L
SHS grad works to bring theater to kids
By NATALIE JOHNSON
natalie@masoncoun com
Steven Wells knew when he
was a junior at Shelton High
School that he wanted to pursue
the theater as a profession.
He had performed in sev-
eral plays at the school, but his
coaches were pushing him to
pursue athletics as well.
Then during SHS's annual
Night of Musical Theater, he
performed two songs from Dis-
ney's "The Little Mermaid."
"One of the parents came up
to me and said, 'You were so en-
tertaining,' " he said. "I started
looking into theater schools."
Now, Wells, 27, wants to
bring his passion for musical
theater to other local children.
"I'm focusing on kids and
trying to reach the people that
don't normally get reached," he
said. "I'm trying to develop a
company that reaches them and
can do large-scale productions
and reach a wide audience."
Wells formed the Pacific
Northwest Theater Co., based
in Olympia, two years ago. Since
then, Wells has directed youth
productions of plays including
Disney's "The Little Mermaid,"
and "Mulan."
After graduating SHS in
2005, Wells
attended the
American
Musical and
Dramatic
Academy in
Los Angeles
for two years,
studying
Wells subjects such
as music
theory and
dance. He said he enjoyed dance
classes, although he found them
challenging.
"Growing up in Shelton, I
didn't get pushed to do ballet,"
he said.
While in Los Angeles, Wells
helped other students with
their work.
"I learned the best way to
learn something is to have to
teach it," he said.
Ar graduating, he spent
another year pursuing a theater
career in Los Angeles, and then
moved to Chicago for a while.
About five years ago, Wells
decided to come home to Shelton.
"I missed my family and
wanted to come back," he said.
He said he decided he didn't
want to live in New York or Chi-
cago and pursue big theatrical
productions.
"I realized that was not my
Photo courtesy of Steven Wells
Children perform in a production of Disney's "Mulan," a
production of the Pacific Northwest Theater Co. Steven
Wells, who founded the theater company two years ago,
graduated from Shelton High School in 2005.
passion anymore," he said.
After returning to Southwest
Washington, Wells became in-
volved with the Capital Play-
house, Olympia Family Theater
and started teaching children's
theater at Olympia schools.
"Between teaching and per-
forming and directing, I've been
very busy," he said.
This summer, Wells plans
to put on youth productions of
"Beauty and the Beast" and
"Annie" with the Pacific North-
west Theater Co.
"I love all the different shows
... but Disney sells really well,"
he said.
Each production will be a
summer day camp for different
age groups.
"Annie" will be a two-week
camp for 5- to 8-year-olds and
"Beauty and the Beast will
be a four-week camp for 9- to
15-year-olds.
"It is growing every single
year," he said.
Wells said he tries to keep his
prices affordable for all families.
He charges $150 per student for
the "Beauty and the Beast" and
$100 for "Annie."
"My goal right now is not to
make a lot of money," he said.
"I want to spread my passion to
these kids, especially to the kids
who can't afford it."
Wells said theater programs
help children. He said it helps
with social skills, confidence,
and helps children understand
themselves and others better.
"I've never met an adult who
said, 'Man I really wish I'd done
less theater,'" he said.
So far, Wells said both parents
and students have given him
good feedback on his program.
"I had a child last year.., and
he came into the camp and was
really excited," he said.
Then the student, whose
friends were not all in the pro-
gram, started to lose interest.
Wells and the boy's parents
worked to persuade him to stay
in the program. "AfLer the per-
formance, he said, 'You were
right, I had so much fun I want
do this next year.'"
For more information, go to
pnwtheater.com
Democrats: PUD 3 has invested in other renewable energy
continued from page A- 7
Hydroelectricity zs considered a
renewable energy resource in much
of the United States. Washington
state does not allow the use of large
hydro as part of the official renew-
able energy mix; therefore, PUD
3 has invested in other forms of
renewable energy in addition to its
primary reliance on hydroelectric.
It has a program that allows cus-
tomers to generate their own elec-
tricity (net metering), which allows
customers to feed excess power back
to PUD 3's grid and receive credit for
any excess power during the course
of a year. Twenty-one customers par-
ticipate in this program.
I want to thank Tom Farmer, PUD
3 commissioner, for his invaluable
help in preparing this article and
providing the data about PUD 3.
• Adrienne Amar is a member of
the Mason County Democrats
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