by Jody Tuso-Key; Managing Editor

I recently had the honor and privilege to have a FaceTime conversation with Georgia theater legend, Shuler Hensley, director of City Springs Theatre Company’s opening season show THE MUSIC MAN playing from September 6-22. We’re preemptively calling this show a Speakeysie HOT TICKET, so you’ll want to get your tickets ASAP is this one is sure to sell out. Most people know Shuler’s name from the Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards, affectionately known as “The Shulers”. Others know him as the actor from Georgia who played Marcellus in THE MUSIC MAN on Broadway with Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. When I first heard of him, I was told, “He’s a guy who’s been on Broadway and hosts the award show.” Having seen his work and now after talking to him, I can tell you that he’s a gracious person who is comfortable in his own skin, lives life to the fullest, and is committed to doing everything he can to share theater with others and help the arts thrive in our beautiful Peach State.

Q. How did you get your start in theater?

My Mom was a ballet director. She founded the Marietta School of Ballet which in Cobb is Georgia Ballet. I was probably 6 years old when I first did a role on stage as Fritz in The Nutcracker, so that was my intro into the world of theater, and I just seemed to never have left the stage. I’m a big guy – 6’3”, about 245 pounds so dancing was not really in my future, but theater for sure was. Even at a young age, I got to play the bad guys. I was driven toward that and really enjoyed it. Everyone was like, “Oh, he’s trouble.”

Q Where did you get your theater training?

I went to Westminster School in Atlanta for High School and started singing in all the ensemble and chorus and I was also an athlete. My mom was a ballet dancer and my dad was an All-American Football player at Georgia Tech. I went to the University of Georgia on a baseball scholarship and was also in the men’s glee club. In division I sports, coaches want you to do sports year-round, and I told the coaches, “I like to sing.” and they would say, “I don’t know about that.” So my mom and I went to New York and I auditioned for Julliard and Manhattan School of the Music for their opera programs. I ended up getting accepted into both schools but loved Manhatten School of Music because it was up near Columbia, there were parks, and it was out of the hubbub (of the city). I started Opera knowing I really wanted to be an actor, but I wanted a classical background. Then I went to Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia for a Master’s and just started from there doing regional theater.

Q. What was your first role on Broadway?

I first did Oklahoma with Hugh Jackman at the National Theater in London. It was transferred to Broadway but had a bit of trouble transferring (to Broadway) because they wanted to bring the original cast, and Actor’s Equity wanted to recast. I was one of two Americans in that cast. While we were waiting for that, Cameron McIntosh, who produced Oklahoma, wanted me to do Les Miserables, so I was cast as Javert in Les Mis. 

Q. How did you get involved with City Springs?

My mom was always involved in the arts in Cobb County, and that was always instilled in me. I did most of my performing on Broadway and in New York, and I also got involved in the Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards when they were being developed for Georgia. They were being modeled after Gene Kelley and Tommy Tune (first awards for High School Musical Theatre) and Cobb Energy Center wanted to create one for Georgia. They asked if I would be interested in helping develop that, and I said, ‘Absolutely!’ Then they said, ‘Do you mind if we name the awards after you?’ That’s really how I got started with Georgia high school kids. We have just had our 16th anniversary of the awards show, and no matter what I’m doing I want to come back and host because when you’re able to see talented kids on a stage like that, you get to see the twinkle in their eye and they’re hooked for life. Whether they are performers or not, they will be theater lovers. I get joy out of the fact that I can be a part of that for these kids. We’ve had about 15 alumni of the Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards advance to Broadway. (this author noticed that he doesn’t call them The Shuler’s like most people do, indicating a true sense of humility). I’ve been working with these kids who’ve graduated. I was recently in a Scrooge show in Arizona and one of the girls in the show was an alumni of the awards show, so it’s been a full-circle experience. 

In doing that, Natalie DeLancey was helping to run the ArtsBridge program out of the Cobb Energy Center. She moved over to City Springs when it was forming, and asked if I would be interested in being the Associate Artistic Director help them promote the program. They know I was first and foremost a performing artist, which has been an advantage because I’ve taken people I know from New York on the creative side and also have a network with the local talent and brought them to City Springs to perform.  

Q. Tell us about MUSIC MAN – why here and why now?

At City Springs we have this amazing patron base and during Covid, like most regional theaters, it was really hard to stay afloat and figure all that out. The patrons have always been loyal and love what we call the ‘standard musicals’. I’ve done a lot of revivals and have learned they are classics for a reason. They are well written, the music is unbeatable, people have grown up with them, and especially coming out of Covid—which is what we found in the Broadway revival of Music Man—it’s a comfort for people to come back to live theater and something they know, are familiar with, and can relate to. We ran on Broadway a year, we could have run longer and would still be running today. We had 5 very busy Tony winners in that cast, so we all agreed to sign a year contract knowing we weren’t going to extend. At every show we had people crying at the door and saying: ‘I grew up with this’; ‘I played Marcellus’; ‘ I played Harold Hill’. I think that’s the magic of live theater that you can’t create in any other art form. It’s the connection people have to it, and the fact you can spend two hours with 1500 people in a room and experience something together. Knowing that, people at Sandy Springs were saying, ‘We would love Music Man to come here’, and We’ve evolved enough as a theater that we’re starting to build our own sets, create our own productions, and not rent things from other places. Rather than a revival, I like thinking of this Music Man as a rediscovery. I have spent so much time with this show in a specific production that’s been tweaked and changed for the sake of Hugh Jackman as Harold Hill. He was added to scenes that he wasn’t normally in in the original show. We’ve gone back to the more original production, and it feels like I’m discovering this show for the first time. I didn’t have a connection with the musical until we did it on Broadway. I’d never seen it or heard the music. I knew of it but was too young to really know about it. It’s extraordinary because it feels like you are discovering these things new. I told the cast the other day that no matter how old or how classic these musicals are, there’s always going to be at least a couple of people at every show who’ve never seen this show. They usually come and say, ‘Wow! That is an amazing show, I’ve never seen it,’ so it’s exciting to be the people who are involved in somebody’s first time seeing MUSIC MAN. 

Q. We were very impressed when we saw MUSIC MAN on Broadway, but most impressed with the children in the cast. Tell us about the children in City Springs’ Music Man.

We had 22 children make their debuts in our Broadway cast. City Springs has a Pre-pro program and these kids are – it’s amazing to watch these kids – triple threats are so rare, but in the state of Georgia all these kids can sing, dance, and act. It’s unbelievable to come into a room for the first day of rehearsal, and the people who know their material, who are prepared, prepared, prepared – are these children. There is a girl who is playing Zaneeta and was the cover Zaneeta on Broadway. Sara Edwards, who is our choreographer, was the assistant choreographer on our production on Broadway. We’re adding the kids from the Pre-pro program and they are just unstoppable. 

We are all really looking forward to the Music Man’s opening on September 6th at the Byres Theater in Sandy Springs. This one is sure to sell out, so get your tickets at https://www.cityspringstheatre.com/. In fact, the whole season is a must-see, so be sure and get season passes to secure your favorite seats for every great show this season!

• The Music Man – September 6-22
• Disney’s Frozen the Musical -Regional Premiere – December 13-29
• Ragtime the Musical – March 14-30
• Beautiful the Carole King Musical – May 2-18