Monday Spotlight: Melanee Wyatt of YES Company

In Monday Spotlight, we share information about and highlight the movers and shakers in regional arts and entertainment, community organizations, businesses and more.

This week, we spotlight a Modestan who has made a mark on the youth theater scene.

Name: Melanee Wyatt

Home base: Native Modestan. After pursuing a professional theatrical career throughout the United States, I returned to my hometown after sustaining a back injury in the late 1980s.

What you do: Founding artistic director/choreographer for YES (Youth Entertainment Stage) Company through the Stanislaus County Office of Education.

How you knew: Well, this is an interesting question, as I don’t really know if I became inspired as most people do. In other words, the first time I was on stage was at the age of 11/2 years. I was a teddy bear carried around on stage by the Queen of Toyland for 45 minutes in one of my mother’s holiday productions. The first time I performed alone was at the age of 3 years. My first professional production was at the age of 8 years. As you can see, performing was part of my life since early childhood. It appears the choice was made for me.

Go ahead, brag: In 1998, I was honored by the Soroptomists of Modesto with the Woman of Distinction in Education Award. I was also awarded the 1999 Stanislaus Arts Council Outstanding Youth Program, 2003 Modesto Junior College Distinguished Alumna, 2005 Outstanding Woman from the Stanislaus County Commission for Women, and the company was one of the 2015 Fourth of July grand marshals. An alum of Modesto Junior College and University of the Pacific, I was formerly with the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency in New York City. Locally, I worked with MJC, Modesto Performing Arts, Townsend Opera Players, Stockton Civic Theatre and other groups throughout the state. YES Company was founded in 1992 to provide a comprehensive performing arts program to students countywide. The program now runs year round and includes YES Kids, YES Kidettes, YES Ambassadors, YES Mentors and YES Grads and reaches thousands of community members and youth each year.

Check you out: YES Company’s 24th annual summer production continues with the final performances of “Mary Poppins” at the Gallo Center for the Arts. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Tickets are $12-$45.

Online: www.yescompany.org and www.facebook.com/YESCOShows

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Monday Spotlight: Melanee Wyatt of YES Company."