Awards
-2016 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work - The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes
-Parents Choice Award - Let’s Fill up the House with Stories and Songs (In collaboration with Rives Collins)
-Maxie Awards” for Best Musical, Best Direction, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Sup- porting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Musical Direction, and Best Scenic Design (Stones)
Press
Christmas Schooner
“This is theatre at its best...a mixture of tragedy and joy which can be enjoyed by young and old alike.”
“Schooner offers magic that’s unforgettable.”
“A new Christmas classic may be in the making... The music is gorgeous, the story-line fits—it’s going to become an annual thing.”
“The happy start of a grand family tradition... sparked with humor and graced with tender sentiment... a melodic score and stirring tale... This Chicago holiday classic [is] a proverbial Off-Loop theatre success story.”
“This heartwarming musical... reminds us... that life is precious and fragile as a glass ornament. Shannon’s music is clear, strong, ...delicate... haunting [and] exuberant; it brings us on a journey as varied as the waters of Lake Michigan. ”
The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes
“A welcome addition to the venerable genre whose occupants include Sweeney Todd and My Fair Lady. So what are you waiting for— can’t you see the game’s afoot?”
“This jovial, clever little musical whodunit [of- fers] both a legitimate Sherlock mystery set in a rural English town and a bit of meta- dramatic fun involving a writer who has killed off the one who brought him fame. It’s a fan- tastic idea for a musical.... Moreover they have the late Julie Shannon’s songwriting talents. This is a promising new musical about an old favorite that seems unlikely ev- er to go out of style.”
“...a show with a sparklingly smart, sophisticated book, one in which Reeger’s years as an actor with a mastery of both the classics and musicals shines through in every witty line. Paired with this story is the lush Shannon/Mahler score of 20 songs, infused with plenty of late Victorian-meets-Broadway overtones (including echoes of both Sweeney Todd and My Fair Lady) but with a freshly modern energy and dynamism... This ‘Sherlock’ would make a terrific television special (much like the “Christmas Carol” concert...on PBS) but is bound to have a rich life on the stage, too. Elementary, I’d say.”
Let The Eagle Fly
“Shannon [is] highly adept at a folksy, people’s theatre style. And that expertise...shows—and deftly matches the rousing material. ... soulful anthems .... Chavez’s story is both moving and powerful; there were plenty of damp eyes... It’s a personal history that deserves to be told and sung.”
“EAGLE SOARS AT CALIFORNIA STAGE: ...a grand, ambitious work that manages to keep a human- size perspective. At times as large in scale as ‘Les Miserables.’ At other times it is as personal in dealing with its subject’s struggle to define himself as is ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar.’ This musical drama of Cesar Chavez’s life...proves as inspiring as it is ambitious.”
Stones
“Stones truly belongs to the irrepressible Felicia P. Fields as Hannah — a role she was born to play. She reveals a spectrum of emotions, from feisty to forlorn, while remaining true to Hannah’s sense of survival”
“Stones [is] a very wise, kind and unifying show...lush tunes [and] savvy lyrics.”
“Every once in a while a musical has a number that all alone is worth the price of admission... Stones has just such a one in ‘Dance for Hannah Tonight’.” —Scottsdale Progress Tribune”
“Stones uses Chicago’s 1919 race riot as a jumping-off point and actually succeeds at embracing an important issue without sacrificing theatrical appeal. ... [A]n entertaining, moving work of theatre, with real characters who have real lives and real motivations and real reasons to break into song. ... [The songs are] wonderful — and wonderfully sung by Keenan’s marvelous cast.”