Ann Benson
Last at Civic: Onstage in Voices Concert, Cinderella: A Literary Tale, Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Ann is a theatre and music artist, emphasizing acting, singing, directing, and arts education. Past acting credits include 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 (The Modern Theatre), and most recently as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella for Civic Interactive’s school tour. As a director, Ann loves developing creative theatre performances in non-traditional spaces for community groups like schools, churches, or summer camps. She also directs full-scale productions including The Sound of Music and The Glass Menagerie (Whitworth University) and The Miracle Worker (Lake City Playhouse), as well as the upcoming Dear Evan Hansen for Spokane Civic Theatre in May of 2027. As a singer, Ann has appeared as a concert soloist or in opera roles with the Spokane Symphony, Spokane Civic Theatre, the Palouse Choral Society, Inland Northwest Opera and in Impropera!, an improvised opera-comedy show with her husband, Kevin. Alongside performing and directing, Ann is a lifelong educator, with experience teaching music and/or theatre in Spokane Public Schools, Mead School District, Whitworth University, Clearwater Arts Camp, Inland Northwest Theatre Arts Festival, and as a private voice teacher in her own studio. She has a Master in Teaching degree, Orff Level 1 certification, completion of the Vocal Academy at the Collaborative Piano Institute (LSU), and she has been selected for the 2026-2027 cohort of the Educators’ Neighborhood at the Fred Rogers Institute.
Ramona Benson
Last at Civic: Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Ramona Benson is a singer, dancer, actor, percussionist and pianist from Spokane, Washington. She has 12 years of dance training at the Sandra Olgard School, emphasizing ballet and tap. Past acting roles include Charlie Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Ferris High School), Aquata in The Little Mermaid (Ferris High School), Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (The Drama Bunker), as well as multiple ensemble roles in school and community theatre productions. Ramona’s singing experience includes private voice lessons, recital performances, and singing in many different choirs over the years. Ramona has been an assistant teacher for dance classes and children’s choirs, a counselor for arts camps, and currently works as a lifeguard and swim instructor for the City of Spokane. She is currently a sophomore Percussion Performance major at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Clara Buck
Last at Civic: Choreographer for The Lion King Jr. and Frozen Jr. (My Turn Theater), Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Clara Buck earned her BA in Communication Studies, Dance, and Psychology from Gonzaga University and her MA in Communication and Leadership Studies with a concentration in Digital Media Strategies also from Gonzaga. She is the Marketing & PR Assistant for the Gonzaga Theatre and Dance Department.
Clara grew up in Reno, Nevada where, from an early age, she enjoyed performing in a variety of productions with her dance studio as well as musicals, madrigal dinners, and choral performances in middle and high school. During her time as an undergraduate student at Gonzaga, she had the opportunity to join Gonzaga Dance on tour in Florence, Italy as well as teach local Spokane elementary school students through ZagDance. Clara taught dance summer camps at her hometown studio during her bachelor’s and taught for Civic Education in Winter 2026. Her background in dance includes Irish, musical theatre, tap, jazz, lyrical, and ballet.
Recent and upcoming creative endeavors include Reno Fashion Show (Model – Artown – 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025), Dancing at Lughnasa & Urinetown: the Musical & The Tempest (Choreographer, Assistant Choreographer, Choreographer – Gonzaga University – 2020, 2025, 2026 – KCACTF Meritorious Achievement Award for Choreography for Dancing at Lughnasa), Siamsa: A Celtic Christmas & A Celtic Summer’s Eve (Assistant Director/Alumna Dancer, Performer – Shamrock Productions – 2021, 2026), Jersey Boys & The Addams Family & Cats (Assistant Choreographer, Dance Supervisor, Staging Supervisor – Spokane Civic Theatre – 2023, 2024), Beauty and the Beast Jr. & The Lion King Jr. & Frozen Jr. (Choreographer – My Turn Theater – 2023, 2025, 2026), and Rising Tide (Dancer – Kindling Productions – 2025).
Annie Cho
Last at Civic: Backstage parent for Peter and the Starcatcher, Producer for Alice in Wonderland Jr., Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Annie earned her Associate Diploma in Teaching Speech and Drama (ASB) through the New Zealand Speech Board. Her love of drama began at the age of eight when her parents enrolled her in classes to help her overcome her extreme shyness. What started as a way to build confidence soon grew into a lifelong passion of helping kids discover their own through drama.
Over the years, Annie has taught weekly drama classes, led summer camps, and prepared students for national Speech and Drama examinations. Since 2022, she has been teaching Drama and Improv for kindergarten through 5th grade through the Saint George’s After-School Enrichment Program.
When she’s not teaching, Annie enjoys traveling and spending time with her two children, who are both active performers with Civic Theatre.
