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.
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.
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