Thursday, August 13, 2026
62.0°F

Masquers announce ‘Anastasia’ cast

JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 hours, 30 minutes AGO
by JOEL MARTIN
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | August 13, 2026 3:00 AM

SOAP LAKE  — The Masquers Theater has announced its cast for “Anastasia: The Musical,” which will open in October.

Emma-Jean Wydur will play Anya, a young woman with amnesia who may or may not be the youngest daughter of the Russian Tsar Nicholas Romanov II, who was executed with his family in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Ben McLain will appear as the con artist Dmitry, and Jeremy Hansen will play Vlad, an exiled Russian aristocrat. Alec Lobe will be the Bolshevik general Gleb. Christie McLain will be the Dowager Empress, the grandmother of the real Anastasia, and Auti Kirk will be her lady-in-waiting, the Countess Lily. Other members of the Romanov family round out the ensemble.

The cast comes from communities both inside and outside Grant County, from as far away as Ellensburg and Nespelem; Masquers Publicity Representative Darryl Pheasant wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald.

The story is adapted from the 1997 Disney animated feature; some but not all the songs and characters carry over from film to play, according to the Broadway production’s official website. 

Rehearsals will begin Aug. 24, according to the Masquers website. “Anastasia: the Musical” will run for 12 shows from Oct. 16 to Nov. 8, Pheasant wrote.

More information is available at www.masquers.com.



Anastasia: The Musical cast

Anya: Emma-Jean Wydur

Dmitry: Ben McLain

Vlad: Jeremy Hansen

Gleb: Alec Lobe

Lily: Auti Kirk

Dowager Empress: Christie McLain


Romanov Family & Ensemble:

Katherine Heston

Carlee Howard

Nola Kirk

Paige Perkins 

Henry Silva

Erin Smithgall

Jessica Stredwick

Grant Te Velde


Ensemble Roles:  

Clifford Bresee

Kody Campbell

Clark Dalton

Emma Galloway

Michaela Greely

Clara Kirk

Connor Leasher

Kelliann Lusk

Sherry Joski

Darryl Pheasant

Alicia Lynn Lasley Pineda

Justin Thompson

Natalie Vieira

Leia Watkins


ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN

August 12, 2026 1:30 a.m.

Coulee City man arrested after police chase, crashes into canal

A Coulee City man is in jail after a police chase around the back roads near Quincy, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Masquers announce ‘Anastasia’ cast
August 13, 2026 3 a.m.

Masquers announce ‘Anastasia’ cast

SOAP LAKE — The Masquers Theater has announced its cast for “Anastasia: The Musical,” which will open in October. Emma-Jean Wydur will play Anya, a young woman with amnesia who may or may not be the youngest daughter of the Russian Tsar Nicholas Romanov II, who was executed with his family in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Ben McLain will appear as the con artist Dmitry, and Jeremy Hansen will play Vlad, an exiled Russian aristocrat. Alec Lobe will be the Bolshevik general Gleb. Christie McLain will be the Dowager Empress, the grandmother of the real Anastasia, and Auti Kirk will be her lady-in-waiting, the Countess Lily. Other members of the Romanov family round out the ensemble.

Mattawa man drowns in irrigation canal
August 10, 2026 3:35 p.m.

Mattawa man drowns in irrigation canal

MATTAWA — An 18-year-old Mattawa man died early Sunday after falling into an irrigation canal while trying to free a vehicle that had become stuck in a canal chute in rural Grant County, authorities said.