Bonni Dichone
Last at Civic: Choreographer for Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Director for Jagged Little Pill
Bonni Dichone is an actor, director, choreographer, and multi-hyphenate artist whose work spans dance, theater, film, and education. With a foundation in dance, music, and performance—including classical ballet, musical theatre, and piano—she brings a movement-driven, story-centered approach to her work. She has performed on professional musical theatre stages and as a principal dancer with a contemporary ballet company, and is an award-winning choreographer whose credits include CATS, The Wind in the Willows, and Legally Blonde at Spokane Civic Theatre. She recently directed Jagged Little Pill at Spokane Civic Theatre.
Bonni is passionate about making dance training accessible, welcoming, and relevant to performers at every level, and believes that strong technical foundations build confidence and expand creative possibilities.
Bonni is a faculty member at Artistry in Motion Dance and Performing Arts Studio, where she teaches and choreographs. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Washington State University and recently retired as a tenured Full Professor at Gonzaga University. She is based in Spokane, where she continues her work as an artist, choreographer, and educator.
Chelsea DuVall
Last at Civic: Onstage for Jagged Little Pill, Director for POTUS
Chelsea DuVall (she/her) is a Spokane-based theatre artist, educator and writer. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts, and is a Fitzmaurice Voicework Teacher (Candidate for Certification). She has worked with artists such as Antoinette DiPietropolo, James Franco, Neil Freeman, Nataki Garrett, and Samantha Shay. Chelsea has worked with companies such as Arizona Opera, Center for New Performance, Austin Shakespeare, the Organic Theatre Company, and various theaters in the PNW. She is currently Adjunct Faculty at Whitworth University, and has previously taught at Gonzaga University and Utah State University. She appeared as Mrs. Cratchit and served as Associate Director on the 2025 National Tour of Dolly Parton’s Smokey Mountain Christmas Carol. Regional acting credits include: Beulah in Come From Away! (Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater); Mary Jane Healy in Jagged Little Pill (Spokane Civic); Allison in Fun Home (Stage Left); Harper Pitt in Angels in America, Part I (Spokane Civic Readers Theatre); Dr. Rosalind Franklin in Photograph 51 (Spokane Civic); Marianne in Constellations (Spokane Civic). Local directing credits include: POTUS (Spokane Civic), 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Spokane Civic), Dracula (Spokane Civic), Anastasia (Coeur d’Alene Summer Theater), and A Bright Room Called Day (Gonzaga University). Upcoming projects include: Directing The Importance of Being Earnest (2027, Spokane Civic), Silent Sky (2027, Whitworth University).
Lilah Gail
Last at Civic: Onstage in Jagged Little Pill and Legally Blonde, Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Lilah has been in the performing arts space in the Inland Northwest since 2019, and co-owns the character events company Enchanted Entertainment PNW. She has 7 years of experience working with children, and she works as a teacher with North Wall Schools. Her performance credits include Milky White (Into The Woods, Aspire, 2024), Chief Weasel (The Wind In The Willows, Spokane Civic Theatre, 2025), Bella Fox (Jagged Little Pill, Spokane Civic Theatre, 2026), and more. Lilah’s goal is to empower children through the magic of performance art. You can find her on Instagram @thelilseagoat.
Sarah Glesk
Last at Civic: Onstage and Choreographer for Rising Tide (Kindling Productions), Ballet Choreographer for Carousel
Sarah Glesk is a dance educator, choreographer, and dancer based in Spokane, WA. She has been a faculty member at Gonzaga University since 2013, teaching ballet, pointe, contemporary/modern, and jazz, and has directed over 10 companies. Sarah also serves as a dance instructor at various local studios and is the Resident Choreographer for Kindling Productions. In 2024, she completed training with the Mark Morris Dance Group Outreach Program and began teaching Dance for Parkinson’s classes.
Sarah earned a BFA in Dance (Cum Laude) from Cornish College of the Arts in 2006, where she performed in works such as Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels. Her professional performance credits include work with Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey, Alloy Dance Project, Serendip, Vytal Movement, and Kindling Productions. Additionally, she co-founded the Seattle-based cabaret dinner theater, the CanCan Castaways, contributing as both a performer and choreographer.
Recently, Sarah’s choreography has been featured in Kindling Productions’ Rising Tide and Ghostlight, Gonzaga’s production of Urinetown: The Musical, and Spokane Civic Theater’s Carousel. Her work has also appeared in Gonzaga’s annual Spring Dance Concert, the Spokane Film Project, 50-Hour Slam, and numerous music videos.
When she is not in the studio, Sarah enjoys gardening, cleaning (truly!), and spending time with the people she loves.
