Kids perform live theater at fair

MOSES LAKE - Elisa Hays is in love with children's theater.

The Puyallup native started out as a performer for "Let's Pretend Entertainment" and bought the company in 1999.

The company travels across the country entertaining children at fairs with interactive children's theater. The kids dress up in costumes and act out roles relating to the circus, wild west, farms, or pirates.

Hays is passionate about what she does because of the impact it makes on children, she said.

"In a very short period of time we actually get to make an impact on kids, on how they feel about getting up in front of people," she said. "I get to watch success stories every day."

She's been in the business long enough, and does enough repeat performances at fairs, that she sees the same kids come back year after year and watches them grow up, she said.

"I've had parents make photo collages for years of their kids doing our shows," she said. "It's so heartwarming to me and such an honor to be a part of people's families that way."

This is the show's fifth consecutive year at the Grant County Fair, said Hays.

"I love it," she said. "Getting to know the community and the people - we see the same kids come back. They come running, they hug me."

Sisters Jill and Amy Philbin, ages seven and five, respectively, said they had fun performing in the show at the fair Thursday.

"I think it's really fun and I like it," said Jill, already a seasoned actress, having performed at camps.

Megan Reed was recently hired by the company and started acting in July, she said. This is her fifth fair with the company.

When she first heard of the company, it took her a moment to grasp the concept, she said.

"What we do is very atypical," she said. "It's not normal children's theater where it's just theater entertaining for kids. We're interactive. We are audience participation at its finest."

She holds a bachelor's degree in child development and a master's degree in counseling.

After completing an internship, she decided office work wasn't for her.

"There's great work that happens in counseling, but this is great work, too, and this is more suited to who I am," she said.

For more information on Let's Pretend Entertainment visit www.cutestshow.com.