2015 Scholarship Recipient
Marc Sheehan
Future Plans: Film Production
Few people can say that they have been acting on stage for 8 years by the time they are 18. With 8 years of experience, I am gaining a lot of confidence in my ability. Thanks to my introduction to theater arts at a young age, I was able to get a start in film acting at a young age. This year I have made the decision to go to college for film production, and, looking back on everything, my involvement with theater since age 10 has been a huge part of
that decision.
I have been fortunate enough have been involved with an organization like Walpole Children’s Theatre, where I have been able to be a part of 16 shows. Luckily, it has been one of the best mentoring programs and has really matured me as an actor. Even though I do not intend to study acting in school, I do intend on acting for film in the future. As I began acting, I realized I started to truly fall in love with it. Growing older, I started to have a larger appreciation for it not as an activity but as art, and that’s when I knew I had to be an artist. Everything previously stated is what I thought were the positive impacts of the theater arts programs I have been involved with. Truthfully, that is all surface level. The real positive effects of programs such as Walpole Children’s Theatre are not tangible by any means. I started acting at age 10, meaning I was the youngest in the cast. This meant that there were older kids who were responsible for me and cared for me. Along the way, I made my very closest friends. And we grew up together. We watched older kids leave, newer kids enter. We created stupid traditions at rehearsals, told dumb jokes in the green room, laughed at corny lines in the script. We were all friends who did what they loved together. Whether we were building the boys’ changing room in the paint pit or staying up far too late at sleepovers before strike, we made sure we had fun for all our years together. Now, I’m 18, and most the people who I shared these memories with are off at college. I am in the midst of my final production at Walpole Children’s Theatre, and I have realized something. I have realized that it’s now not only my job to be taking care of the little kids, but to make sure that they are creating the memories that I got to create with my friends. My involvement with stage acting sparked my career interests, but I never realized how deeply stage acting would affect me personally, not just as an actor, but as a human being.
Marc Sheehan (left) as Jamal in The Magical Lamp of Aladdin
Few people can say that they have been acting on stage for 8 years by the time they are 18. With 8 years of experience, I am gaining a lot of confidence in my ability. Thanks to my introduction to theater arts at a young age, I was able to get a start in film acting at a young age. This year I have made the decision to go to college for film production, and, looking back on everything, my involvement with theater since age 10 has been a huge part of
that decision.
I have been fortunate enough have been involved with an organization like Walpole Children’s Theatre, where I have been able to be a part of 16 shows. Luckily, it has been one of the best mentoring programs and has really matured me as an actor. Even though I do not intend to study acting in school, I do intend on acting for film in the future. As I began acting, I realized I started to truly fall in love with it. Growing older, I started to have a larger appreciation for it not as an activity but as art, and that’s when I knew I had to be an artist. Everything previously stated is what I thought were the positive impacts of the theater arts programs I have been involved with. Truthfully, that is all surface level. The real positive effects of programs such as Walpole Children’s Theatre are not tangible by any means. I started acting at age 10, meaning I was the youngest in the cast. This meant that there were older kids who were responsible for me and cared for me. Along the way, I made my very closest friends. And we grew up together. We watched older kids leave, newer kids enter. We created stupid traditions at rehearsals, told dumb jokes in the green room, laughed at corny lines in the script. We were all friends who did what they loved together. Whether we were building the boys’ changing room in the paint pit or staying up far too late at sleepovers before strike, we made sure we had fun for all our years together. Now, I’m 18, and most the people who I shared these memories with are off at college. I am in the midst of my final production at Walpole Children’s Theatre, and I have realized something. I have realized that it’s now not only my job to be taking care of the little kids, but to make sure that they are creating the memories that I got to create with my friends. My involvement with stage acting sparked my career interests, but I never realized how deeply stage acting would affect me personally, not just as an actor, but as a human being.
Marc Sheehan (left) as Jamal in The Magical Lamp of Aladdin