On Broadway
By Carolyn Lamberson The Spokesman-Review
Spokane is about 3,000 miles away from Broadway. But that hasn’t meant that local performers haven't found success on the “Great White Way.”
Here are a few of the talented writers, producers and actors from throughout the Inland Northwest who have had their theater dreams come true.
Regional entertainers who have worked in or around Broadway:
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DENIS ARNDT
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- Arndt was active in drama at Rogers High School (class of ’57), but he served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam before pursuing an acting career.
- Broadway:
- He made his Broadway debut at age 77 in 2016 with “Heisenberg”
- Greater fame:
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival, “LA Law,” “Boston Legal”
-
STEVEN BOOTH
- From:
- Coeur d’Alene
- Locally:
- Danny Zuko/“Grease,” Spokane Theatrical Group, 2002; “Anything Goes,” CdA Summer Theatre, 2002; Pippin/“Pippin,” CST, 2006
- Broadway:
- Ensemble/“Avenue Q,” 2003-09; Will/“Glory Days,” 2008; Ned in “School of Rock,” 2016-17
- Greater fame:
- Charlie Price/“Kinky Boots,” first national tour, 2014
-
SOPHIA ANNE CARUSO
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- Ensemble/“White Christmas,” Spokane Civic Theatre, 2010; Helen Keller/“The Miracle Worker,” Interplayers, 2011; Annie/“Annie,” Civic, 2012
- Broadway:
- Girl/“Blackbird,” 2016; Lydia/“Beetlejuice,” 2019
- Greater fame:
- Girl/“Lazarus,” 2015 (Off Broadway/West End); Brigitta/“Sound of Music Live,” 2013, NBC
-
BING CROSBY
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- Before going to California, Crosby and Al Rinker would perform at the Clemmer Theatre, now called the Bing Crosby Theater.
- Broadway:
- “Bing Crosby on Broadway,” 1976
- Greater fame:
- So much. But “White Christmas” is the best-selling single of all time.
-
DAN DONOHUE
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- At Lewis & Clark High School (Class of ’84) he was the band’s drum major
- Broadway:
- Scar/“The Lion King,” 2008
- Greater fame:
- Oregon Shakespeare Festival; “Longmire,” 2016-17; “Strange Angel,” 2018
-
PATTY DUKE
- From:
- New York City; moved to Coeur d’Alene in 1990
- Locally:
- Directed “The Miracle Worker” at Interplayers, 2011; Flora Humble/“Humble Boy,” 2007, Actors Repertory Theatre; Mama Rose/“Gypsy,” Civic, 2003
- Broadway:
- Helen Keller/“The Miracle Worker,” 1959-61; Deirdre Striden/“Isle of Children,” 1962; Aunt Eller/“Oklahoma!” 2002-03
- Greater fame:
- TV’s “The Patty Duke Show,” and her Oscar-winning performance in “The Miracle Worker”
-
SAMUEL D. HUNTER
- From:
- Moscow, Idaho
- Locally:
- Eastern Washington University staged Hunter’s play “Pocatello” in 2015, while the Modern Coeur d’Alene presented “A Bright New Boise” in 2016.
