By Barbara Arnstein
Ever since Jane Hereth was little, it was obvious it was only a matter of time before she won a major acting honor, and, sure enough, this May she won “Best Performance by an Actress” at Shea’s Wonder Awards in Buffalo for playing Esmeralda, the female lead in the musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, at St. Francis High School. Back in 2019, she played a part in “Fun Home”, presented at Shea’s 710 Theatre. About her performances, a reviewer for the Buffalo Theatre Guide wrote, “It’s an extremely difficult role, vocally and in terms of acting, but Hereth has no trouble.”
In 2022, she played the title role in the Springville Center for the Arts’ production of “Jerry Finnegan’s Sister”, a play with only two characters. About her performance, the director, Edwin Heary, said, “She played a character who goes from age six, and through her adolescence, into her early 20’s. She was very adept. I was very impressed.” In 2023 she played one of the female leads, Velma Kelly, in Orchard Park High School’s production of the musical “Chicago: Teen Edition”. In 2024, she played Hodel, whose love for a revolutionary drives her to join him in Siberia, in the SCA’s production of “Fiddler on the Roof”. In it, she beautifully sang the love song, “Far from the Home I Love”, plus she took care of the cast’s hair and makeup.
Her victory at Shea’s Wonder Awards, where she sang “Get Out and Stay Out” from “9 to 5”, made her a nominee for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (which are also known as the Jimmy Awards). About this honor, she said, “I’m incredibly proud, grateful and happy to be making my Broadway debut.” In New York City, after participating in coaching and training sessions from some of Broadway’s best professionals, she sang and danced at the Minskoff Theatre on Broadway in a group performance, which opened the Jimmy Awards. They were presented live online on June 22nd, hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang. Other parts of the prize included: going on a bus tour, and getting to see her face on a billboard in the midst of Manhattan’s Times Square!
Jane’s talents extend in many different directions. Besides acting, singing, dancing and cosmetology, she writes songs, and interacts well with the many animals at her family’s Springville farm, Open Farms. which include pigs, goats, chickens, cats and a dog. Her singing can be heard at instagram.com/ janehereth. She appears (but does not speak) a video entitled “Open Farms: What is Care Farming?”, which can be viewed online at openfarmswny.org. In the video about the farm, she pets a pig and a goat, and gathers tomatoes.