by Gil Benbrook
Tregoney Shepherd is an Arizona native who has appeared in the Broadway productions of Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera as well as in several national tours, including Wicked. In addition to being a performer, Shepherd is also a teacher, coach and director and holds her Masters in Musical Theater and Opera Direction and her Doctorate in Vocal Performance.
She recently joined the faculty at Mesa Community College where she heads up the Music Theatre program and teaches several classes including Theatre Production and Audition Techniques.
This coming Saturday, Shepherd will be appearing in the hit play Shirley Valentine for two performances as a benefit for the MCC Music Theatre program.
I had the chance to ask Shepherd some questions about her Broadway experience, her recent call to go back on the road to help Wicked out when the pandemic forced some cast members out of the show and her thoughts on the music theatre program at MCC.
As an Arizona native, did you do theatre growing up in town or was that something you got into once you were in college?
Shepherd: "I have been on the stage since I was 3 years old. Both of my parents were amateur actors and my mother, who was British, would write pantomimes for children which we would often put on in our backyard. My very first role was that of ‘Gertrude Guzzletop’ in her rendition of Little Red Riding Hood."
I have to imagine doing shows when you were younger and at ASU that you always dreamed about being on Broadway. What was your Broadway debut like?
"I always dreamed of being on the stage and never wanted to do anything else. I was involved with Mesa Little Theatre and Mesa Summer Musical Theater growing up. I did all the shows possible at school and even would put on performances for the neighborhood on my front lawn. Broadway was the realization of all of those experiences and that dream. I couldn’t have had a better experience. I remember distinctly sitting backstage and the orchestra started playing those amazing opening bars of music and I started to cry."
You were in the tour of Wicked several years ago and recently went back to help them out when Covid incapaciated several cast members. How long had it been since you were on the road, how did you get the call to help out, and what was that experience like?
"It was crazy! I had been asked to come and fill in for a 10 day leave of absence in January, and then the week before Christmas all hell broke loose with COVID. I got a call on Monday, they flew me out there the next day. Then on Wednesday we had a quick spacing rehearsal with the cast and the three alumni they had flown in and we went on that night. They were down about 22 people and had to fly in 10 covers. I think we had a different group of people onstage for about two weeks. It was a completely different experience than before, because we were masked everywhere in the theater except on the stage. There was no socializing because everyone was trying to remain healthy. We had to test every day before we came into the theater to make sure we had no infection. Not ideal, but amazing how positive everybody was, and how everyone pitched in to make it all work."
Any fun stories from your touring or Broadway productions?
"So many! I have been onstage when people threw up on the stage, when fires started onstage, when bomb threats have happened, when people have fallen into the orchestra pit, when the electrics stop working and all of a sudden the scenery that is supposed to be onstage is not there and you have to improvise, when Bert was walking on the ceiling during Mary Poppins and the track stopped working and he was just stuck there and entertained the audience while the show stopped and they figured out how to get him back down… I could go on and on. One of my favorite things about theater is that it is live and you have to take what is happening at the time and go with it."
You recently took over as the head of the MCC Music Theatre program. How did this opportunity come up?
"Well, it was quite fortuitous. The opening came up just as the pandemic hit in New York and all of Broadway shut down. I moved back to Az and got the job two months later. It was marvelous to be able to continue to work in a field I love and to get to share my passion for this industry and hopefully the experiences I have had can inform the upcoming generation of actors."
In your first year heading up the MCC program you presented some musicals like Jane Eyre and A Man of No Importance that are lesser known shows. What made you decide to pick those shows?
"Two reasons. The first being that we had to have shows that were able to be live streamed because we couldn’t have in person audiences because of Covid, and those two shows were available. The second reason was that I want the students to do things they haven’t done before, to learn different genres and be presented with different challenges so they can grow."
This Saturday you’re starring in the play Shirley Valentine as a benefit for MCC. What made you pick this play to present as a benefit and how difficult has it been preparing for this one woman show while going back into Wicked?
"Shirley Valentine has been a passion of mine for a while. It is a wonderful exploration into life and the choices that we make and how we justify those choices. I feel very close to her because of her desire to live life fully! As a benefit, we thought it was a good way to showcase our faculty (MCC designers) and because it was a one-woman play it was easy to do quickly. It wasn’t too difficult to prepare, I had my script backstage with me at Wicked and just would work on it when I wasn’t on stage."
You will be presenting Phantom of the Opera next season and a concert version of Sweeney Todd this spring. You have appeared in productions of both shows, including Phantom on Broadway. What can you tell us about your plans for those productions?
"We will be performing a staged-concert version of Sweeney Todd this spring. It is the perfect time to celebrate the amazing Stephen Sondheim and his incredible legacy. He was a giant of our industry and this is my favorite of all his works. Phantom of the Opera will go on next season and we are already hard at work hip deep in designs, the show has been cast and the excitement is palpable. It is a huge undertaking, but we are excited at the collaboration that is happening and looking forward to a beautiful show."
What do you hope for the future of the MCC Music Theatre program?
"I hope that it continues to grow! It has such a rich and long history and is full of diversity and creativity. It is exciting to me to be part of a program that celebrates the uniqueness of individuals and celebrates the magic that is musical theatre. "
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