Leanne Reimer

Artistic Director

Crossing Creek Community Theatre

A true community theatre for Westside Kelowna has long been a dream of Leanne Reimer, the Artistic Director of Crossing Creek Community Theatre. Under her direction and with great enthusiasm, she brought together 40+ volunteers and coordinated hundreds of man-hours resulting in its successful launching in September 2019.Leanne has been a Glenrosa resident in West Kelownafor 18 years. Her love for the theatre beganas a young child and grew with her. By high school in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, she played lead roles in musicals, one act plays, and dinner theatres, winning provincial awards for acting and student directing.

Leanne entered the theatre program at Simon Fraser University and completed a BA with a major in English Literature and a minor in Theatre. After dabbling in camera and film work in Vancouver, she moved back to the prairies where leading a touring drama team was part of her job at Aldersgate College. Before moving to West Kelowna, Leanne performed and directed in community theatre in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, co-founded a drama school for children called Stage Left Drama Club, brought one-act community plays to provincial competitions—again winning awards for acting and directing—and performed with Sioux Valley summer theatre in Estevan.

Raising a family gave Leanne less time for the theatre, but she continued to write, direct, and perform in many community dramas for children, special occasions and events. Leanne has seen that community theatre provides not only home-grown entertainment, but an avenue for a community of artists and supporters to gather, share talents, and foster relationships and unity. Her desire in founding Crossing Creek Community Theatre is to provide Westside Kelowna with such an opportunity for growth, learning, and connection within the community.