LIHU‘E — Ethan Bradford Shell, 21, seen as a theatrical star on the rise in New York City, died at his New York City apartment early Saturday morning. His mother, Poppy Shell, said he suffered a torn aorta, a condition
LIHU‘E — Ethan Bradford Shell, 21, seen as a theatrical star on the rise in New York City, died at his New York City apartment early Saturday morning.
His mother, Poppy Shell, said he suffered a torn aorta, a condition neither he nor his family knew anything about, and he died quickly and without any pain.
The pain being felt is by those left behind, including girlfriend Jessica Sopka, parents Poppy and David Shell of Kalaheo, and older siblings April Linn of Silverton, Ore., Jonah Shell of Reno, Nev., Flora Akmese of Pacifica, Calif., and Haley Shell of Phoenix, Ariz.
While his parents were on the telephone in Silverton conducting an interview Monday afternoon, their children were all in nearby Salem, getting seashell tattoos with the name of youngest brother Ethan on them, said Poppy Shell.
David Shell had the honor of working on one show with his youngest son. They performed together in “Oliver,” said Arnold Meister of Po‘ipu, founder of the Kaua‘i Performing Arts Center and a close family friend of the Shells.
Dennis McGraw, current KPAC director, watched Ethan Shell transform from child to adult, and working with him this summer saw him with a bright stage future.
“He left as a boy seeking his way, and returned as a young man with confidence who had developed in his craft. It was a different person,” McGraw said.
“It made me proud. It made me realize, ‘Hey, this guy’s got the chance to do something.’”
What most impressed McGraw about Ethan Shell was “his positive attitude, his willingness to do whatever was needed to get it right,” and “the wonderful effect he had on other children. He was a leader. They really looked up to him.
“He was always positive, always smiling, and a very, very hard worker,” said McGraw.
“KPAC was the center of Ethan’s life from the time he was a kid,” said Poppy Shell.
He had the lead role in “Bye Bye Birdie” and the male lead in “Grease,” and in his senior year won the KPAC Arnold Meister Award as the best KPAC senior.
“A lot of Kaua‘i kids want to be actors because of Ethan,” said Poppy Shell. He taught and starred in his final Kaua‘i production, a summer youth-theater production in 2009.
Meister recalls an 11-year-old Ethan Shell as one of three young workers of Ebenezer Scrooge in the musical “Scrooge,” based on “A Christmas Carol.”
The three young helpers of Scrooge performed a comical number that
always brought the house down,
said Meister.
The moment frozen in time for Meister was recalling Ethan Shell and another boy, Isaac Worth, at the beginning of the Gaston dance in “Beauty and the Beast,” in the opening run that included simultaneous leaps that appeared to Meister to be around 10 feet high off the stage and lasting an eternity.
Later, Ethan Shell asked Meister to help him with his monologue and other admissions theatricals for Shell’s auditions for entry into New York City’s American Musical & Dramatic Academy, from which Shell graduated.
He was working in an off-Broadway show at the time of his death, with some of his academy classmates, his parents said.
“He was so fun to work with, and so open. No ego, no defensiveness. I found him just a joy,” said Meister.
Meister, a veteran of hundreds of shows on Kaua‘i and elsewhere, spoke of rehearsals that are oftentimes full of nervousness, insecurity and anxiety.
“He was warm, a leader in groups, always positive in practices,” said Meister.
Ethan Shell had just been selected as a spokesperson for a bubble-gum company the day he died, said David Shell.
On Kaua‘i, the Kaua‘i High School graduate (2006) was in 25 to 30 plays between the ages of 6 and 21, his father said. “He was just a wonderful guy. We really loved him.”
He loved acting, loved being in New York City, was a strapping 6 feet 4 inches tall, a “wonderful boy,” said David Shell.
His friends are remembering him on Facebook and other Internet sites as a young man with no enemies, always smiling, with constant references to his always upbeat attitude and nature, his father said.
“It’s wonderful,” the calls of support he has been receiving, David Shell said.
This summer, as the Shell family has been doing each year, the family reunion took place in Silverton. “Shell Yeah” was the theme, printed on T-shirts.
Some 14 members of the family attended, including the six grandchildren of Poppy and David Shell, David Shell said.
David Shell said Ethan Shell accidentally drank some drain cleaner when he was 3, and a portion of his esophagus damaged by the drain cleaner had to be rebuilt using some of his intestine, so when he arrived on Kaua‘i he had no voice, and after that it was squeaky.
For someone like that to develop into a confident singer is amazing, David Shell said.
Family members are trying to raise funds to bring some of his Kaua‘i, New York City and Oregon friends to his Saturday funeral, as well as an exchange student from Germany who became like a brother to Ethan Shell when they were at Kaua‘i High School together, said Poppy and David Shell.
• Paul C. Curtis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com.
