Sharon Wheatley is a Broadway actress, a writer, an educator, and a mom.
Sharon currently appears nightly as Diane and others, roles she originated, in the musical Come From Away on Broadway. Playing at the Schoenfeld Theater, it opened on March 12, 2017, to critical acclaim; it is a New York Times “Critic’s Pick” and a Tony˝ Award Winner. Sharon’s performance of Diane can be seen in the Apple+ TV film version of Come From Away and heard on the original cast recording.
Sharon has enjoyed many years in New York City as a professional actress. Her Broadway credits include her current role in Come From Away (Diane and others, original cast), Avenue Q (Kate Monster/Lucy T. Slut, Mrs. T. Yellow Bear standby), the final company of Cats as it finished its record-breaking run at the Winter Garden Theater (Jennyanydots, The Gumbie Cat), Les Miserables (Cosette and Eponine understudy), and The Phantom of the Opera (Madam Firman). Sharon holds the distinction of being the only female actor to appear in all three of these Broadway blockbusters on Broadway. She has also
toured nationally and internationally with Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Sound of Music, and also originated Avenue Q at the Wynn Casino and Resort in Las Vegas (Mrs. T/Yellow Bear/Kate and Lucy). Her other film credits include Gods Behaving Badly. On TV, she has been seen as “Mary Jo” in My Life Is a Lifetime Movie.
In addition to her Broadway career, Sharon is a featured soloist around the country with symphony orchestras, including the New Jersey Symphony, Detroit, Seattle, Portland, Naples, Milwaukee, Omaha, and Oklahoma City.
As a writer, Sharon has a nationally published memoir, ‘Til the Fat Girl Sings (Adams Media with Simon and Schuster), which follows the trials and tribulations of being an overweight midwestern kid with giant Broadway dreams. Readers of all ages deeply relate to Sharon’s story about an underdog on a mission to prove that talent and perseverance win out.
As a blogger, Sharon is best known for SMASH FACT OR FICTION? an episode-by-episode run through of what is fact and what is fiction in NBC’s TV show Smash. This blog, written with love and fun, was written up in Marie Claire and named as “highbrow and brilliant” in New York Magazine’s “Approval Matrix,” as well as appearing in various newspapers around the country.
Additionally, Sharon wrote nationally for Weight Watchers for many years and had a loyal following on her episodic story blog, My Own Space. Sharon also wrote for actress Kristin Chenoweth, including sketches for her US and Australia tours, sketches for the Hollywood Bowl, and other concerts around the country. A favorite was co-writing a parody of the song “Popular” for Kristin to sing on The Tonight Show, which aired on July 30th, 2013, and went on to be replayed by news outlets around the world. Sharon also produced, directed, and co-wrote Avenue Zoo, a 30-minute original musical written for the Bronx Zoo WCS. It ran for four months at the Bronx Zoo in 2016 and 2012, and was rewritten and performed at the Houston Zoo for four months in the summer of 2013. Avenue Zoo was written up in the September 2013 issue of American Theatre Magazine.
Sharon is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, where she attended the renowned musical theater program at University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. In 2006 Sharon received the CCM Musical Theater Young Alumnae Award.
She runs musical theater workshops for aspiring actors at both the college and high school level. Sharon served on the advisory board of Rosie’s Theater Kids, was an elected member of Actors Equity Association’s National Council, and served as a voter for the Tony Awards for 8 years.
As an educator, Sharon loved teaching at the renowned Professional Performing Arts High School in New York City for several years, where she focused on auditioning for college theater programs and as an overall college preparation and selection advisor. Her talented students were accepted to major theater programs across the county.
Sharon is available to coach in person and online. She especially enjoys “Skyping in” to high school and college classes around the country to give masterclasses about careers in show business, do a Q &A on Come From Away, or speak with English classes who are studying and writing memoirs.
Sharon is the proud mother of Charlotte and Tobi Meffe. She wrote a parenting column for Equity News, the Actors’ Equity Association newspaper which attracted the attention of the New York Times, and they featured Sharon and her kids in a story and video about a Broadway Childcare project with the Actors’ Chapel. Sharon is married to Broadway stage manager Martha Donaldson. Their journey was written up in the “Styles” section of the Sunday New York Times.
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