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Jenna's introduction to acting came into focus when she and her mother went to see the East Central College production of "Beauty and the Beast," where her friend Trish Baker was appearing.
"I looked at Trish up on that stage and I thought I want to do that," Jenna said. "I turned to my mom and said, 'I want to be up there with them.' "
Karen arranged for her daughter to audition for the ECC production of "Once on This Island," At the end of the audition, Jenna didn't feel she did very well and was surprised to get a call-back for a second audition. She ended up with the part of Little Tea Moon, the children's lead in the show.
"Paula Nolley (ECC musical director) really worked with me to get my voice to be bigger and stronger," Jenna recalled. "I learned a lot from her. I would love to work with her again."
Age 12 at the time, Jenna was the youngster actor in the production, which held rehearsals for four months, three hours each evening, with time off for Christmas break. That meant the young actress's mother had to sit at the college every evening.
But she kept up her 4.0 grade point average and the play was a life-affirming event for a would-be performer.
"I feel like my voice is getting stronger," she said. "I sing at church every day at St. Bridget's."
After her ECC performance as Little Tea Moon, she tried out for a role in the St. Bridget school play of "Willy Wonka," where she got two parts, which required a quick dash off Pacific High School stage to change costumes.
The Pacific resident also has performed in two Shirley Hillhouse productions for Arts Alive in Pacific. "Once Upon a Fairy Tale," which was performed at Pacific City Hall, and "Pacific the Early Years," which was performed on the Pacific High School stage and on the Pacific Partnership outdoor stage during a very rainy Railroad Day celebration.
Jenna then enrolled in the Stages Art Academy in Chesterfield for a acting class. She was paired with a boy she did not know and given the assignment to create a television commercial.
The pair created Robo, a robot butler that would make life easier by doing everything in the house. They built Robo using a laundry detergent box for the body and toilet paper tubes for arms and legs. To make their television commercial realistic they took a large box and cut a hole in the bottom.
Jenna stood behind the box and presented Robo in the window. The commercial was performed at John F. Kennedy High School before an audience of parents and teachers.
"The teacher liked our project because we stuck with our original idea and worked it all the way through," Jenna said.
When asked what she liked best, being an idea generator, robot builder, commercial writer or actor, she flashed a quick smile.
"Acting out the commercial," she said. "I definitely liked the acting best."
When she gets to high school, the high-energy teen thinks she might want to join glee club, drama club and cheerleading. If there is a sewing club she would definitely like to join that too.
She quickly produced a notebook with pages full of skillful sketches show outfits for girls her own age that she dreamed up. She also designs dresses for her American Girl dolls and then sews them up and fits them to her doll. She ran to get the doll.
"It's not exactly sewing," she laughed. "I use some super glue and Velcro."
The strapless, hot pink, shiny formal that hugs the shape of her doll looks a lot like sewing.
One of her hobbies is sewing with her grandmother, Jean Basilico. That's were she got the shiny fabric. Her grandmother had used it in a Christmas decoration project.
"She's very creative," Jenna said of her grandmother. "I'm not that good with the sewing machine."
When asked of all the things she does, what she likes best, she is thoughtful.
"I like them all," she said. "But I guess I like acting best."
Now her 8-year-old brother Chase thinks he might want to act. Jenna is not sure how she feels about the competition, but is far too busy to let it worry her.
"I want to do a lot of things," she said.
