A native of the Pacific Northwest, Jan Peterson Ewen has been steeped in theater since she first received her Musical Theater degree in Southern California in 1978. She performed in the Los Angeles area for ten years then moved back north with her young family. Jan was a founder of Western Washington Center for the Arts in Port Orchard and has served as its Artistic Director for the past fifteen years. She has directed well over sixty musicals and plays and has a special place in her heart for developing actors of all ages. Jan has been excited to utilize her love of writing to create original acting material. She has workshopped her ideas with her students and has created scenes that are fun to perform while developing specific acting skills and critical techniques. Writing for the theater has taken other forms for Jan, as well. She recently published her first novel, Starring on Bay Street, which is a fictitious story about the life of a local theater with all its quirky characters and humorous happenings.