NICOLE M. HARRISON
Instructor: Basic Costume Construction, Costume Design & Construction

Nicole has been teaching costume classes at Red Rocks for three years and has designed for the college's main-stage productions including   Baby with the Bathwater and Wonder of the World. She has worked at many local theatre including The Aurora Fox, Country Dinner Playhouse and she been designing costumes at the Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities for five years. Some of her work includes costume design for The Full Monty, The Crimson Thread, Pippin and A Raisin in the Sun. She is the recipient of the 2000 Denver Drama Critic's Award for her designs of The Ant Queen's New Clothes and has received critical acclaim for her work on Aida, The Heiress & Mother Whimsy. Most recently, Nicole was invited to work for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival designing costumes for As You Like It.

STEVE KELLY
Instructor: Light Design, Set Design, Development of Theatre

Steve "Jake" Kelly has been working professionally since 1976 in areas that include writing, producing, directing, acting and set and lighting design. He holds the MFA in Directing from Ole Miss, and has served as director/technical director/lighting designer on stage, radio, opera and live industrial shows. He is especially proud to have opened the regional premieres of K2, The Foreigner and Extremities at his John Galt West End Theatre in Nashville. Currently teaching set and lighting design, theatre history and technical theatre at RRCC, Steve is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. His acting credits include roles on One Life to Live, Superboy and HBO's Robert Altman series Tanner 88.

PAMELA JAMRUSZKA MENCHER
Program Director of the Red Rocks Community College Theatre Arts and Dance Dept.

Pamela received her M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Wisconsin in 1981 and then moved back to Montana where she had grown up.  There, she toured the one-woman show, “The Belle of Amherst” to neighboring states and served as an artist in residence and guest artist in the states of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Washington before moving to Denver in 1983.  She taught part-time at Front Range CC and Red Rocks CC as a speech and theatre teacher until receiving a full-time position at RRCC in 1989.  There, she founded the Theatre and Dance dept. and since has developed it into one of the most comprehensive Theatre programs at a two-year college in the State of Colorado.  She has served on the Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain Theatre Association (RMTA) since 1991 as Secretary, Grants and Development Director, Vice President, President and Past President and has taken RRCC students to the RMTA’s annual conference since 1988.  In addition, she has directed and acted in many theatres around Denver, written 36 plays and also founded the Playwrights Showcase of the Western Region in partnership with the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in 2004.  At Red Rocks, Pamela was honored in 2003 by being selected by her peers as Outstanding Faculty of the Year and also received an Endowed Teaching Chair Award for 2003-2006.  She teaches Public Speaking, Acting, Theatre Production, Playwriting and Directing at the College. 

ELIZABETH PARKS
Theatre Manager and Instructor: Jazz Dance I and II; Development of Theatre I and II

Elizabeth, in her second semester at RRCC, is delighted to be able to serve the department as both a theatre manager and an instructor. With a passion for art, culture and language Elizabeth’s studies include Theatre, Dance and French. She earned her B.A. in English/Drama from Franciscan University of Steubenville and her M.A. in French from Bowling Green State University. In addition, Elizabeth has studied and experienced theatre around the world. She has traveled abroad, living in both Switzerland and France where she studied theatre and dance at Université François Rabelais in Tours. Before coming to Red Rocks Community College Elizabeth taught French at The Arvada Center for the Arts and was invited to work with the Helander Dance Theatre in Boulder, Co. In addition to working and teaching at the college Elizabeth is actively involved in the Denver theatre community working locally as a professional actress. She has appeared in such productions as The Aurora Fox’s “Death of a Salesman” and is currently performing with some of Denver’s most talented actors at Impulse Theater in Downtown Denver. 

CONNIE SANDER
Instructor: Acting, Audition Techniques, Introduction to Theatre, Directing

From 1993-1997 Connie had her own acting company called Cattle Call Productions in Denver. Now she teaches at Red Rocks, where her enthusiasm is contagious. She has received the Part-Time Teacher of the Year Award from the Student Voice for the last two years. She  got her passion for theatre back in high school when she began acting just for fun. Today the fun is still with her and with her students. "Acting gives them confidence," she says. "It's about facing fears and breaking down barriers." With a BFA from Emporia State University in Kansas and an MFA from Humbolt State University in California, Connie came to Red Rocks in 2001. She loves teaching her students communications skills that will help them go through life. In her classes, she teaches people from every profession imaginable. "When we learn about a character, we learn about ourselves and others; planting the first seed towards compassion and understanding."

KELDON SORVIG
Technical Director; Instructor: Technical Theatre

Keldon has spent the last 10 years as an assistant theatre tech at a local high school and continues to construct set and stage furnishings for an area dinner theatre. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from CSU and a Masters of Architecture from UCD. Keldon's intent is to share professional theatre techniques and bring limitless design to physical reality. "RRCC affords me a great opportunity to exchange ideas and skills with students, faculty and the entire theatre community, and I hope I can provide some inspiration along the way."

GINA JACOBS THOMAS
Instructor: Tap I, Modern Dance I, Ballet I and II

Gina Jacobs Thomas recently moved to Denver from New York City in January 2006.  While in New York, she spent six years making dances with MOB Productions, directed by Mollie O¹Brien, where she performed in several venues throughout New York City as well as Toronto, Montreal, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio.  She also had the pleasure of appearing in the dances of CompanyAmyCox, Jennifer Allen, Aviva Geismar and Laura Staton.  Her choreography has been produced in New York City by the Joyce SoHo Presents series and Dancenow Downtown, and has also been seen in Texas, North Carolina and Ohio. She has been strongly influenced by choreographers and teachers she has studied with, including Tere O¹Connor, Zvi Gotheiner, Bebe Miller, Llory Wilson, Woody McGriff, and Susan Hadley.  In 1999, she became certified to teach Labanotation, a system for scoring dance.  She received her MFA in Dance from the Ohio State University and her BFA in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin.

PATRICE TURNER

Patrice Turner is a graduate of Loretto Heights College in Denver, CO with a BFA in Musical Theatre.  She has been performing professionally since 1986 as an actress and musician.  She has worked with numerous theatre companies as a musical director and accompanist.  She has also written and produced the musical comedies Bobby Grand's Doe Stop Cafe, A Matter of Time, High Rise to Nowhere, and Unplugged.  Patrice has recorded 6 CDs of original material and has appeared on radio, TV, cable and in regional publications.  Patrice has taught private voice and piano for the last 15 years and is the author of The Fundamental Voice book.  She is the founder and chair for the annual Arvada Performing Arts and Cultural Festival.