SAN FRANCISCO — Twelve-year-old Ashley O’Brien has been tapped to play the lead in Living Miracle’s theater production, “Song of Bernadette” that will run for four weekends, from February 8 through March 1, at the St. Boniface Theater in San Francisco. “Song of Bernadette”, based on the 1943 film of the same title, tells the story of a young girl, Bernadette Soubirous, who had 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from February to July 1858, in Lourdes, France.

The film won its lead star, Jennifer Jones, the Oscar for Best Actress. It went on to become the Golden Globe Awards first Best Director, Henry King, and Best Film, Drama, in 1944. The Filipino American tweener is excited to play the part, noting that this is her first lead role, after her earlier forays into television playing Megan in Debbie Heimowitz & Jason Azicri’s “Adina’s Deck” and independent film playing the little girl in Sage Drake’s “The Gift”, both in 2007. Living Miracle’s and the play director, Patrick Flanagan, admires the young girl’s talent and charisma, reasons why he selected her over the rest through the SF Casting Agency. Ashley gets to sing solo, Ave Maria, in the play.

One asks, do we see the next Vanessa Hudgens?

Her mother, Evelyn, who is Filipina (nee Cervantes), counters in the negative. “Ashley is not like Vanessa …” and she proceeded to inform this writer that Ashley would never do what Vanessa did – referring to those infamous nude shots of Vanessa when the “High School Musical” star did years earlier. Ashley herself revealed her reasons of going into acting.

“I want to act as a job, for me to save enough money for college. I want to go to UC Davis to study veterinary medicine because I love animals a lot.” Really, a wise young woman! Currently in 7th grade at the James Denman Middle School in San Francisco, Ashley got into acting when she was first approached with another for a commercial audition. She did not get the job but grew to love it, she made a decision to go into an acting school for a year in 2006.

Ashley had also performed in a number of school productions including playing the role of Maganda in the play, “Si Malakas at si Maganda” at Longfellow Elementary School and other productions of Filipino American groups like the KulArts and Pin@y Educational Partnership. “Song of Bernadette” plays at the St. Boniface Theater, 133 Golden Gate Avenue (between Jones and Leavenworth Streets) in San Francisco, Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. Donation of $10 is suggested. Proceeds go to the Living Room Project, a nonprofit organization that provides social services for the homeless.