Jean Hardie
Last at Civic: Director for Carousel and A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Actively involved at Spokane Civic Theatre since moving here in 1981, Jean has acted in, directed and choreographed many, many shows over the years, but is probably best known as Mother Superior in Nunsense I and II and Nuncrackers. She was the director of the Box ‘n’ Hat Players for 20 years, directed the Civic Summer Program for 14 years, has had several plays accepted for Civic’s annual Playwrights Forum and is a Civic Theatre Lifetime Achievement recipient. Most recently she directed Carousel, Merrily We Roll Along, co-directed Jersey Boys and CATS and even worked as the Light Board Operator for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and The Wizard of Oz. Best of all, she got to perform a duet with her son David in Civic’s Musical Revue Beat by Beat.
Meredith Hutchison Hartley
Last at Civic: Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Meredith has a theatrical career spanning 30 years of directing, acting, writing, design, coaching, and dramaturgy. She studied direction, costuming, and theatrical education for secondary students under Douglas “Chip” Rome (cofounder/author of Educational Stages) in the Washington, DC area and is an alumna of The American Shakespeare Company’s Young Company in Staunton, VA. While still in high school in Fairfax County, she became the first student to solely direct a mainstage play, and received one of the first of The Washington Post‘s Cappies Medals at The Kennedy Center the programs inaugural year. A civilian graduate of The Defense Language Institute-Presidio of Monterey’s Thai Intermediate Program, Mer then attended Utah State University, where she majored in Asian Studies and performed on the main stage. While there, Mer also taught afterschool drama programs for Cache County School District and did coaching and design work at The Old Barn Theater. Since then, Meredith has directed productions of every genre — but Shakespeare always has her heart. Career highlights include directing Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Wait Until Dark, and Cymbeline (Folger Shakespeare Festival, Excellence in Directing Award). Favorite roles include Juliet (The American Shakespeare Company Young Company), Exeter in Henry V (Best Featured Actor Award, Folger Shakespeare Festival), and Tessy in The Miss Firecracker Contest (Utah State University). She’s done advanced training in teaching both stage combat and Shakespeare for youth with both the Folger and American Shakespeare Center. Since 2022, Mer has served as acting coach, set designer, and costume assistant for productions at University High School in Spokane Valley.
In her non-theater life, Meredith is a quality management expert specializing in organizational behavior, board training and quality audits for non-profits, and process improvement. From 2013-2017, she served as board president of SpokaneFĀVS, Spokane’s Schachern Award-winning independent religion journalism organization. Mer lives in Spokane Valley with her husband, two sons, three dogs, and many, many books.
Cynthia Kirkman Romoff
Education Director, Spokane Civic Theatre
Cynthia has been teaching, directing, and conducting in the performing arts for over 30 years, focused on creating positive, individualized learning experiences for students of all ages and experience levels. In addition to 10 years as a classroom educator and 35 years as a freelance teaching artist in the performing arts, she served as Director of Educational Services at California Music Studios, recruiting and managing over 250 music teachers across Southern California and producing recitals and events for over 800 students. Before that, she managed the Conservatory at Lausanne Collegiate School, expanding its extracurricular music program into a K-8 Performing Arts Conservatory offering private lessons, dance, show choir, and theater. As a private voice teacher she has taught at the professional, collegiate and high school level.
An accomplished vocal performer, Cynthia’s operatic credits include principal roles in Der fliegende Holländer, The Turn of the Screw, Suor Angelica, and La Bohème. Her solo concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” and Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10, performed with the Spokane String Quartet. With a particular interest in contemporary and theatrical song repertoire, she created “Divas After Dark,” a classical cabaret.
Originally from Spokane, WA and a proud alum of Spokane Civic Theatre Education programs, Cynthia is thrilled to return home and to continue working with performers of all ages as Director of Education at Spokane Civic Theatre.
Myranda Lloyd
Last at Civic: Onstage for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Wind in the Willows, Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Jared McDougall
Last at Civic: Onstage in 2025 Playwrights’ Forum Festival and I Hate Hamlet (Readers Theater), Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Jared McDougall has been performing Shakespeare in Spokane for nearly a decade, and he is thrilled to be able to share his love and knowledge of the Bard! He holds teaching certificates in both Washington and Idaho with endorsements in K-12 Theatre Arts and secondary English/Language Arts. For the past two years, Jared has worked as the Drama and Speech teacher at Post Falls High School, where he leads the Trojan Theatre program. His recent directing credits at PFHS include Pride and Prejudice, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem, and The Drowsy Chaperone JR, which he also choreographed. In 2023, Jared served as a teaching artist at the Inland Northwest Theatre Arts Festival, teaching workshops on Shakespearean performance. Jared also serves on the board of Inland Classical Theatre.
