The Toledo City Paper depends on readers like you! Become a friend today. See membership options
With Broadway and national tours on her resume, Toledo-raised Kelly Sheehan took on two roles in “Truly, Howard Hughes”
Kelly Sheehan had a Broadway career to begin and high school to finish. She and her mother had traveled to New York so she could get some audition experience. She booked the job. Soon, she graduated early and moved to the city shortly after turning 18. Her first Broadway credit: “42nd Street.”
For the young performer who had been appearing in Toledo school productions, the move meant learning alongside the professional cast and crew of a Broadway musical. She stayed with the company for years, beginning a career that would also include Broadway’s “White Christmas” and the national tour of “Some Like It Hot.”
Most recently, Sheehan brought that experience to The York Theatre’s Off-Broadway musical “Truly, Howard Hughes,” taking on responsibilities in the cast and on the creative team. As an ensemble member and assistant choreographer, she helped develop the dances, worked through the steps with fellow performers and stepped onstage to perform them herself.
A childhood spent on stage
Sheehan moved to Toledo from Los Angeles when she was about 10. Her mother, Julie O’Connell, started Julie O’Connell Dancers, producing shows around town and giving her daughter opportunities to perform. Her grandmother, Betty O’Connell, also taught dance and operated local studios.
Sheehan attended St. Joan of Arc and St. Ursula Academy and performed in productions at St. Ursula and St. John’s Jesuit High School, where her mother choreographed for years.
One role she remembers is the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz,” complete with a silver vest, skirt and wig. Playing a character unlike herself gave her room to experiment; she could try something unexpected and see what worked.
Getting started professionally also took support back home. Sheehan credits St. Ursula’s then principal, Jane Charette, with helping her graduate even though she couldn’t attend the ceremony.
Charette “was extremely instrumental in helping my dreams come true,” Sheehan said.
Moving to the professional stage
Once she joined “42nd Street,” she learned from people whose jobs reached into every part of the production. She watched the stage managers, wardrobe staff and crew work, getting to know their responsibilities over the years with the company. She considers that experience her college education.
Touring brought different demands. “White Christmas” let her settle into different cities during the holidays. On the national tour of “Some Like It Hot,” she worked as a swing, preparing to fill in for multiple performers.
The job meant learning seven ensemble tracks and one principal track, including each performer’s movements and responsibilities. She might perform one track at a matinee and another that evening. Some days, she wouldn’t perform at all.
Sheehan said the uncertainty scared her at first. Learning the material and having a supportive company helped. Each performance required her to concentrate on the assignment in front of her, even when the next show might bring a different one.
Her most recent stage production
In “Truly, Howard Hughes,” she had to think about how everyone’s assignments fit together.
The musical followed the life of the aviator, filmmaker and businessman. Directed and choreographed by Jennifer Paulson-Lee, the production closed Oct. 4. Sheehan initially expected to work on the creative team’s dance responsibilities, then joined the ensemble when a spot became available.
The work also meant figuring out who could leave a scene, help move scenery and get to the next entrance. Backstage space was tight. A desk, couch and chair needed somewhere to go, and performers and crew still needed room to work.
Sheehan recalled a sequence involving moving platforms that required additional crew support and changes to the staging. Rehearsals meant working out those movements while scenes and dialogue were still changing.
Occasionally, she could step out of a dance to check the formations. Much of the time, she was part of the picture she was trying to assess.
“You have to trust that the work is being done, making sure it is feeling good as well as looking good,” she said.
While performing, Sheehan still takes classes. Her advice to students is to keep developing the skills that need work, even when they already feel confident as a singer, dancer or actor. A new audition or production may call for something they haven’t learned yet.
Her mother still lives in Perrysburg, and Sheehan visits when work and travel allow.
“We sometimes teach tap class together, which is always fun,” she said.
