Candice Shedd-Thompson 
Class of 2010
Actress 

How would you best describe your life as a performer? 

This could honestly be a thesis paper. It's as hard as everyone says but also it isn't. It's not linear at all and yet, there is a more linear path to "success" than outsiders realize.
Some years will be wildly successful, and other years you'll get called in for big things again and again and book none of them. You must be your biggest advocate. No one will reach out to someone they don't know and offer them a job. You must make them remember you by CONSTANTLY (and I do mean constantly) submitting your materials (headshot/resume), by updating your performance materials on youtube, by updating your website, and most importantly, by going out and auditioning.
You cannot book a job if they don't even know who you are. There are so many days where I think to myself "what are you doing you crazy person why have you chosen this career," and other days where it all makes sense.
You're allowed to have days of doubt, and you're also allowed to have your dreams change. I have friends who completed their musical theatre degree in college and now don't use it. They changed. Their dreams and life plan and desires changed. It happens. If you wake up one day after years of pounding pavement and realize you'd rather have a stable job with good health insurance, literally NO ONE will blame you or call you a failure. Things I've worked on: cruise ships as a singer, theme park, summer stock, regional theatre at both union and non-union houses. Degree is in Musical Theatre from JMU.
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What was your favorite show that you worked on at Chantilly H.S. and why? 

Bat Boy! Playing a character that I was wildly too young for and being exposed to new material that I wouldn't have found on my own.


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Nicole Paladeua
Class of 2013 
Works in Marketing for the Kennedy Center 

What is your favorite memory with the Chantilly Theatre Department? 

Is this a trick question? I'm supposed to choose ONE? I'd have to say my favorite thing is the friends I made - most of us are still close today, 6 years after graduating. We all grew up together in CHS Drama and learned how to treat people with respect, work hard, and not take each other too seriously. There have been a couple times when we have reflected on how crazy it was that we were all constantly in competition with each other, but still supported one another and just had fun.

How do use the skill sets you learned with Chantilly Theatre in your current job at the Kennedy Center? 

I've worked at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for almost two years, first in fundraising, and now in marketing. I've learned a lot about what happens "behind the curtain," if you will. SO many factors go into making a show come to life: the actors, production, theater managers, fundraising to actually pay for the show, marketing so people know the show is happening, finance, concessions, IT, ushers, data analysts so we can better understand our audience, etc. There are so many players in the process, and something that I wish I would've known in high school is that you don't have to be a performer to be involved with the performing arts!

What advice would you give to current high school theatre students? 

I did not go to a performing arts school (University of Mary Washington, Class of 2017) or major in performing arts (majored in historic preservation & french), but I stayed involved with the arts by taking some theater classes and joining the dance company on campus.
My advice would be to just KEEP doing it! I did not want to major in theater or dance, but felt a little empty without them after having been so heavily involved with both my whole life.

The Chantilly H.S. Theatre Department was founded in 1974 by director Ms. Elaine Wilson and over the past 45 years, we have had thousands of incredible actors and technicians create memories on our stage. 
We are thrilled to follow up with all of our alumni as they share their stories of how high school theatre lead them to their current college majors, careers and the invaluable skill sets they learned and implement in their current profession.  ​