By Avery Maier, ’13, News Editor
Freshman Jenny March’s dream of becoming a professional actress may soon come true. Jenny and her mother Jeanette are moving to Los Angeles for several months on March 1 so Jenny can pursue acting opportunities in the country’s entertainment capital.
In January, Jenny went to an acting workshop at her agency, Heymen Talent. Nick Roses, an L.A.-based manager, spoke to Jenny and encouraged her to move to L.A., so he could represent her and help her find acting jobs.
“I am very excited to be going out to LA and I think it will be a great experience,” said March. “I will miss all my friends, my dad, my grandparents, and CCDS, especially since I’m a lifer.”
While she’s leaving lots behind, Jenny said, “this has been my dream for most of my life, and I hope to fulfill it!”
Over the course of the last four years, Jenny has participated in many musicals and auditioned for commercials. She is a student at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she studies singing and acting, and has participated in Charlotte’s Web, Pirates of Penzance, and Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Jenny has gone to New York every summer for three weeks to participate in an acting camp called Stagedoor Manor. At Stagedoor Manor, she was in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. This year, Jenny was in CCDS’s productions of All in the Timing and Thoroughly Modern Millie.
While in L.A., March will “continue to take singing lessons, acting lessons and will try out for TV shows, film, and maybe commercials.”
While in LA she will work with a private tutor, and her CCDS teachers will be virtually “working with [her], doing homework, test and quizzes, etc,” March said.
March added that she will “also be getting a tutor out there because [she] won’t be participating in the classroom.”
“I’m so proud of Jenny and for all the hard work she has put in to get to this point. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am very excited for her,” said Jenny’s mom Jeanette March.
Director of Drama Mark Femia said he is “very excited for her. It is a great opportunity and especially in this business it is good to get a start when you are young. I am excited to see the results of her trip and the feedback from who she works with out there.”
“I wish [Jenny] the best of luck and you can never have too many good opportunities and good luck,” said Fine Arts Department Chair Carole Lichty-Smith. She added that she “think[s] it should be a requirement to take your advisor with you.”
Ilana Habib, ’11, who worked with March in Thoroughly Modern Millie, said, “I think that anyone taking a shot at pursuing their dreams should be incredibly proud of that decision. It is great that she’s taking the initiative to do what she wants and I wish her the best of success in California. It’s a wonderful opportunity for her.”
Annie Nesbitt, ’13, who also worked with March in Thoroughly Modern Millie, said, “I think it is really good that [Jenny] is getting this opportunity. I also think that it is really great that the school is cooperating with her schedule.”
“It’s good she is striving and so dedicated to her dream of becoming an actress,” said Sara Fitzgerald, ’13, also a Millie cast-mate.
“Good for her,” said classmate Alex Brady, ’13. “She should pursue what she wants to. Congrats to Jenny!”