About Us

Varsity Letter Requirements

We strive for those who earn their Dexter Drama Varsity Letter to represent an individual who seeks to possess a comprehensive experience of the theatre world.  These requirements will help ensure students exiting the DHS Drama program are at the very least exposed to different aspects of theatre.

Varsity Letter Requirements
The requirements for this letter are an effort for those who earn the Dexter Drama Varsity Letter to represent comprehensive education and understanding of the theater world. These requirements will help ensure students exiting the DHS Drama Program are exposed to different aspects of theater. Varsity Letters can only be earned by Dexter Drama Club members at the High-School level. 

Requirement 1: Involvement in 3 productions in at least 2 different areas of theater. Example: Acting and Pit Orchestra or any combo of Sound/Lights/Costumes/Props/Running Crew/Improv or any designer position, etc… Combinations are endless! Performing in 3 improv shows equates to 1 mainstage production. Please note that writing and directing your own film for Film Festival now counts toward a second area of theater!

Note: The 2 areas can be earned during the same production. For example, you could be on a tech crew and play in the winter musical pit orchestra. A second tech area for cast members can only be counted if the commitment to this position exceeds the already required set build hours. For example, a student could perform in a production as well as make props on props crew. 

Requirement 2: Passing one of the DHS performance or literature courses: IB Film Studies, IB Theater, Drama I, Musical Theater Workshop, or the Video News Production Consortium.

Note: It is understood that this requirement will be difficult for certain students to fit into their schedules. Thus a 4th production can substitute for this course requirements or again 3 improv shows equates to 1 mainstage production and could substitute for this course requirement.

Varsity Letters are presented at the end of each year at the Dexter Drama Club Gala. 

Officers

Presenting your 2022-2023 Drama Club Officers!
Contact them by clicking on their names!

President: 
Shelly Beach 

Vice President: 
Owen Carlson

Communications: 
Adam DeGregorio
Kate Rossow
​
Sergeant at Arms: 
Connor Gleespen
Thespian Liaison: 
Averi Rose 
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Tech Liaison: 
Emily Fawcett

Improv Captains: 
Emily Prall
Kennedy Lint

Pit Liaison: 
Diego Reyes
Dexter Drama Club Advisor: Erin Palmer
OR to send an email through the website to any officer, Mrs. Erin Palmer or our booster club 
click here

2022-2023 Drama Club Officers!

Shelly Beach
​​President

Shelly Beach is your Dexter Drama President as a Senior for the 2022/2023 school year. Participating in her 6th year of the Drama club with over 13 shows of experience, she is excited to be the leader of the club and make every member's experience as positive as hers. You might recognize her as Ursula or Wendy Jo, she was also the head of makeup… Working both onstage and behind the scenes her goal is to create a cohesive, positive environment for all! Her favorite show is The Sound of Music!

Owen Carlson
​Vice President

Owen Carlson is your Vice President for the 22-23 school year. He is a senior and is going into his 5th year in the drama club. As Vice President he is here to answer any and a questions you may have and make your experience a good one!! His favorite show was Romeo and Juliet when he played the role of Capulet. His favorite memory is the huddling around the heaters during Sherwood. If you have any questions feel free to reach out! His favorite musical is Little Shop of Horrors!​

Connor Gleespen
​Sergeant At Arms

Connor Gleespen is your Sergeant at Arms for the 2022-2023 school year! He is a Junior and this is his fifth year in the drama club. He is extremely thrilled to grow and maintain the club’s morale! If you have any questions or just need a friend please don’t hesitate to reach out! Out of the 10 shows he has done, Oliver, his first show, is definitely his favorite as it introduced him to the club. His favorite memory of drama is being chased around by Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid. His favorite show is Into the Woods!

Adam DeGregorio
​​Communications

Adam DeGregorio is excited to be entering his fourth year with DDC as your Sophomore Communications Officer for the 22/23 season! His favorite show he's done so far with DDC is Footloose, where he was the Head of Costumes. His favorite memory within the club is creating Friday Fantastical Footloose Flogs, hosted by Adam and Caleb. His favorite show is Carousel..or Ragtime..or The Light in the Piazza (he has a lot of favorites)

Kate Rossow
​Communications

Kate Rossow is a sophomore who is excited to be representing the Dexter Drama Club during the 2022/23 season as your Communications Officer. This will be her second year at Dexter and with DDC. Her favorite show so far has to be Romeo and Juliet. Her favorite moment with the club is singing together in the choir room and warming up before a show because this is when the people feel most united. Her favorite show of all time is Hadestown.

