THE COMPANY (2015-16)

New Muses is comprised of a seasonal company of theatre artists and tenured artistic associates
​joining together to produce intelligent, thought-provoking, and engaging theatre for a contemporary audience.

Bethany Bevier* - Box Office Manager/ Production Stage Manager

Bethany is thrilled to be spending another season working with New Muses Theatre Company. Bethany has been stage managing throughout the Northwest for the last eight years. During the day Bethany works as a massage therapist. Bring in the program from a New Muses production to receive a complimentary 15 minutes when you book your next appointment. www.bodyworkbybethany.com    

Sammy Cattin - Company Member

Sammy is thrilled to be playing Little Red Riding Hood in New Muses' INTO THE WOODS. This is her second time performing in the show, having played one of the evil stepsisters in high school. She is very excited to take on the show with older eyes. Previous roles include Junie in JUNIE B. JONES: THE MUSICAL, Ado Annie (OKLAHOMA!), and Liesl Von Trapp (THE SOUND OF MUSIC). She is attending the Cornish College of the Arts in this coming Fall.

Nick Clawson - Company Member

Nick is thrilled to be making his debut with New Muses! Select local credits include: Showtunes Theatre Company’s WORKING (Featured Performer) and Tacoma Musical Playhouse’s SCARLET PIMPERNEL (Farleigh) and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (Toymaker).  Many thanks to Nic Olson for the opportunity to bring a dream role to life and to this incredible cast for their hard work, dedication, and support.

Eric Cuestas-Thompson - Company Member

Eric is thrilled making his New Muses debut with GHOSTS. His favorite roles include Howard in DEATH OF A SALESMAN; Harpagon in THE MISER; and Mortimer in ARSENIC AND OLD LACE; and he was featured in local productions of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG; ANNIE; THE ADAMS FAMILY; and THE ODD COUPLE. He thanks Michael for all his love and support!

Arwen Dewey - Company Member

Arwen is thrilled to join New Muses for this moment in the woods. When not chasing cows and slippers, Arwen performs around the Puget Sound in French theater, musical theater and cabaret. Favorite roles include Inès in HUIS CLOS (Théâtre des Enfants Sans Souci), Cathy in THE LAST FIVE YEARS (Act One), and Mabel in PIRATES OF PENZANCE (STAGEright). www.arwendewey.com

Steve Gallion - Company Member

Steve is very pleased to be making his New Muses Theatre Company debut in ROMEO AND JULIET.  A Tacoma native, Steve most recently appeared as Monsignor in THE PASSION AS TOLD BY ANTIGONA PEREZ with Thriving Artists.  Other recent productions include CHE; DON QUIXOTE AND SANCHO PANZO: HOMELESS IN SEATTLE; and TERRE HAUTE.  Steve holds a B.A. from The Evergreen State College.

Sara Geiger - Company Member

Sara is honored to be featured in her first New Muses Production with ROMEO AND JULIET. A senior at The Evergreen State College, she will graduate this spring with her BA in Business Management/ Marketing. Sara serves on the Board of Directors at Theater Artists Olympia and assists with marketing at Harlequin Productions. Past credits include: Fabiana Cunningham in THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT; Miranda in THE TEMPEST; and Harper in ANGELS IN AMERICA.

Brynne Geiszler - Company Member

Brynne is extremely grateful and humbled for the opportunity to take on the role of the Witch.  Favorite roles include: Jo (LITTLE WOMEN), Judy Bernly (9 TO 5), Vivienne (LEGALLY BLONDER), Miss Delilah Strict (ZOMBIE PROM), The Cat in the Hat (SEUSSICAL). Love and thanks to her family and friends. Oh, and thank you Pikachu for putting up with her. 

