By Per Peterson
Acting chops. Check.
Red locks. Check.
It’s almost as if Jenna Spanovich was made for this part.
Spanovich, a junior at Tracy Area High School, is playing the part of Ariel in the school’s upcoming musical production of “The Little Mermaid” and is loving the part.
“I watched it as a kid on VHS, and I always really liked it,” she said. “It’s very romantic. I really didn’t think of that as much as a kid, but now I see it. And I loved the fact that Ariel had red hair like I do — seeing a princess that looked kind of like me was really fun.”
Spanovich is no stranger to the stage. She did one-act her freshman year and was in the play “All I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten” last year. She also had a part in the community theater production of “State Fair” last year and twice played Nellie in “Fragments of a Dream” in Walnut Grove.
For “The Little Mermaid,” the young actress admits there are some challenges.
“There obviously are some limitations, going from water to land and not having a tail for myself,” she said. “It can be hard to imagine, but it’s always really fun to try to bring that mythical part to the stage.”
She also enjoys performing in musicals — the school does a musical every other year.
“I think music can be really easy to put emotion into over just saying a line,” she said. “It can be so much more fun to perform.”
And she loves the Ariel character.
“She is a little ditzy, but she’s very sweet and always has the best intentions,” she said.