Emily Prall
​Improv Captain

Emily Prall is a Junior and is super excited to co-captain improv with Kennedy Lint this year! she’s been in both Drama and improv since her freshman year. Her favorite show was Romeo and Juliet where she played Tybalt. She loves being at improv and hosting games with the improv troupe. Her favorite show of all time is come from away. ​​

Kennedy Lint
​Improv Captain

​Kennedy Lint cannot believe her luck in getting to co-captain improv this year with the wonderful Emily Prall! She is a junior going into her 5th year with the drama club and third year with improv. Her favorite show was Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, in which she played Deorwynn!! Her favorite moment(s) in the club were organizing bonding events for shows last year. Her favorite show of all time is Angels in America.
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Emily Fawcett
​Tech Liaison

Emily Fawcett is your Sophomore Tech Liaison for the 2022/23 school year. This is 4th year in the drama club and she is really excited to work with all the technicians and would LAV to answer all the questions you have! Her favorite production she has been a part of was Footloose because she got to set off the confetti cannons 🎉! Her favorite moment in the club was when the confetti cannons actually went off! Her favorite show is Little Shop of Horrors!

Averi Rose
Thespian Liaison

Averi Rose is your Senior Thespian Liaison for the 2022-23 school year! This will be her 3rd year in the Dexter Drama Club and she is so excited to share this experience with you. She’s ready to guide you in becoming a Thespian member and welcome you to go on an exciting trip to Thespian Festival. If you have any questions about Thespian always feel free to ask! Her favorite show is Heathers.

Diego Reyes
​Pit Liaison

Diego Reyes is your Senior Pit Liaison! His favorite show he has been in is Romeo and Juliet, for being on stage and out of the pit! His favorite memory with DDC is watching cars and hanging out in the hair room while waiting for the jazz scene in Romeo and Juliet, and playing trumpet with Mathew Baursefield. His favorite show is Fiddler on the Roof!

Mrs. Erin Palmer
Drama Club Advisor
Erin Palmer is in her fifteenth year at Dexter High School as a World History teacher and Drama Club advisor! Palmer additionally teaches the US History course populated with many exchange students each year.  She very much enjoyed teaching an online course for her Chinese students during the 2020-2021 school year even if it was at 9pm to accommodate for the time change!  Palmer is a proud alumna of Kalamazoo College where she earned a BA in History and minors in Psychology and Theatre Arts. Palmer also holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Michigan-Flint. In past summers she has taken her passion for teaching and theatre overseas where she has taught English through performance in Poland.  Palmer has spent 3 summers in the forests of Oregon where she facilitated teen programs on high and low-rope challenge courses.  She worked as an inclusion specialist and specifically with the foster system of Portland, Oregon to provide more student opportunities outdoors and help ensure accessibility. As the advisor of the Dexter Drama Club and Improv Club she is the proud sponsor of 4 main productions a year and 5 Improv shows.   Previous directing credits with Dexter Drama include The Odd Couple, Anything Goes, Hello, Dolly!, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Back to the 80s, A Year With Frog and Toad, Guys and Dolls, Alice in Wonderland, The Music Man, Willy Wonka, Into the Woods, Disney's The Jungle Book, Crazy For You, Hercules, Grease, Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Chicago, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Disney’s Lion King Jr., On the Town, Peter Pan, Little Shop of Horrors, and The Wizard of Oz. During the Covid-19 pandemic outdoor performances included Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood, and Disney’s Tarzan.  Palmer would like to enthusiastically recognize her student designers and officers for all they do to make the Dexter Drama productions incredible as well as her parent booster club for all their efforts.  A special “shout out” to Jodi Helmholtz, her Parent Booster president and Dexter Drama Club producer who is extraordinary.  Dexter Drama Club would also not be possible without the talents of her “partners in crime”: choir and vocal director Julie Bassett, pit orchestra director Brian Rose, and my wonderfully talented program choreographer Amanda Webster.