Kelsey Harrison - Company Member

Kelsey is a senior at Viterbo University and will graduate with a BFA in Music Theatre this Spring. She recently received her Diploma in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Regional: MISS JULIE; THE MUSIC MAN; 42ND STREET; SWEENEY TODD. Viterbo: MRS. PACKARD; OKLAHOMA!; PIPPIN; LITTLE WOMEN; DUTCHMAN; DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-A-LONG BLOG (workshop). LAMDA: ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 

Katelyn Hoffman - Company Member

Katelyn is delighted to be a part of another New Muses production, having previously appeared in THE SHAPE OF THINGS, MISS JULIE, SEXUAL PERVERSITY IN CHICAGO, and ON THE VERGE. Katelyn has been acting in the area for the last ten years at various theatres including Lakewood Playhouse, Tacoma Little Theatre, The Midnight Sun, The Odd Duck, and others. She could be last seen in THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO at Tacoma Little Theatre. 

John Kelleher - Company Member

​John is honored to make his New Muses debut in GHOSTS.  Recent credits: Judge Thatcher in THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (ManeStage Theatre Company); Fester in THE ADDAMS FAMILY (Burien Actors Theatre); Thenardier in LES MISERABLES and Baron Bomburst in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (Tacoma Musical Playhouse). John’s is a General Music Specialist in the Lake Washington School District. Thanks to his husband, Larry, for his love and support.

Erinne Kellogg - Company Member

Erinne is thrilled to be making her onstage New Muses debut! Some of Erinne’s favorite past roles include Lucy in 13 THE MUSICAL; Gertude in SEUSSICAL; Adelaide in GUYS AND DOLLS; and Hodel in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Erinne is a regular performer and teacher at Puyallup Children’s Theater & Music Academy. Enjoy the show!

Kamryn Kellogg - Company Member

​Kamryn is a frequent teacher, performer and stage manager at Puyallup Children's Theater and Music Academy. She is excited to be making her New Muses theater debut. Thank you for coming and enjoy the show!

Zachary Kellogg - Company Member

Zachary is an internationally acclaimed jazz and classical flautist, pianist and composer. A multiple international competition winner, he made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall in 2011 at the age of 13. Zachary has also served as music director at many other theaters in the area. Zachary maintains an active teaching studio (flute & piano) in Puyallup and has written and directed nine original musicals.

Monica Lorin - Company Member

Monica is excited to be in her first production in WA state! Previous work includes Breadcrumbs; It Runs in the Family; and The Hunger at Las Vegas Little Theater and The Vagina Monologues at Inspire Theater Las Vegas. Thank you to Nic and the rest of the cast for their support. 

Katherine Mahoney - Company Member

Katherine Mahoney has been on and off stage throughout the sound as an actor, stage manager, director, and playwright. Past credits include CB’s Sister in Dog Sees God, Female Chorus in How I Learned to Drive, and various parts of The Vagina Monologues. She attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University.

Deanna Martinez - Company Member

This is Deanna's second show with New Muses, having last been seen in ROMEO AND JULIET (Nurse).  Other recent roles include: Marie in THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL, Queen of Hearts in ALICE IN WONDERLAND; and Actor One in the touring civil rights play, GET ON THE BUS. Deanna is the Interim Director of Education at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.  Follow her on all social media platforms @actuallydeanna.

Jenna McRill - Company Member

Jenna is thrilled to be involved in her first production, ROMEO AND JULIET, with New Muses! Some of her previous credits include Logainne in THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at TMP, Janet in THE DROWSY CHAPERONE and Gingy/Sugarplum Fairy in SHREK: THE MUSICAL at Paradise Theatre.

Derek Mesford - Company Member

Derek has recently returned to the theatre scene with local performances in A FEW GOOD MEN (Multiple roles), and THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (Mercie / ensemble). Derek Studied theatre at Southern Oregon University and in Athens Greece. He would like to thank his beautiful wife Jasmine for putting up with him and his various characters through this project and he would also like to thank you, yes you, for supporting your local theatre scene.

