It’s difficult to imagine a better choice to play real-life vaudevillian than the experienced musical comedy performer Shonn Wiley. Not only is he the son of a dancer and clearly in following in the footsteps (literally) of the great song and dance men of entertainment’s legendary past, but he brings enormous warmth, commitment, and sensitivity to a role that needs it. He succeeds brilliantly. As an actor, singer, and dancer, he manages to be charming and riveting at the same time and yet manages to avoid any sense of smugness, automatic pilot, or show-offy attitude/glitz. Though retaining a sense of boyishly bright-eyed enthusiasm, innocence, and eagerness that never seems fake, when his character becomes more troubled and experienced, the growth is believable. When performing, he glows and his dancing is full of variety and more polish than his tap shoes will have in a lifetime.
Rob Lester-edgenewyork.com
Shonn Wiley has the dazzling looks and talent to bring Jack Donahue to life with extraordinary flair. One of the best hoofers in the business today, Wiley delivers show-stopping dance routines ("The Shadow" and "Tap Drunk" are standouts) that are surprisingly equaled by the power of his character's ongoing battle with alcoholism...
John Kenrick- Musicals 101
If tap dancing were really as easy as Shonn Wiley makes it look in Mud Donahue & Son, the world would undoubtedly be a happier and louder place....For young men - and far too many audiences - who value flash above technique, it’s an object lesson in what great theatre dancing should be: a lark, a game you’re positive you could play if only someone handed you a rule sheet....It also leads him into the requisite trouble, with drink, which sends him swirling into his second specialty, “The Tap Drunk,” in which he sweeps his competition off the bill with his forceful feet and, okay, maybe an uppercut or two. The scene, which begins as a light-hearted competition, and ends with a flurry of life-or-death violence, allows Wiley the opportunity to beat himself up, presenting each new blow on his agile body as though he really received a sucker punch. It’s as fine an expression (and, sadly, one of the few) of the storytelling powers of dance that’s been seen on NYMF - or on most other New York stages - this year. The scene is a veritable tour de force from both Wiley and director-choreographer Lynne Taylor-Corbett, who transform one man and two feet into an engaging, evening-long inebriated escapade.....Wiley...brings his disarming croon of a voice and just enough affable grace to Jack to overcome the role’s shortcomings as the age-old talented dreamer who just needs to prove himself. Plus, his tapping skills believably buoy Jack’s belief in himself, helping you understand how and why this man became a vaudeville and Broadway star in the early part of the last century.
Matthew Murrary-talkinbroadway.com
Shonn Wiley's Jack is wide-eyed, optimistic, and so talented that he wins over the audience—vaudeville or anywhere—with deceptively little effort. His tap dancing chops are on fine display here, with credits also as an associate choreographer for the show. Murphy and Wiley have that rarest of chemistry that fills the theatre with warmth and affection. Their fantasy routine as a team, "Mud Donahue & Son," made me wish they'd really put on a duo show on Broadway.
Kat Chamberlain-nytheatre.com
Jack Donahue, here engagingly played and, especially, danced by Shonn Wiley, was a seminal figure in American vaudeville from 1910 to 1920 and on Broadway from 1920 to 1930. Since he never made a movie, he remains largely obscure to all but hardcore aficionados of the performing arts. His tap-dancing and singing successors, such as Fred Astaire, Bill Robinson, Ray Bolger, and James Cagney, gained much more enduring fame — all the more reason to see this captivating new musical.
Robert Windeler-backstage.com
Shonn Wiley is an amazing dancer. It's a joy to watch him strut his stuff, which he does expertly in Mud Donahue & Son, the new musical two-hander based on vaudeville performer Jack Donahue's autobiography, Letters of a Hoofer to His Ma.
Dan Bacalzo and Andy Propst-theatremania.com
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STAIRWAY TO PARADISE 2007 ENCORES!
"...while Jenn Gambatese and Shonn Wiley make sweet young lovers in a handful of songs, notably Rodgers and Hart's timeless 'Manhattan',"
David Ronney - Variety
"And there could hardly be a more adorable set of young lovers than Jenn Gambatese (happily freed for the moment from Tarzan) and Shonn Wiley, who delight with delicious renditions of "Manhattan" and "Rhode Island Is Famous For You."
