International Theatre Company

In residence at the Haskell Opera House       Derby Line, VT / Stanstead, QC

About QNEK

A quick glance at the onstage training and history of this dynamo, reveals professional instruction in the New Jersey/New York City Metropolitan area-studying voice with the renowned Nancy Evers; worked with directors Ada Pourmel, Angela Flynn, Art Weller, and Jon Penninger; worked with choreographers Yvonne Scudiary ad Charles Pavarini. Highlights of this time in professional theatre include: starring opposite famed actor, Robert Morse in Woody Allen's Play It Again Sam and originating the role of Virginia Brothwell in the Off-Broadway musical, Everything Right Here. But it was the life-changing move to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont that propelled Leimer into the true spotlight.

Lynn Leimer
Founder, CEO and Artistic Managing Director of QNEK Productions


Being a flatlander is a tightrope walk to reach acceptance and Leimer began that walk by immersing herself in the community. Synchronicity met serendipity head on when she was invited to be an Artist-in-Residence in the area schools. It was during this time that she envisioned a theatre company which would answer what she saw as a cultural need in the rural, economically challenged area of the NEK.

Working as a journalist/photographer for the Newport Daily Express opened avenues and connections that would prove to be long lasting. It was a propitious day when she covered an event at the Haskell Opera House in 1993. The theatre was reminiscent of the one in which she grew up in New Jersey. At that moment, she decided this was the stage she wanted to be on. The underutilized theatre was a prime location for establishing a vibrant performing arts company. Leimer's dream was nearly dashed when the iconic opera house closed to make renovations for three years (94-97). Rather than serving as a deterrence, what might have been a stumbling block gave her the opportunity to fine tune and establish a solid reputation for excellence in performance through collaboration with community organizations in education, working with the senior population, and creating a track record of philanthropy. The vision: to provide the best of Broadway and beyond to an area that was theatrically impoverished.

Finding actors, technicians, and underwriters in this pocket of Vermont and the Eastern Townships would not be as daunting as some thought. Music educator, Steve Card, said to Leimer, "You are the only person I've ever met that can get people to do things that they don't want to do." A motivator, a marketing genius, and a creative visionary, Leimer's resourcefulness and organizational skills have kept QNEK buoyant for 18 years. QNEK's superior productions have garnered Leimer the reputation for quality; but it's her passion for collaboration and philanthropy that keeps her company and the Haskell viable.

It was in 2008, when the Haskell Board of Trustees were contemplating closing the opera house after the endowment tanked in the stock market, that Leimer was propelled into even higher gear. Defeat is not in her vocabulary. She presented the Trustees with a five year plan to re-imagine, reinvent, and renew the Haskell. Her fundraising ideas, knowledge of show business, success record with QNEK, and passion for the century-old facility persuaded the Trustees to hire her as an independent contractor to run the opera house. Leimer agreed to take on the task for only $3,000 a year in order to generate revenue for the opera house and after two years, it seems to be working. The Adopt-a-Theatre-Seat Project, successful grant writing, a new website, booking quality acts, and clever marketing have had a positive effect on the financial recovery of the facility, often resulting in front page news coverage.

In 2008 and 2009, Leimer helped write grants that initiated three IWOW awards for a Business Plan, a Marketing Strategies Plan, and a custom-built Website with e-commerce capabilities. IWOW assisted the Haskell and QNEK Productions in coordinating their IT development with the Haskell's marketing strategies plan. The result was an
e-commerce website which facilitates ticket sales. The website is bilingual - a translator worked with the IWOW Team to create content in French. IWOW has generated a user manual and will instigate a training on November 10th to ensure uninterrupted updates of the website. Broadband will play a strong role in the community. Leimer was also responsible for other grants that enabled air conditioning the opera house and upgrades in lighting equipment and technology.

QNEK provides a multitude of services for the Haskell at no charge in order to bring the facility into the 21st century and make it more appealing for companies and performers to rent the space. As the Kander and Ebb song says, "It isn't making history, it isn't making art . . . it's a business." Leimer is an expert in finessing the history and the art to make the "business" work.

Links to Additional Information and friends of QNEK Productions:

SWAT Team

(Specialists with Artistic Talent)
Lynn Leimer - CEO/Artistic Director
Susan Lynn Johns - Associate Director
Dennis Ziegler - Technical Director
Anita Morin - Music Directorte Technical Director
Laura Carpenter - Choreographer