatus, which was just plain electrifying.”

Jerry Williams has been a divorce attorney for 29 years, with a solo practice in Woodbury since 2008. His longtime involvement in community theater, often with his family, started with backstage roles – set painting, ad sales, programs – and moved on to playing in the pit orchestra, performing onstage in a few holiday shows, and then music directing (vocal and orchestra). A dedicated New York Times puzzler and wordler, Jerry is an avid tennis fan, having attended the U.S. Open, French Open and most recently, Indian Wells in California. His own playing “career” involved pickup matches with neighbors, hitting with his daughters (now grown) and grudge matches with his father and siblings during family reunions.