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Executive Artistic Director
Yvonne A.K. Johnson- is the Executive Artistic Director for Spokane Civic Theatre. Previously, she was the Company Director and Producer of the national award-winning CLIMB Theatre, Inc. in Minnesota's Twin Cities. She most recently directed: The Last Five Years, Into the Woods In Concert, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Barefoot in the Park, Evita In Concert, A Christmas Carol, Jekyll & Hyde In Concert, LIFE 101, Hello, Dolly! and at Spokane Civic Theatre.
Johnson is the co-founder of JTR Productions where she created the successful, original musicals LIFE 101: Spring in London and Jack the Ripper: A Musical Mystery. She holds several advanced theatre degrees including an M.A. in Contemporary Theatre Practice from the University of Essex in Colchester, England, and an M.F.A. in Directing from Minnesota State University.
From 1996 until 2001, Johnson served as the Artistic Director of Kassiopia Theatre Company in London, England. Highlights at Kassiopia include directing the internationally acclaimed Lovers- Winners by Brian Friel at the Riverside Studios (Off-West End) and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She also premiered Dermot Bolger's newly revised Irish play, One Last White Horse at the Union Theatre, London. Additionally, Johnson has directed various North American tours of Irish full-length and one-act plays for producer John Gleeson, including Greatest Hits and Blood Guilty. Over the past 16 years, Johnson has taught theatre classes and directed over 80 productions for various schools, universities, community, and professional theatres throughout the Midwest and UK. |
Communications Director
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Allyson Shoshana - After graduating with honors from the University of Texas in San Antonio, Allyson Shoshana embarked on a fateful road trip - and shortly thereafter happened upon what was to become one of the longest, most loving and committed relationships she'd ever known - with the city of Spokane. She soon became a tireless advocate of the arts and entertainment community.
As the manager of the Fernwell Building and Executive Suites, Allyson devoted much of her life supporting Downtown Spokane Partnership's various arts and entertainment programs. What followed next were several years of growth within the Fernwell's walls as public relations manager, marketing director, facilities director and human resources manager.
Allyson spent most of her early adult life traveling around the United States and Asia, collecting higher education credits where she could and filling a host of positions that ran the gamut from social worker, to sales trainer, to regional manager, to group therapy instructor.
Now she looks forward to the opportunity of being Spokane Civic Theatre's new Communications Director, and making her passion for the arts her vocation as well. She is excited and committed to supporting Civic and helping it grow for years to come! |
Business & Facility Administrator
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Jim Humes - As Business and Facility Administrator, Jim will be responsible for all facets of accounting for Civic, including overseeing building maintenance and human resources. He has over 25 years experience in finance.
Prior to moving back to Spokane in 2006, he was employed with the Eugene Symphony as the Finance Manager, Interim Executive Director and Development Director. |
Technical Director
| Peter Hardie- has designed scenery, lights and special effects for most of Civic's productions over the past 24 years. The Spokane Arts Commission recently honored him with the Individual Artist award for his accomplishments. Peter currently serves as adjunct faculty at Whitworth College. |
Assistant Technical Director
| David Baker- came to the Civic in January of 2006 with a varied and extensive resume of production experience. After earning his BA in Drama at University of Washington, Baker studied Irish Theater at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, where he was also hired by the College as Technical Director and Theatre Arts Instructor. He completed his graduate studies in Technical Theater at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX, during which time he was also employed as a carpenter and technician for the commercial scenic industry. On returning to the Pacific Northwest, Baker served as the first resident Technical Director/Designer of the newly constructed Omak Performing Arts Center, teaching both high school and college students in Omak, WA. David enjoys living in Spokane with wife Michele and their four wonderful children, Aubrey, Winston, Grace and Abe. |
Music Director
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Jim Ryan - Originally from St. Louis, Jim comes to Civic via points east, including: Pittsburgh, Fort Lauderdale, and Philadelphia, where he musically directed productions at many premier regional theaters. Previous productions include: Into The Woods and The Baker's Wife at Arden Theater Company, The Fantasticks and Pump Boys and Dinettes at the Walnut Street Theater. He musically directed Batboy with 1812 Productions and Miss Saigon, Grease and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, where he also musically supervised the world premiere of Frank Wildhorn's Waiting for the Moon, starring Lauren Kennedy and Jared Emick. Jim was nominated for four of Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater - twice for musical direction and twice for original music. He has musically directed productions at Villanova University and Bucknell University and served as a staff accompanist at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music. From 2007 through 2009, Jim served as resident musical director for Fort Lauderdale's Laffing Matterz, a satirical musical revue for which he also wrote original music and lyrics.
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Lead Costume Design and Construction
| Jan Wanless -holds a degree in British Literature and Theatre from Whitworth College. She has designed costumes for Civic and many regional productions over the past 20 years. She is best known for her period gowns and kilt making. |
Costume Construction
Dee Finan - spent 25 years costuming at Civic before retiring a couple of years ago. She now returns, as a volunteer, to continue her reign of terror on the actors and directors. As Jan's mentor, she was concerned that Jan was not quite up to being on her own yet, so she is continuing her education in the varied dark arts of costume voodoo and acupuncture.