Brian Scott Lipton - Theatermania
Shonn Wiley and Jenn Gambatese charm as a pair of young lovers who traipse through a series of lovely ballads, but stake no claim to Schwartz and Dietz’s “Rhode Island Is Famous for You” (also from Inside U.S.A.) or the Rodgers & Hart Garrick Gaieties classics “Manhattan” and “Mountain Greenery.”
Matthew Murray - Talkin' Broadway
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THE VIEW FROM HERE - 2005 NYMF
"Not only is Shonn Wiley one of the small handful of true triple threat performers in the city, but he is one of an even smaller group that can hold an audience in the palm of his hand for an entire one-person musical."
Rohn Cohen - Backstage
"Wiley is predictably terrific as he dances through the show (which he also choreographed), first fleet of foot, then more leaden, and finally barely able to force himself to move to the music. His voice, which communicates conviction and panic with equal palpability, drips with ache for Kelly, for himself, and for the life he's letting slip away even as he tries to maintain his grasp on it. He does some impressive work as it is, and the role could grow into a signature tour de force for him."
Matthew Murray - Talk'in Broadway
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THRILL ME - The York Theatre 2005
"Stephen Dolginoff and co-star Shonn Wiley blew me away with their amazing, nuanced performances. Wiley in particular brings new levels of seductive evil to the mix -- never has a monster been so irresistible."
John Kenrick - Musicals 101
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RAGTIME - Papermill Playhouse 2005
"Shonn Wiley adds passion as Mother's Younger Brother, whose mothlike attraction to woman like Evelyn Nesbit and Emma Goldman culminates in a death defying commitment to Coalhouse's firery standoff."
Naomi Siegel - The New York Times
"Shonn Wiley is both brilliant and irresistible as Mother's brooding Younger Brother. Heck if the rest of the cast was not so strong, he could have stolen the show."
Musicals101.com by John Kenrick
"Shonn Wiley is ideally cast as Mother's Younger Brother. His transition from indolent stage door Johnny to radical terrorist is drawn with total conviction. His singing is always mellifluous"
New Jersey Star Ledger by Bob Rendell
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DRACULA The Musical - Broadway 2004
…as Lucy's suitors-turned-slayers, Chris Hoch, Bart Shatto and Shonn Wiley are aptly engaging.
Larry Worth - Hollywood Reporter
Shonn Wiley, …notably talented…plays Renfield's scientific keeper, Jack Seward. In an anthem called "Deep in the Darkest Night," they sing "This is a war and we must be victors ... We'll cross the sea like a band of crusaders," lending a clear contemporary reference for those who care to notice it.
Jaques Le Sourd - The Journal News
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42ND STREET - Numerous Productions
Shonn Wiley is Billy Lawlor, “one of Broadway’s better juveniles.” Mr. Wiley is an ideal equivalent of the star-to-be ingénue, fresh, sparkling, and guileless.
Alvin Klein -The New York Times
…as Billy Lawlor, the leading man of "Pretty Lady," is Shonn Wiley, another veteran of the Broadway revival. With a fine clear tenor, superb dance steps and winning good looks, Wiley seems bound to become a leading attraction on Broadway in years to come.
Raymond Stults – The Moscow Times
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I LOVE A PIANO - Denver Center Attractions
…but the breakout star is young Shonn Wiley, who radiates the exuberance and optimism of early 20th-century America. Wiley delivers in every capacity, from the brilliant physical comedy in a silent-movie scene to the gymnastic dancing of “Let’s Go Slummin’.” To his soft tenor in “White Christmas” that just might blur your memory of Bing Crosby. This is in every way an ensemble piece, but remember Wiley’s name. You’ll here it again.
John Moore – Denver Post
Shonn Wiley, the youngest of the group, in an "Easter Parade" segment that is a high point of the show.
Allen Young - Variety
Click here to view Shonn's Headshot & Resume
Mud Donahue and Son (NYMF 07)