When he isn’t teaching, Jared performs with various theaters in the greater Spokane area, including Spokane Civic Theatre (Playwrights’ Forum Festival, Ignite! readers theatre production of I Hate Hamlet); Inland Classical Theatre (The Taming of the Shrew, Mary Stuart); Spokane Shakespeare Society (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, As You Like It); and most recently, Lake City Playhouse (Mean Girls).
Carmyn Parks-House
Last at Civic: Onstage in Legally Blonde and CATS, Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Carmyn is a local choir director and private voice teacher. She has her Bachelor’s in Music Education and Vocal Performance and is currently working on her Masters in Music Education from EWU. When she isn’t teaching choir, guitar, and piano at Shadle Park High School, she enjoys directing after school shows, participating in musicals, doing summer camps at both Spokane Civic Theater and Saint George’s School, and teaching after school private voice lessons. Recent roles include Kate in Legally Blonde at Spokane Civic Theater and Jellylorum in CATS at Spokane Civic Theater. She has spent time developing her curiosity for teaching and enjoys taking an intentional and physiological approach to singing, acting, and dancing. Carmyn has a wonderful husband and two kitties at home and enjoys singing all genres including classical, opera, jazz, musical theater, and more. She also enjoys hobbies like Magic the Gathering, playing video games, and reading fantasy.
Wren Rhodes
Last at Civic: Onstage in Jagged Little Pill, Voices Concert
Wren completed her bachelor’s degree in children’s studies and currently works at North Wall Schools as a lead teacher. She also co-owns a local character company, Enchanted Entertainment PNW, where she brings princesses, heroes, and more to children’s birthday parties, events, and shows. She can also be seen on the Spokane Civic Theatre stage from time to time, enjoying entertaining the crowd with her singing, dancing, and acting abilities. She is so excited to combine the two things she loves most – teaching and acting!
Christian Skok
Last at Civic: Music Director for Jagged Little Pill and Alice in Wonderland Jr., Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Christian received his Bachelor’s in Piano Performance and in Musical Theatre from EWU in 2022. Recent credits include Music Director for Ordinary Days and Tick, Tick… Boom! at EWU, Spring Awakening and Urinetown at Gonzaga, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at SVST, and Asst. Music Director for Twelfth Night the Musical at EWU. He currently accompanies around the Spokane area for choirs, soloists, and instrumentalists and continues to share his passion as music department accompanist for Gonzaga University. He has over 100 houseplants and two cats at home that make the long days worthwhile.
Rachae Thomas
Last at Civic: Onstage in POTUS and Sweat, Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Rachae is originally from Spokane, WA. She recently relocated to her hometown by way of Los Angeles in 2021. Her TV credits range from recurring to guest appearances on streaming networks like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Shows like How to Get Away with Murder, Hand of God and Casual. Her breakout role was in a film called Life of a King playing a supporting role to Cuba Gooding Jr. She’s appeared in numerous national commercials throughout her career. As well as starred in critically acclaimed Theatre and Musical Theatre productions all over Los Angeles. She’s also performed her own and other One Woman shows around the country. Rachae’s goal is to break racial boundaries and limitations in roles and in life. Creating relate-able characters and stories that transform and empower the narrative around Women, People of Color and normal people everywhere, is her passion. Being “Mommy” is her passion too.
Ryan Wasson
Last at Civic: Onstage in Waitress and The Great Gatsby (Readers Theater), Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Ryan has made a home at Spokane Civic Theatre over the past 8 years. Some of his Civic credits include Ensemble in Waitress, Nick Carraway in Civic & Ignite’s Reader Theater production of The Great Gatsby, “Himself” in Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!), Waiter / Ensemble in She Loves Me, an Ancestor in The Addams Family, Vice Principal Douglas Panch in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, James Watson in Photograph 51, and Crow / Ensemble in The Wizard of Oz. Outside of Civic, he’s been Martin / Ensemble in Mean Girls (Lake City Playhouse), Director of Elf Jr. (CYT North Idaho), and Harold Hill in The Music Man Jr. (TAC At The Lake). Ryan also works in the area as an actor, director, and photographer, in addition to working as the Communications Assistant at Civic. He is excited to be a teaching artist with Civic Education where he began his Civic journey 10 years ago working as the spotlight operator for High School Musical, then transitioning to the stage in the Ensemble of My Fair Lady in 2018. One of his main goals as an artist is to keep the flame of theatre alive and well for future generations because theatre helps build up confidence, creativity, expression, and community.
Mackenzie Willett
Last at Civic: Stage Manager for Jagged Little Pill and Romeo and Juliet, Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
Dana Williams
Last at Civic: Onstage in Jagged Little Pill and Waitress, Teaching Artist for Summer 2026
