Fenton High’s theater program and non-theater students pull together to put on productions several times throughout the year, which many seniors participate in. Even though she has only been involved in the theater program for three years, senior Sheehan Personett (who is in the IB theater class) has seen it affect her life and now finds it a passion. ‘Much Ado About Mean Girls’ was one of the final bittersweet endings of her high school acting career in a lead role.  

“I played Regina George,” Personett said. “I’ve been doing theater since sophomore year. Even though I wasn’t able to do any shows last year because of dance, I still helped work on the showcase.”

Personett has participated in four shows overall since her sophomore year at Fenton. 

“I was in Columbinus, Murder in the Air, Steel Magnolias, and Much Ado About Mean Girls,” Personett said. “Much Ado About Mean Girls was my favorite to perform  because it was really different, and really, really fun to do. It was fun to take a modern story and tweak it in a way that made all the difference.”

Despite only being involved with theater since her sophomore year , Personett sees thespianism as a passion in her life. 

“I really like seeing it all come together,” Personett said. “It’s not just the acting that really entices me. It’s every single aspect of it, like the fact that you need all these people to get together and manage the stage, figure out all the props, do the stage directing and the building of the actual sets as well. Although the acting, obviously, is a big part of it.”

Personett has not only been affected by her acting career in her life, but in turn has affected others.

“She does a very good job of working to understand her character,” senior Sarah Dziadzio said, after participating in ‘Much Ado about Mean Girls’ with Personett. “If she’s ever confused about a line or a scene, she’ll ask questions to make sure she’s playing the part authentically. Audience members enjoy watching how confident she is in her acting. Personally, I like acting with Sheehan because she has very good energy and she’s easy to bounce off of in a scene.” 

Lori Thompson, Fenton High’s theatre teacher, has been Personett’s coach and teacher, and has seen her in many different stages of acting.

“She’s very motivated and very ambitious,” Thompson said. “She takes direction really well, and she always comes back with questions as to where she was showing improvement and, in taking on a character, where she needs further direction.”

Thompson has aided Personett as she grows in her acting, and sees potential for Personett in the future.

“She is not afraid to take the helm. She’s not afraid to dig in and get to work,” Thompson said. “In the end, there’s a nice performance and people are watching and admiring it, but I really think it’s the rehearsal process that she shows, even more so, in regards to taking direction really well. There’s never any attitude, she never gets defensive, she’s never making excuses for herself and she’s usually the one saying before I can even give them, ‘Do you have any notes for me’? So, I think that is where she’s a really great role model, and it’s really about the process that gets you to performance, not just the performance.”