Spokane Civic Theatre executive director Keith Dixon resigns

Keith Dixon, who has served as executive director of Spokane Civic Theatre since June 2014, resigned his position this week.

Dixon, in a Facebook post, said he is returning to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to spend more time with his young son.

“It is bittersweet to leave the people who’ve touched my life in such a short period of time, but I know this is the right decision,” he wrote. “I am thankful for the opportunity to be here, and I wish the theater all the best as it continues to bring joy to the Inland Northwest.”

In a news release, Civic’s board president Julie Watts said, “We are so grateful for the time and energy that Keith has invested in our theater. He brought fresh ideas and observations that will help the theater long after he is gone, and we have been extraordinarily lucky to have him, even if only for a couple of years.”

Dixon was hired from Baton Rouge Little Theater to replace Yvonne A.K. Johnson, who was fired in July 2013 and who settled a wrongful termination suit with Civic in fall 2014.

Civic, which is marking its 70th season this fall, is a community theater company with a small core of professional staff. It reported total revenue in 2014 of $1.2 million. According to the news release, a committee has been tasked with hiring Dixon’s replacement.

“I feel like the theater is in a place where they can take really good steps forward,” he said in a phone interview Thursday. “It’s been a solid organization for a really long time, and I feel I’ve helped some things along, and been able to be a part of some good stuff.”

In the two seasons he programmed, 2015-16 and 2016-17, Dixon has blended old favorites with newer, edgier works. He kicked off this current season with the musical “Catch Me If You Can,” then followed that up with “Evil Dead: The Musical.” “Little Women” opens next week, following a sold-out run of “Sordid Lives.” Next year, Civic will stage classics like “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Noises Off!” and “Kiss Me Kate,” as well as more contemporary fare like “The Rocky Horror Show,” “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” and “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.”

His final day is April 11, after the Tom Stoppard drama “Hapgood” concludes its run in Civic’s studio theater. He was scheduled to direct “Guys and Dolls” – a midseason replacement for the previously announced “Ghost: The Musical” – in May, and the search is on to find a replacement.

He does not have a job awaiting in Baton Rouge, but he has “irons in the fire” there, he said, adding with a laugh, “if you’re going to be able to get the irons hot, you need to be standing closer to the fire.”