GFEA member Chris Evans mentors CMR drama department, works as Voice of the Voyagers and empowers community

Drama coach, Chris Evans and Performing Arts paraprofessional, Lesli Evans, have headed the CMR Drama department since 2010.

   CMR Drama Teacher, and GFEA member, Chris Evans, is a tremendous example of a teacher who gives his all, inside and outside the classroom!
   A 1983 graduate of CMR, Chris was active in both drama and on the state champion Rustler Football team during his high school days. In college he focused on his Drama studies, earning a BFA in Drama in 1995 and an MFA in Directing in 2003. Chris and his wife Lesli (the CMR Performing Arts Department Para Professional) returned to their hometown from Missoula in 2010, so that Chris could succeed the legendary Stacy Berquist as head of the CMR Drama.
   During his tenure, CMR Drama has maintained and enhanced its status as one of the the foremost and most innovative theater programs in the state. Chris has also seen his own work, Clowns with Guns (A Vaudeville) performed in a few schools across the country (Another play by Chris, American Roulette, has been performed but is not published). Under Chris' leadership, CMR Drama staged the first Montana performance of the groundbreaking 26 Pebbles by Eric Ulloa. Even so, there is so much more to the story than what happens during school.
   Chris, Lesli, and their students work throughout the summer on projects ranging from getting decorations ready for CMR Homecoming, selling water at the Great Falls 4th of July Parade, to selling GFPS Foundation Truck Tickets. During the school year, CMR Drama decorates for Homecoming Royalty assembly, prom and graduation. They engage in this in addition to mounting 4-6 of their own productions each year. Be on the lookout this coming year for the musical "South Pacific."
   CMR drama is one of the most active and visible ​
  
   

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 parts of the Rustler family. Most nights Chris and Lesli are in the theater well passed the end of the teacher duty day, and they also attend nearly all special events held in Bill Williamson Hall to offer their technical expertise. CMR Drama spearheads "Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat" as a canned food drive, and haunt the Vaughn Corn Maze each year.
​   Outside of his duties with CMR Drama, Chris attends every Rustler Football and Basketball game and has become the "Voice of the Rustlers" in Memorial Stadium and the CMR Fieldhouse. This started after other announcers retired from those spots and Evans was asked to take over. But like many teachers, Chris' GFPS paycheck was not enough to make ends meet for his family. Chris began working security for the Great Falls Voyagers during their summer season. The following year, after another announcer stepped aside, Chris added "Voice of the Voyagers" to his resume. He says he is proud to be a part of the Voyagers organization.
   Chris and Lesli have three children, two of whom are CMR graduates, and a grandchild -- with another on the way. Chris Evans contributes to the Great Falls community both in his work as an educator as well as his many other roles.