- Off-Broadway:
- “Lewiston/Clarkston,” 2018; “Pocatello,” 2014; “The Whale,” 2012
- Greater fame:
- Drama Desk Award and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play (“The Whale”); Obie Award (“Bright New Boise”); MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant”
-
KENDAL HARTSE
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- Shadle Park graduate (Class of ’03) appeared in “Cats,” “Once Upon a Mattress” and Footloose at CST, and “Fiddler on the Roof” at Civic
- Broadway:
- “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” 2011; “Cinderella,” 2013-15; “Summer,” 2018
- Greater fame:
- National tours of “Cabaret” (Texas) and “Cats” (Demeter)
-
CHEYENNE JACKSON
- From:
- Newport, Washington
- Locally:
- “Kiss Me Kate” at Civic, “Carousel” at Spokane Theatrical Company, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” at CST
- Broadway:
- “All Shook Up,” 2005; “Xanadu,” 2007; “Finian’s Rainbow,” 2009; “The Performers,” 2012
- Greater fame:
- As Mark Bingham in the Oscar-nominated “United 93”; on television in “Glee,” “30 Rock,” “American Horror Story” and “American Woman”
-
MAX KUMANGAI
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” at North Central High School; “Seussical” at Civic
- Broadway:
- “Waitress,” 2016-present
- Greater fame:
- National tours of “Waitress,” “The Scottsboro Boys” and “Hair.” Up next: “Jagged Little Pill” opening on Broadway this fall
-
NEIL LABUTE
- From:
- Spokane Valley
- Locally:
- His plays “Reasons to be Pretty” and “Reasons to be Happy” were staged by the Modern Spokane in 2015
- Broadway:
- “Reasons to be Pretty,” 2009; nominated for the Tony Award for best play
- Greater fame:
- Feature films “In the Company of Men,” “The Shape of Things” and “Your Friends & Neighbors”; TV series “Van Helsing,” “Full Circle,” “Billy & Billie”
-
LAURA LITTLE
- From:
- Coeur d’Alene
- Locally:
- Little produces the annual “Traditions of Christmas” show in Coeur d’Alene.
- Broadway:
- Co-produced “Peter and the Star-Catcher” (2012-13), “First Date” (2013) and “Come From Away” (2017-present), and solo produced “All Is Calm” Off-Broadway
- Greater fame:
- A former artistic director at CST, Little helped guide local productions of both “First Date” and “Peter and the Star-Catcher.”
-
DARREN MCGAVIN
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- Not much is publicly known about McGavin’s life in Spokane, and as a teenager he supposedly lived in warehouses in Tacoma
- Broadway:
- “Dinner at Eight” (1966), “The Tunnel of Love” (1957), “The Lovers” (1956) and “The Rainmaker” (1954)
- Greater fame:
- The TV series “Mike Hammer” and “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” and as the Old Man in “A Christmas Story”
-
CRAIG T. NELSON
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- He played sports at Lewis & Clark High School, and was encouraged to pursue acting while at Yakima Valley College.
- Broadway:
- Nat Miller/“Ah, Wilderness,” 1998
- Greater fame:
- TV’s “Coach,” the dad from the 1982 film “Poltergeist,” the voice of Mr. Incredible
-
BRANDON O’NEILL
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- O’Neill used to front the Spokane band Rough Congress before moving to Seattle; he returned to the area in 2016 to play the Black Stache in “Peter and the Star-Catcher” at CST.
- Broadway:
- Kassim/“Aladdin,” 2014; various roles/
- Greater fame:
- O’Neill is well regarded in the Seattle theater scene, and was named outstanding supporting actor in a musical for his work in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” at 5th Avenue Theatre.
-
PATRICK PAGE
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- While Page was born in Spokane, he was raised in Oregon, and returned to Eastern Washington to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla
- Broadway:
- The Grinch/“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (2006, 2007); Henry VIII/“A Man for All Seasons” (2008); Green Goblin/“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” (2011); various/“Spring Awakening” (2015); Hades/“Hadestown” (opened Wednesday)
- Greater fame:
- TV credits include “The Good Wife,” “Madame Secretary” and “NCIS: New Orleans.”
-
JASON MICHAEL SNOW
- From:
- Spokane
- Locally:
- At Ferris High School, he was Lt. Cable in “South Pacific,” and was Lumiere in “Beauty and the Beast” at CST, among many shows there.
- Broadway:
- An original ensemble member of “The Book of Mormon,” from 2011-14; Yeoman Quale/“South Pacific” (2009)
- Greater fame:
- Snow was featured in “South Pacific” on an episode of “Live From Lincoln Center” that aired on PBS in 2010.