Shannon Maloney discovered her love of theater when she was just 7 years old. Watching her best friends in a Riverside Children’s Theatre production of “Children of Eden,” she was mesmerized.
“After the show I said, ‘I’m going to do that,’” recalls Maloney. And she has.
Now 24, Maloney is playing the lead female role of Babe Williams in the musical comedy “The Pajama Game” at the Vero Beach Theatre Guild. It will be her final curtain call in Vero Beach; the vivacious actress, dancer and singer is moving on to greener pastures.
Maloney and her boyfriend Zach Tudor are moving to Chicago this summer in pursuit of new opportunities. She has already made inroads toward an audition for “Big River,” a show she performed at Riverside eight years ago.
“Most people don’t realize it, but Chicago is one of the best theater cities in the world,” says Maloney. “I’ve always thought I was lucky to grow up in Vero Beach. I couldn’t have asked for better teachers and experiences. But if I don’t try it now, I’ll never forgive myself.”
While Maloney can’t trace her talent to anyone in her family, her parents were always supportive. “I got lucky with genetics. I just happen to be able to hold a tune pretty well,” she says.
The rest “takes a lot of hard work and determination.”
Interestingly, she credits her drive to the fact that she wasn’t cast in every role she auditioned for. “If it wasn’t the show for me, then they wouldn’t cast me, which in the end just made me work harder.”
Maloney performed in so many shows during her formative years she’s lost count. There were times when she would put in a full day at school, rehearse for a high-school play after school, go to dance class, and then attend an evening rehearsal at Riverside.
She performed in the first production of “The Nutcracker: In Swingtime,” and she was also in the last, as the show was recently retired to make room for “Nutcracker on the Indian River.” She danced in Ballet Vero Beach’s “Program 1,” with the Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company, took on the role of the Burmese slave girl Tuptim in the Theatre Guild’s “The King and I” and performed at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater.
After graduating from Vero Beach High School, Maloney went to Indian River State College and Florida Atlantic University with a focus on theater.
During college, one of her favorite roles was as Maggie in Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” “It was hard for me. Everything the character did was the opposite of what I would do. I had to work for that one, and that’s always a rewarding thing.”
When Maloney returned to Vero Beach, she didn’t rest on her laurels for long. When she isn’t on stage, she teaches pre-school at Maitland Farm and dance classes at the Riverside Children’s Theatre. She’s always been drawn to the younger children, working with them during summer camps when she was in high school. And of course, she “needed” to get back on the stage.
Larry Strauss, Guild on the Go director, recalls, “One day I was standing outside the Theatre Guild box office when I heard the voice of a woman who was rehearsing for the role of the Burmese slave girl, Tuptim, in ‘The King and I.’ I couldn’t see her, but her voice stopped me in my tracks.”
After seeing her award-winning performance in the “King and I,” Strauss recruited her to be a principal musical theater soloist with Guild on the Go, a traveling theater troupe performing for retirement and assisted-living facilities.
“In spite of her considerable stage experience, Shannon had not done much performing in a cabaret-type environment where you ‘break the fourth wall’ and engage directly with an audience,” explains Strauss. “Audience reaction among Guild on the Go audiences was predictable. They all loved her.”
After working with her, Strauss says, “Shannon is the anti-prima donna. She is down to earth and universally well liked.”
Adam Schnell was one of the people who affected Maloney’s growth on the stage. “Adam is the one who got me to take dancing seriously. I loved musical theater and needed to improve my movement on stage. He had a tremendous influence on my life.”
“I have known Shannon for years,” shares Schnell, Ballet Vero Beach Artistic Director/CEO, and director of dance for Riverside Children’s Theatre. “She is one of those rare people that still, after all this time, is almost completely unaware of how talented she is. I think that is part of what makes her so affecting.”
Always looking for ways to grow, Maloney took voice classes during her freshman year in college to help her prepare for her first musical role as Hope in “Anything Goes.”
“She is a true triple threat,” says Schnell. “She can sing, act and dance. Additionally, she has this most natural ability to disappear into her roles while still, even in the most ludicrous parts, bringing a sense of humanity to her performances.”
“The role of Babe is challenging me vocally because I usually sing soprano, which is a higher range. I’m usually very type-cast, singing mostly classical stuff because that’s just the way my voice tends to sound. This is lower and belty,” says Maloney.
Strauss, who plays Myron Hasler in “Pajama Game” says, “Shannon’s reactions as Babe on stage are real to life, and she never looks like she’s acting, the highest compliment for an actor. The song she sings with the female factory workers, ‘I’m Not at All in Love,’ requires a load of emotional reactions along with a sense of humor because it’s musical comedy. Her face is wonderfully expressive.”
While Maloney will be missed both on and off the stage, Vero Beach’s loss is Chicago’s gain.
Maloney has embraced each new aspect of her career with focus and intensity, always striving to improve her craft. With performers like Meryl Streep as her inspiration, the young actress has set her expectations high.
“I don’t have a need to be famous, but I do have a need to perform,” she says.
“The Pajama Game” opens March 9 at the Vero Beach Theatre Guild and runs through March 26. For tickets and show times, call 772-562-8300 or visit VeroBeachTheatreGuild.com.