Lauren Nance* - Artistic Associate

Lauren is an actor, singer, and dancer whose credits include Titanic, Nine, Sweeney Todd, All Shook Up, H.M.S. Pinafore, RENT, Company, The Spitfire Grill, Our Country's Good, Proof, A Dream Play, Cabaret, Twelfth Night, Into the Woods, and Oklahoma.  Lauren is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University's BFA Acting and Directing program.

Niclas Olson* - Managing Artistic Director

Actor, playwright, director and founder of New Muses Theatre Company, Olson's work has been seen throughout the Puget Sound.  Directing accomplishments include Tony Kushner's Angels in America; David Mamet's Oleanna; William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet; My Name is Rachel Corrie; Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest; Wallace Shawn's The Fever; Neil Labute's The Shape of Things and Reasons to be Pretty; his own Last Waltz on a Midnight Violin; August Strindberg's Miss Julie; Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods; Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit; The Library; Dying City; Flop Cop; The Emperor's New Clothes; This Is Our Youth; On The Verge; Copenhagen; Sexual Perversity in Chicago; and Anthem: A Musical Theatre Cabaret.  Performance credits include roles in The Farnsworth Invention (NW Premiere); The Firebugs; Sweeney Todd; Into the Woods; Hamlet; Romeo and Juliet; Doubt; Doctor Faustus; Cabaret; Children of Eden; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; The Shape of Things; The Who's Tommy; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf; I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; Blithe Spirit; The Importance of Being Earnest; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Twelfth Night; The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley; Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Peter Pan: The Musical (NW Premiere); To Be Frank (world premiere); South Pacific; Gypsy; Grease; and Last Waltz on a Midnight Violin (world premiere).  Olson is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University's BFA Acting and Directing program and Resident Lighting Designer at Tacoma Little Theater.  www.NiclasOlson.com

Tony Onorati - Company Member

Tony has been involved in the art of pretending to be other people for over ten years in the Greater Seattle area. Recent credits include PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Bingley), ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (Einstein and Mortimer), and the White Witch's bodyguard "Dwarf" in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. When not tromping around in Narnia or some other place of comparable distinguishment, Tony works as an agent of good for Alaska Airlines at SeaTac airport.

Kathryn Grace Philbrook - Company Member

Kathryn is pleased to make her debut with New Muses theater company.  She has also appeared with Tacoma Actors Repertory Theater (She Kills Monsters), Harlequin Productions (Jesus Christ Superstar, Richard III), the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts (Fifth of July), and Studio 21 Theater (The Steward of Christendom, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Seagull).

Emily Robinson - Company Member

Emily studied Voice and Music History at the University of Washington, and studied Musicology as a graduate student at Cornell University.   Emily has sung with the Dickens carolers since 2008, and has performed with the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society; Puget Sound Concert Opera, Bellevue Opera, the King's Players, and US Presents.  Emily is excited to join New Muses in ROMEO AND JULIET.

Carrie Schnelker - Company Member

​Carrie is thrilled to be working with New Muses!  Carrie has played dukes, housewives, career women, cougars, and kooks, ranging from Shakespeare's Prospero to Ayckbourn's Fiona.  She loves to act and sing, and is happiest (when not with her husband!) on stage or in front of a camera.  Look for her next at this summer's Whidbey Island Shakespeare Festival!  

Chris Serface - Company Member

Chris is happy to be joining this wonderful cast.  No stranger to local audiences, you may remember him as The Cowardly Lion in THE WIZARD OF OZ (TMP), Coneybear in …SPELLING BEE (TLT), The Emcee in LUCKY STIFF (Lakewood Playhouse), or as The Ghost of Christmas Present four times previously at TLT and Capital Playhouse.  By day Chris is the Managing Artistic Director of Tacoma Little Theatre.

