Submitted photoCaroline Ford, 10, the daughter of Andy and Robyn Ford of Warren County, has demonstrated remarkable dedication to developing her acting skills, according to those around her, and has landed a job at a professional theater near Louisville.

In an unusual move for the Derby Dinner Playhouse, which is just across the Ohio River from Louisville in Clarksville, Ind., 10-year-old Caroline Ford of Warren County began professionally acting earlier this month in the entire run of the classic mystery “Wait Until Dark.”

“We rarely use a young person for the entire six-week run of a performance,” Derby owner and producer Bekki Jo Schneider wrote in an e-mail. “But, Caroline was focused and very capable of handling the job. She asked intelligent questions and analyzed her character as an older actress would. It has been a pleasure working with her.”

Caroline – the daughter of Andy and Robyn Ford – has been thrilled to have the part, which is the first professional role for which she auditioned.

And it’s a dream come true to be working at Derby.

“I decided when I grew up I would work there,” she said. “I was probably around 4 or 5.”

Caroline has been going to Derby shows since she was 18 months old.

She said she fell in love with acting as a preschooler.

“I love it because you get to be so many characters, not just yourself,” she said.

By age 6, Caroline, who began her acting study locally with Arts Alive, was in her first production, “Sing Me a Story,” at the Capitol Arts Center.

When she was 7, “Alice in Wonderland” followed at Public Theatre of Kentucky.

A steady stream of local shows then came Caroline’s way, including PTK Sunburst Youth Theatre productions of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and “The Jungle Book;” a PTK Shakespeare Camp production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream;” Capitol Arts Youth Theatre stagings of “Fairy Tale Courtroom, “Miracle on 34th Street,” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”; and a Fountain Square Players staging of “Wait Until Dark.”

The acting made Caroline want to hone her skills more, so her mom started looking into summer acting camps for her.

“When we logged into good acting camps, Stagedoor Manor was all over the Web,” Caroline said, “and it just so happened that a lot of famous actors and actresses went there, like Natalie Portman and Mandy Moore.”

Jon Cryer, Zach Braff, Robert Downey Jr. and Jennifer Jason Leigh were also among the alumni at the performing arts training center for 8- to 17-year-olds in the Catskills, and Caroline was excited to find herself last summer studying acting in their famous footsteps.

“It was a great experience,” she said, “ and I made a lot of great friends.”

Caroline came back to Bowling Green with even more enthusiasm for acting, and after playing Sharpay in the Capitol Arts Youth Theatre’s production of “High School Musical,” she was ready for Derby’s “Wait Until Dark.”

While previous experience in the Capitol’s version of “Wait” helped prepare Caroline for the role, she said she probably wouldn’t have been ready for Derby’s staging if it wasn’t for the training she got from Christopher Cherry, who was education coordinator for PTK before becoming the Capitol Youth Theatre artistic director.

Cherry “is a phenomenal director,” Caroline said. “He has been with me though everything and taught me so much.”

Cherry told the Daily News in an e-mail last week he is “extremely proud of Caroline Ford.

“I can’t think of another of my young students who is more deserving of such an exciting theater opportunity,” he wrote. “Caroline has been my student for almost four years. During that time, she has worked hard to grow and develop her craft.”

Cherry has directed Caroline in seven plays, including “High School Musical” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” in which Caroline played Veruca Salt.

Now, he said, he is “very impressed” by Caroline’s “understanding of professionalism as an actor.

“Caroline takes her artistic development seriously,” Cherry said. “She is a very conscientious performer and has developed impressive acting skills for any age, but especially for a 10-year-old.”

While Robyn Ford said she’s always impressed when people tell her Caroline is talented, she’s most proud that Caroline has developed the skills and responsibility to be a professional actor.

“She’s getting herself ready, following the cues and remembering her lines,” she said. “This is her first professional show and she’s doing all this on her own. I’m not back there with her and sometimes it amazes me that a 10-year old can be this mature and responsible.”

Because of Caroline’s devotion to acting, her parents have rented an apartment in Louisville so she can be near Derby Dinner Playhouse for the seven to nine shows she does per week there.

And the former Rich Pond Elementary School pupil, who went to Potter-Gray Elementary in kindergarten before going to third and fourth grades at Holy Trinity Lutheran School, is now home-schooled by her mom.

According to Robyn Ford, Caroline studies Latin on the way to Louisville. Greek mythology is studied during intermission of shows.

“We’re making it work,” Robyn Ford said.

Caroline, who has two younger sisters, said she doesn’t mind working hard to juggle school and acting. In fact, she’s “bored” if she’s not really busy.

That’s why she also has lots of extracurricular activities.

“I am in the home school choir and am also studying (to be in) ‘Little Women’ for the Capitol” next year, Caroline said.

In addition, she goes to Broadway United Methodist Church, is on the local Dynamic Dance Team and studies piano and voice.

She’s also getting ready for a local science fair, planning on being in a 15-minute Christmas touring show for the Capitol and preparing to invest some of the money she’s earning from Derby for her college education.

“I’ll probably major in acting, theater” someday, she said. “After that, I probably want to just be an actress on Broadway, I hope, and even be in some movies and still have a family and live a normal life.”

— Caroline Ford can be seen as Gloria in “Wait Until Dark” at Derby Dinner Playhouse through Nov. 11. For show times and ticket information, visit http://www.derbydinner.com or call (812) 288-8281.