Our Creative Team
Erin Dugan
Erin Dugan is the Executive Artistic Director of Valley Student Theatre! Erin has been directing shows in East Granby’s various summer theatre programs since 2013 and is actually an alumni of East Granby Summer Theatre. She has been an elementary teacher since 2016. Erin has been a member of the Opera House Players since 2017 and is currently the President on the OHP Board of Directors. In her spare time she loves to perform in multiple community theatre productions. Her favorite roles include Bea in ‘Something Rotten’, Paulette in ‘Legally Blonde’, Miss Honey in ‘Matilda’, Gertrude in ‘Seussical’, Madame de la Grande Bouche in ‘Beauty and the Beast’, the housewife in ‘Working’, Miss Mona in ‘The Best Little 'House' in Texas’, and Rose in ‘Dogfight’. Erin is looking forward to this summer’s production of Something Rotten!
Julianne Thouin
Julie was thrilled to make her Valley Student Theatre debut with SpongeBob SquarePants, serving as co-director! She has spent the past two summers directing with Erin for the Opera House Players’ summer youth theater to bring Shrek and The Little Mermaid to life on stage. Though she didn’t start performing until she was in college, Julie had always had a great love for musical theater. Some of her favorite roles include Marta in Company, Goat in The Robber Bridegroom, and Mrs Wormwood in Matilda. In real life, though, her all time favorite title is Mama to her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Penny.
Taylor Mynahan
Taylor Mynahan is a dancer of seventeen years, and a choreographer of five years. She is currently attending The Hartt School to receive a BFA in Musical Theatre. She has also trained at Toriography Dance Company on their competitive team, Joffrey Ballet School, and Broadway Dance Center. Her recent choreography credits include: Legally Blonde at SHS, Seussical Jr. at MBA, The Little Mermaid at SHS, Grease at SHS, Les Miserables at VST, Descendents The Musical at SHS, and the “Hello My Name is…” cabaret at The Hartt School. She is also a floor routine choreographer for SOMERSault Jungle Gymnastics. Taylor’s past roles include Natalie in Legally Blonde Jr., Attina/Ensemble (dance captain) in The Little Mermaid, Squidward Q. Tentacles in The SpongeBob Musical, Ensemble (dance captain) in Jesus Christ Superstar, Rizzo in Grease, and Ensemble (dance captain) in Be More Chill.
James Thacher
​James Thacher was thrilled to join the VST team last summer for their production of Les Miserables, and even happier to return as Assistant Director for this summer's Something Rotten! James is a student currently studying both music education and speech pathology. James is also a performer. His favorite shows have been Les Miserables (Unity House Players), Little Shop of Horrors (WSHS), and Be More Chill (OHP).
Sammy Barry
Sammy will be going into her Junior year at the Maine College of Art and Design this fall. She has worked for, and performed in several different musicals every year from 2015 to now. The theater companies she has worked for include: Suffield Players, Opera House Players, and Valley Student Theater. She enjoys drawing, listening to Spotify at deafening volumes, and watching unhealthy amounts of Youtube everyday. Some of her favorite productions she has been a part of include: Aladdin Jr. at JFK Middle School, where she played the Magic Carpet, OHP’s Newsies, OHP’s Bright Star, OHP’s Something Rotten, VST’s Addams Family, OHP’s Mamma Mia, OHP’s Little Mermaid, and finally, OHP’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. She has been a huge fan of Les Mis for many years now, and she can’t wait to be a part of this production!