Tasha Smith - Company Member

Tasha is a recent graduate from Pacific Lutheran University, with a degree in Vocal Performance and a minor in Theatre. Favorite credits from her time at PLU include: INTO THE WOODS (Cinderella), CHARLOTTE'S WEB (Charlotte), Handel's ALCINA (Morgana), and THE 25th... SPELLING BEE (Marcy). She was also seen in JUNIE B JONES and THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

Ben Stahl - Company Member

Ben received his degree in Theatre Arts from Western Washington University with an emphasis in acting and playwriting. He spent a few seasons performing with the Skagit River Shakespeare Festival before finding his way to the South Puget Sound theatre scene. He most recently worked at Lakewood Playhouse in A COMEDY OF ERRORS and ARCADIA. Ben thanks you for supporting local theatre and hopes you enjoy the show!

Ryan St. Martin - Company Member

Ryan is thrilled to be making his debut with New Muses. Recent credits include: Neil Simon's PROPOSALS at Edmond's Driftwood Players Theatre, PAPER ANGELS with SIS Productions. Ryan would like to thank Niclas, the cast, and the crew for this great experience, and he'd also like to thank his family especially for their support. Enjoy the show!

Steven Walker - Company Member

​Hailing from the Northwest, you may have seen Steven most recently in Tacoma Musical Playhouse’s WEST SIDE STORY as Riff, Tacoma Little Theater’s SCROOGE as Tom Jenkins, or as Demetrius in TLT’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. He’d like to thank his fiancé, his family, and the audience for their continued support.

Lance Zielinski - Company Member

Lance is honored to return to Shakespearean roots in his debut with New Muses Theatre Company. Previous roles include The Big Bopper in THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY (TMP), The Hawker in The Who's TOMMY (SMT), Padre in MAN OF LA MANCHA (TMP) and Marius in LES MISERABLES (Ovation!). He’s recently been cast in a feature film project, and works on international audio production for Xbox titles.

Adjunct Company Members

Individuals and Businesses who have provided support through donations, artistic supporters, and company members from throughout our history.
2015-16 Season Donors:
Historical Company Members:
Business Partners:
Anonymous
Bethany Bevier
Niclas Olson
Lexi Ary
Bethany Bevier
Lynn Bishop
Jesse Cantin
Sammy Cattin
Randy Clark
Nick Clawson
Eric Cuestas-Thompson
Kimberly Davis
Cori DeVerse
Arwen Dewey
Kina Ericksen
Marcia Ericksen
Olivia Ericksen
Ron Field
Louise Fisher
Steve Gallion
​Sara Geiger
Brynne Geiszler
James A. Gilletti
Heather Goff
Brittany Griffins
Kelsey Harrison
Robert Hinds
Katelyn Hoffman
Myia Johnson
​John Kelleher
Erinne Kellogg
Kamryn Kellogg
​Zachary Kellogg
Sarah Langham
Hayley Magnuson
​Katherine Mahoney
Deanna Martinez
​​​Jenna McRill
Derek Mesford
Lisa Olson
​Niclas Olson
Tony Onorati
Deya Ozburn
Alexander Peterson
Kathryn Philbrook
Kaylie Rainer
Bruce Roberts
Frank Roberts
Emily Robinson
Kathryn Robinson
Loralynn Rosenberg
Miranda Rowland
Carrie Schnelker
Pearl Schwind
Fred Schwindt
Chris Serface
​Tasha Smith
Nick Spencer
Ben Stahl
​Ryan St. Martin
Jacob Tice
Fiona Thornton
Laverne "Cookie" Troxell
Dylan Twiner
​Steven Walker
Blake York
Lance Zielinski
Dukesbay Productions
Tacoma Little Theatre
Lakewood Playhouse
Roxy Theater
Fire Mountain Arts Council
Centralia College
Bodywork by Bethany
Devall Publishing
The East County Journal
Puyallup Children's Theater
CatBox Productions
*The title of artistic associate is a tenured position offered to professional artists who demonstrate a passion for their career, exceptional skill and ability, and commitment to the future of the company.