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Audience Services Manager
| Lance has a background in management spanning over ten years. With a BS from California State University at Fresno, he worked within international agriculture throughout North America. His introduction to the world of theatre came just six years ago, when he married into a theatre family. Relocating from the Monterey Peninsula to the Inland Northwest in 2006, he has volunteered for various arts organizations including: the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, Lake City Playhouse, CYT Spokane, and Coeur d'Alene Arts & Culture Alliance. |
Director of Education
| Stefan Dreisbach Williams - was born New York City and raised in Pennsylvania. He earned a BA in Theatre Arts from Earlham College in Richmond, IN then spent three years working in and out of theatre in Pennsylvania, New York and Oxford, UK. After completing an MA in Theatre Education at Emerson College in Boston Stefan founded the theatre program at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, one of the top ten public schools in the country (US News and World Report). Stefan's acting studies have run the gamut from Sanford Meisner and Michael Chekhov to Jacques Lecoq and Antonin Artaud. His significant theatrical associations have included Touchstone Theatre and Hedgerow Theatre in Pennsylvania and Dada NY, The Living Theatre, Bread and Puppet Theatre and Great Small Works in New York and Boston. His other interests include photography, sculpture, writing and music. |
Grant Writer
Ruth Kavanagh- is originally from Ireland and holds a BA in International Marketing, German and French from DCU in Dublin. She trained as an actress at Arts Educational Drama School in London and also holds an MA in Contemporary Theatre Practice from the University of Essex. As well as growing up in Ireland, she has lived in Germany, London and New York. Ruth has extensive experience in marketing, grant writing and production.
She is co-founder of Kassiopia Theatre Company. Previous credits for Kassiopia are One Last White Horse (London, UK), The Marlboro Man (Milwaukee Irish Fest) and Lovers Winners (London, Edinburgh Festival, various US venues). New York credits include Nights of Wrath, Nora's Bloke, Blood Wedding; UK credits include The Maids, Yerma, The Women, Tingeltangel, A Weimar Cabaret, Steel Magnolias.
Ruth is an accomplished Voice-Over Artist and teaches drama & dance classes and workshops in NYC, London, Ireland and Italy.
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Playwrights-In-Residence
Bryan Harnetiaux- has been a Playwright-in-Residence at Spokane Civic Theatre since 1982. Eleven of his plays have been published, and his short play The Lemonade Stand is anthologized in More One Act Plays for Acting Students (Meriwether Publishing Ltd., 2003). These works include commissioned stage adaptations of Ernest Hemingway The Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Killers, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.s Long Walk to Forever, all published by The Dramatic Publishing Company.
Bryan's work has been performed throughout the United States. His play National Pastime, about the breaking of the color line in major league baseball in 1947, has received nine productions, including professional productions at Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena, California and at Stamford Theatre Works in Stamford, Connecticut. National Pastime will be published by Playscripts, Inc. this Fall.
The one-man play York, done in collaboration with actor David Casteal, which tells the story of the only Black man on the Lewis & Clark Expedition (1803 06) has been performed throughout the country, including a limited engagement at 78th Street Theatre Lab in New York City. (Bryan did the book for York and David developed the Djembe drum rhythms used to tell the story.) Bryan's play Vesta recently completed an equity-waiver professional production at Seattle's Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC) in February, 2008, with Megan Cole in the title role. His full-length play, Dusk, premiered at Spokane Civic Theatre in Spring, 2007.
Bryan is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
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Playwrights-In-Residence
Sandra Hosking- joined Bryan Harnetiaux last year as Co-Playwright-in-Residence at Spokane Civic Theatre. Her plays have been performed in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Canada, and elsewhere. She is editor of Inland NW Homes & Lifestyles magazine in Spokane. She also writes a column for InSight for Playwrights, a national publication for which she has interviewed Beth Henley, Horton and Daisy Foote, Steven Dietz, Jeffrey Sweet, and others. Hosking is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, and she holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from Eastern Washington University.
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Resident Director
Troy Nickerson- Is an accomplished director, choreographer and actor, Troy has garnered numerous local, regional and national awards. He directed and choreographed Civic's production of Assassins, which was recognized as "Best in State" and "Best in Region" and received six national awards, including "Second in Nation" during AACTFest 2007. He was named "Best Director" for STG's I Never Saw Another Butterfly, the "Best in Nation" selection at AACTFest 2003. Troy's portrayal of Jody in Civic's Lonely Planet (the "Best in Nation" production at AACTFest 1999) earned him the honor of "Best Actor in the Nation." Local honors include "Best Director and Choreographer" for Civic's My Fair Lady and "Best Actor" as Lenny in Interplayers' Of Mice and Men. Troy received the 2007 Arts Community Leadership award, from the Spokane Arts Commission, for his many contributions to local charities. Other favorite roles include: Reverend Mother (Nunsense, A-Men) and Moonface Martin (Anything Goes).
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