Spokane Civic Theatre’s Voices celebrates talent in the Inland Northwest

It happens every time.

Whenever I watch a musical produced by a community theater, there is a moment when I think “I can’t believe that these performers live in town, that the theater isn’t bussing people in from New York City.”

Knowing I could see any of these performers at the grocery store blows my mind and always makes me appreciate the wealth of talent in Spokane.

Putting the spotlight on that talent is Voices, a concert presentation of, as director Jake Schaefer puts it, “some of the great and undiscovered songs in the musical theater canon.”

The show is produced by Spokane Civic Theatre and features pianist Janet Robel accompanying the performers onstage.

Voices features performances of songs from “Songs for a New World,” “Alice by Heart,” “Tick Tick Boom,” “Jersey Boys,” “Aladdin,” “West Side Story” and more. The concert runs for three performances Friday through Sunday.

Robel music directed shows at Civic in the past and worked on special performances of Civic’s “West Side Story” when the theater company brought the show to the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox with the Spokane Symphony, but Voices marks her first time working on a musical revue.

Schaefer, remembering how wonderful she was in “West Side Story,” kept tabs on Robel over the years and decided to reach out to her to work on Voices.

“She’s a wonderful player, and that’s really important when you only have one musician on stage,” he said.

Feeling similarly about Schaefer and Civic, it was an easy yes from Robel.

“When Jake sent me the ideas of songs that he wanted, it was all really sophisticated, and I knew it would be music that I would enjoy playing,” she said.

Schaefer encouraged anyone looking for an opportunity to sing to audition, though he did note that this show was geared more toward singers “striving for the top shelf” than those still growing and finding their voice.

Schaefer said he knew the performers who would audition would be the ones looking for a “low impact, high yield” opportunity to get on stage and sing a couple songs.

The cast includes Ann Benson, Kizmet Candland, Jameson Elton, Robby French, Nathan Hoyt, Meghan Jane, Karlin Marie Kahler, Ruby Krajic, Kalla Mort, Daniel Renz, Wren Rhodes, Jonah Taylor, Elizabeth Theriault and Taylor Wenglikowski.

Each performer has appeared in at least one Civic show, with many having performed at the theater for a number of years.

Candland, for example, moved away after appearing in “The Wizard of Oz” in 2022 and has now moved back to town.

“She is an awesome performer, and absolutely deserves to be on that bill, just as much as Jonah and Jameson and Ann who have been performing at Civic for ever and ever and ever,” Schaefer said.

Rhodes hasn’t appeared in too many shows at Civic, but Schaefer notes it’s always good to have her on board when she is able to participate.

Schaefer tried to pull songs for Voices that weren’t what audiences were accustomed to hearing from the performers. Theriault, for example, recently belted it out as Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde” but is singing a Stephen Sondheim piece, “I Remember” from “Evening Primrose,” in Voices.

Schaefer also sees Voices as a chance for performers to sing, and audiences to hear, songs from productions that aren’t in the works at Civic. Kahler and French, for example, are singing “This Is Not Over Yet” from “Parade.”

“Are we going to produce ‘Parade?’ No,” Schaefer said. “The content in the show is such that that’s not a title that we would be considering at this time. And yet this is a great opportunity to spend time on the material.”

Schaefer and Robel worked to build a show that wasn’t too long or too short and to program the show in such a way that gave the performers sufficient breaks and that balanced the ballads and serious songs with the fun, upbeat numbers.

Keeping the focus on the performers and Robel, Voices doesn’t feature props, costumes or set pieces.

“The focus is isolating the lighting to really do the storytelling,” Schaefer.

Because Voices is a member appreciation event, members are invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and drinks an hour before the show.

But member or not, Schaefer and Robel hope audiences enjoy a chance to appreciate the vocal talent Spokane has to offer.

“They’re all very talented in their own unique ways and everyone has a distinct voice,” Schaefer said. “There’s definitely some similar talents, but everyone has their own color, if you will.”