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