Our Team
caroline timm Schwiebert (she/her)
PDC founder
Artistic director/executive director
Caroline Timm Schwiebert (she/her) is an actress and director. She grew up performing in music, theater, Olympics of the Mind and Forensics competitions. As a young adult Caroline traveled in the international performing arts group Up With People staying with host families, providing community service and international performance to communities around the world. Traveling with this program for over a year as a young adult instilled in her the belief that music, theater and art can provide a bridge between languages, cultures and communities. Caroline has trained in NYC and LA with so very many wonderful teachers and mentors primarily making her earlier career in commercials and voice-overs. Of all the work she has done, Caroline has found working with children the most fulfilling. She's worked with them in a musical theater setting for nearly 20 years, having grown and run summer camps and year-round after-school productions and classes for Upstage Theatre Arts Schools in Los Angeles before moving to Portland in 2015. Caroline is proud to be in her 9th year of Portland Drama Club that began with just 19 kids in a summer camp in 2016 to over 400 kids in summer camps and after-school classes so far in 2024. Caroline has 3 children, but considers every student of hers her very own child. She believes theater is a discipline to be as respected as any sport, martial art or musical instrument and that we learn about ourselves and the world around us by putting ourselves in a character’s shoes. Caroline’s goal is not creating theater stars, but well rounded, expressive, open and loving humans through theater. She knows parents will be proud of their kids, but she really wants kids to proud of themselves. Caroline wants kids to learn that jumping in with enthusiasm, trying hard, failing (and doing it all again and again) is the key to success in anything. Having natural talent on stage is nice, but learning how to work hard is better. She's seen miraculous things happen to kids of all ages/types when they hit the stage. She cries every time.
Robin Krill (she/her)
Managing Director
Robin (she/her) is passionate about helping kids receive equitable access to art and movement. She spent 17 years working in education as a classroom teacher, first for High School and Middle School English Language Arts students and then elementary Physical Education students. In addition, she managed an after school tutoring program for students in Portland. After her own wedding in 2004, she began working as a wedding planner and discovered a love for organizing and executing great events. Robin's three children have all been students of Portland Drama Club and she believes strongly in the incredible work PDC is doing and is excited to help bring theater to more youth in Portland.
Denise Neumerkel (she/her)
Director/musical director
My name is Denise, and I was born and raised in San Diego, California. I’ve been a performer for my whole life! Dance was my first hobby, starting at age 4 with ballet classes. I then began participating in community theatre productions at 11 years old. I then went on to receive my Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre from the University of Northern Colorado. After graduating, I had the amazing privilege of working as a director and music director for youth productions in the San Diego area before accepting a space in an actor’s residency program in New York City in 2019. I loved living in New York City and had the privilege of performing in some incredible places, including Feinstein’s 54 Below. During my time in New York, I began teaching private voice lessons and discovered a passion for spreading my love for singing and helping students find their own voices. It’s such a privilege for me to be working with students once again, and I look forward to meeting more of you!
Macy Craig (she/her)
Director
Macy (she/her) has always been passionate about theater (especially musicals), and has been performing in school and community theater shows since she was 10. Since graduating in 2016 with a Bachelor's in Theater Arts (directing & playwriting), she has directed and written plays for small theater festivals, and has recently started substitute teaching for Vancouver Public Schools. She is currently going back to school for her Master's in Secondary Education, and hopes to use that degree to be the kind of theater educator that had a huge positive influence on her way back when, and is thrilled to be on the Portland Drama Club team.
Eri Zinke
choreographer
Eri was born and raised in Japan, and moved to the US to pursue a career in the performing arts. She studied acting at Foothill Theatre Conservatory in the San Francisco Bay Area and performed in various dance and musical theater productions. After moving to Portland, she’s been regularly teaching musical theater classes and in-school workshops at Oregon Children’s Theater, and recently worked as choreographer for their mainstage productions including She Persisted: the Musical and Goodnight Moon.
She also teaches at Portland Japanese School and leads Japanese storytimes in the Portland area. She integrates drama, music, and dance in her lessons because she believes theater is the best way to enhance overall communication skills whether in one's native or non-native language. The best part is that in her classroom children don’t know they are learning because they are having so much fun! Besides Japanese and English, Eri also speaks Spanish, and is at an elementary to intermediate level in several others including Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, and ASL. She hopes for all of her students to grow up to be the happiest, strongest, and the most empathetic people they can be, and believes that theatre is a fundamental aspect of that journey.
WE ARE HIRING
We are looking to assemble a part time crew who can design, build and deliver simple sets to our various locations around SE Portland. If you are interested in learning more please email info@portlanddramaclub.org
STUDENT INTERNS
Another important part of our show team is our hard working student interns! Our interns are entering grades 7 - 11 and volunteer to take on backstage crew responsibilities throughout the school year- and especially in the summer time. They’ve had a lot of experience with PDC in after school classes, online shows and camps (some since kindergarten!!). These interns are eager to share the skills they’ve learned and the JOY they’ve felt throughout their years with PDC. They learn the whole show rehearsing songs and dances in small groups and sit on mentorship teams. They are busy. They are awesome.
of course, we couldn't do what we do without our board of directors
Charity Babcock Jedeikin
Ehren Schwiebert
Gina Stack
Tavia Babb