Olympic Theatre Arts founder Richard ‘Rick’ Waites dies

Effort grew following 1980 play in Dungeness Schoolhouse

By Matthew Nash • August 31, 2022 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash Thirty plus years after founding Olympic Theatre Arts, Rick Waites revisited its first production “Krapp’s Last Tape.” He first performed it in 1980 in the Old Dungeness Schoolhouse. He died in August in Kingston.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash Thirty plus years after founding Olympic Theatre Arts, Rick Waites revisited its first production “Krapp’s Last Tape.” He first performed it in 1980 in the Old Dungeness Schoolhouse. He died in August in Kingston.

Known for his sense of humor, love of acting, family and the outdoors, Richard “Rick” Waites, founder of Olympic Theatre Arts (OTA), died in August, family and theater officials confirmed last week.

The local theater grew following his three performances of Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape” in March 1980 at the Dungeness Schoolhouse.

Waites, who acted with the Port Angeles Community Players, asked the audience if they’d be open to starting a Sequim group. A few were, and Sequim’s theater community grew.

His wife at the time, Wendy Waites, said they had been discussing how he could do more of his own theater in the area, and OTA started with a three-person crew.

“It was really fun,” Wendy said. “We made lights out of coffee cans, because that’s what you do on a low budget.”

Waites helped/performed in a few more plays at the schoolhouse, Wendy Waites said, and they held fundraisers before building a theater (then called the Howard Wood Memorial Theatre) in 1983 above Cole’s Jewelers, now Calvary Chapel Sequim.

“We had so much support from the community and established people in the community,” she said.

Olivia Shea, one of the founding members, remembers Waites and the early days of OTA fondly.

“It was one of the most fun parts of my life,” she said. “It was all just so new and you could do anything (on the stage).”

OTA grew once again in 2003 following the efforts of Elaine and Bob Caldwell to rally support to purchase the former Boys & Girls Club at 414 N. Sequim Ave.

Over 10 years it was renovated and eventually became the Olympic Theatre Arts Center, with year-round plays, events and meetings.

In an interview, Waites said he saw OTA as an educational experience.

“His goal was to bring an alternative type of theater to the community, and where actors could stretch themselves,” Wendy Waites said.

Life

He and Wendy left Sequim for Edmonds in 1989 to raise their two children Ian and Jaclyn. Waites looked to connect with repertory theater in Seattle while working marketing and sales jobs.

“His real love was the stage,” Wendy Waites said. “That’s where he was most comfortable.”

Waites, born and raised in southern California, caught the acting bug in college at Golden West College where “it just sparked with him,” she said.

He had lead roles in “The Crucible” and “Black Comedy,” a play where light and darkness are transposed.

“That was a fun play for him and he talked about it a lot,” Wendy Waites said.

Waites graduated with the intent to become an actor, and joined an acting troupe touring the region reenacting old west shootouts.

After college, he was drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in the Vietnam War in a special forces division of the Army’s 25th infantry division in reconnaissance. Wendy Waites said he’d help rescue soldiers, recover items from downed planes and gather intelligence. He was awarded multiple accolades for his service including the Bronze Star medal, the Purple Heart, and more. He was wounded during his service and finished his service stateside in 1973.

Wendy Waites said he helped a friend move to Sequim in 1975 so he decided to stay here, too.

Waites had many interests along with acting. He was a good musician and could play the flute, harmonica and saxophone, Wendy Waites said.

He also loved baseball and briefly played in a San Diego farm league as a pitcher and center fielder. In his 50s, he played in the Senior League World Series in Arizona one year where he was nicknamed “Wheels” because he was so fast.

Waites had a great sense of humor, Wendy Waites said, as he would do pratfalls, bump into door jams and always make people laugh.

“Even until the night before his death, he was joking, making others laugh,” she said.

“Both kids have his sense of humor, sharp wit too.”

Waites returned to the Sequim area in 2009 and left a few years later to live in Kingston. He was born July 24, 1947 and died Aug. 9, 2022.

In lieu of flowers, family members ask donations be made in his name to Olympic Theatre Arts; see olympictheatrearts.org.

Poster by Roger Thias/ The original poster for “Krapp’s Last Tape” served as the introduction to what would become the first unofficial play for Olympic Theatre Arts. Founder Rick Waites asked audience members about joining an acting group for the Sequim area.

Poster by Roger Thias/ The original poster for “Krapp’s Last Tape” served as the introduction to what would become the first unofficial play for Olympic Theatre Arts. Founder Rick Waites asked audience members about joining an acting group for the Sequim area.

Submitted photo Rick Waites, left, performs as Scrooge with Chris Reinertsen as Marley’s ghost in a 1986 production of “A Christmas Carol” for Olympic Theatre Arts. Waites founded OTA, which performed for many years upstairs of the current building for Calvary Chapel Sequim in downtown Sequim.

Submitted photo Rick Waites, left, performs as Scrooge with Chris Reinertsen as Marley’s ghost in a 1986 production of “A Christmas Carol” for Olympic Theatre Arts. Waites founded OTA, which performed for many years upstairs of the current building for Calvary Chapel Sequim in downtown Sequim.