Dear Evan Hansen
YOU WILL BE FOUND.
The winner of six Tony Awards (including Best Musical), the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and an Olivier Award for Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen is a deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it.
Evan Hansen, a teenager with a severe anxiety disorder, has always felt invisible. But when a sudden death shocks the community and thrusts him into the center of a rapidly evolving controversy, Evan is given the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to be somebody else.
The show features a book by Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson (Fosse/Verdon) and a score by Grammy, Tony and Academy Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dogfight, La La Land, The Greatest Showman).
Spokane Civic Theatre is one of the first community or regional theatres in the world to produce this title through special arrangement with Music Theatre International.
Venue
Margot and Robert Ogden Main Stage
The entrance to the Main Stage is on the North side of the facility, on Gardner Ave.
Dates & Showtimes
July 17 – August 2, 2026
Wed–Sat: 7:30PM | Sun: 2:00PM
Tickets
Members get priority access (and best prices) to this Season 79 Special Performance — Join us! Click here to become a Season 78 Member!
Please Note
CONTENT WARNING: Rated PG-13 for mature content and language, drugs and alcohol, violence, and sexual content.
Dear Evan Hansen explores the need for connection in today’s noisy, fast-paced society. It follows Evan, an anxious adolescent who struggles socially, and the highs and lows that unfold when he becomes embroiled in a lie about the circumstances of a troubled classmate’s sudden death. As Evan comes to grips with the falsehoods he’s building, he nonetheless transforms his community, himself and his closet relationships by promoting the idea that everyone deserves to feel seen and valued. Dear Evan Hansen touches on some of the prescient themes affecting young people today, including mental health and addiction struggles, death by suicide, the dangers of social media and family dysfunction.
Creative & Production
Book by
Steven Levenson
Music and Lyrics by
Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Licensing
Music Theatre International
Director
Ann Benson
Music Director
Bryan Swenland
Meet the Directorial Team
Ann Benson happily works in many different facets of music and theatre performance, focusing on acting, singing and directing. Past directing credits include The Sound of Music and The Glass Menagerie at Whitworth University, and The Miracle Worker at Lake City Playhouse. As an actor, Ann has appeared as Mother Superior in Nunsense, Marmee in Little Women (both at Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre), Alison in Fun Home (Lake City Playhouse), Amy in Company (in concert) (The Modern Theatre), and most recently as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella for Civic Interactive, a touring arts-in-education program. Ann also enjoys directing and scriptwriting for schools, churches, and other non-theatre communities, singing classical music from opera to art song recitals, as well as collaborating with her husband, improviser Kevin Benson, on such projects as their original longform improv show, ImprOpera!
Bryan Swenland is honored to make his debut as Music Director with Dear Evan Hansen at Spokane Civic Theatre. A passionate educator and performer, Bryan has played in over 170 musical productions, primarily on drums, as well as guitar and wind instruments. He currently serves as Band Director at Mountainside Middle School, where he has taught for 25 years. Earlier in his career, he directed choirs at North Central High School and Mead Middle School, and he has spent 12 years as a worship director at two churches. Over the years, Bryan has led a variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles and remains deeply committed to helping others grow through music. When not teaching or performing, Bryan enjoys playing and watching soccer and sharing his love of musicals with his daughters, Kelsey and Rachel. He extends heartfelt thanks to his wife, Suzy, for her unwavering support and encouragement.