Meet Edina High School sophomore Shelby Rosen. She is not your average Edina thespian.

Rosen started her acting career at the age of five. She has been performing on stage in plays and musicals since. She just finished understudying at the Children’s Theater for “A Wrinkle in Time” in the role of Meg. This was her first time understudying and, according to Rosen, it was hard work. “I don’t get any rehearsals. I take notes during the lead’s rehearsals and watch her,” she said.

Because of the unpredictable schedule for an understudy, Rosen called the theater every day to check in. She made it on stage once when the lead was gone because of a test.

Now Rosen is playing Liesl, in “The Sound of Music” at the Minnetonka Community Theater which opened on December 9.

Other plays Rosen performed in include “Hellen Keller” when she was in fourth and fifth grade, “Hellen Burns,” where the cast went on tour around the country and “Jane Eyre” where she used a dialect coach to perfect her British accents.

Rosen is also dabbling in film. She recently starred in the independent film “As I Fade.” She hopes to become more involved in films in the future and is crossing her fingers for more casting calls.

Rosen describes film as “a lot more personal and real” while “theater is a lot bigger, you have to project and be this large character.” She finds that in the hardest part for auditioning in theater is “learning her lines and songs” while film is “what to wear. Some things look terrible on camera!”

For the rest of the dates for “The Sound of Music” go to the Minnetonka Community Theater website.