Lights dim in the auditorium, and the crowd waits in hushed anticipation. The pit orchestra begins to play a catchy doo-wop song. Six girls in brightly colored outfits sashay onstage, singing the iconic intro to Little Shop of Horrors.

Jaclyn Oen, one of the six, is known for putting her heart and soul into her roles onstage. Her facial expressions are always fully in the moment of whatever scene she’s in and bring her character to life, whether it’s a sassy doo-wop girl or the quirky principal of Gilden Academy. Her love for theater began in her childhood.

“I’ve been doing theater since third grade,” Oen said. “I started because — well at least from what my mom told me — I used to sing along all the time to Gaston [from Beauty and the Beast]. Not the princess,” she clarified with a laugh, “Gaston.”

From the start, performing was something that just made sense to her.

“I’ve always loved being big and obnoxious, and I guess this way it goes to good use. I just really enjoy being onstage and getting to play different characters,” Oen said.

Jaclyn doesn’t pick favorites when it comes to roles, though. She enjoys diving into each character individually and appreciates them all for different things.

“I think I learn a little bit about myself and different characters through each one,” she remarked. “Recently, I did a show where I was part of a girl’s soccer team. I think that was the first time I’ve gotten to play a character my own age. That was really fun and it was great to see how a team would work… Playing Principal Hayes in this past production [of The Green Light] was also really fun.”

For Jaclyn, theater hasn’t just been a way to discover herself, but also a way to make long-lasting friendships. In 5th grade, she bonded with fellow classmate Ava Goulle through theater, and they are still best friends. 

When asked about her friendship with Jaclyn, Ava explained, “Theatre for us was always just a really long hang out. I feel like tech week and shows make a whole cast so close and when you’re doing it with another person by your side you’re bound to bond because of the stress and tears.”

Goulle also talked about how she has seen theater help Jaclyn become more confident and unapologetically herself over the years. 

“She used to be self-conscious about being too loud and taking up too much space, but when she’s on stage she puts her everything into her performance. Her personality really shines through all of her characters. She is loud and bubbly and not afraid to take up space on her stage,” Goulle said.

Jaclyn will be attending Middle Tennessee State University after graduating. Located in Murfreesboro, TN, it’s 30 minutes from Nashville.

“I want to go because it’s really close to music and I love music,” Oen said.

Her love of music plays a role in her dream career too.

“I definitely want to do something with audio production and music supervision, which is like the people that choose music for movies,” Oen said. “I just found out that I really enjoy dissecting characters and figuring out moments and what they need.”

Jaclyn has used her theater experience as a way to pursue this career. She helped design the soundtrack for two shows at the Cincinnati Actor’s Studio and Academy, where she has been doing a two-year acting program, as well as the fall show at Kings, The Green Light.

When talking about the process of choosing music for different characters, Oen said, “It definitely showed me that I need to not make snap decisions about how characters are because every person brings a different thing to their character. Every actor is going to show it in a different way than the other one before them. Figuring out how they see it, and then trying to figure out how to connect it with music is always really important and super fun.”

Although she’s not sure what she’ll be majoring or minoring in yet, Jaclyn said she hopes that whatever she ends up doing, theater is a part of it, whether onstage or off.