A veteran performer of the stage, Shirley Andress has been a principle with The Shedd Institute for 15 years. She is a founding member and lead singer of The Institute’s Emerald City Jazz Kings and last season assumed the role of artistic director of the group's spring concert, a duty she takes on this spring as well, with Side By Side. Since 2000 she has been a regular guest artist at The Shedd's Oregon Festival of American Music with Dick Hyman and Ken Peplowski, in 2002 she was Polly in OFAM's first musical, Crazy For You, and has been seen in 6 OFAM/Shedd musicals since, as Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls (2003), Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (2004), Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun (2006), Nellie Forbish in South Pacific (2007), Laurey in Oklahoma! and Betty Haynes in White Christmas (both 2009), re-create the latter role in our December 2010 command performance of that holiday classic. She created the role of Lilli in the 2010 OFAM production of Cole Porter's 1948 comic masterpiece Kiss Me Kate.
In 2006 Shirley created Christmas At The Shedd, a family-based, old-fashioned holiday revue which was hosted annually at The Shedd's Jaqua Concert Hall and at the Florence Events Center for 3 years before being put aside (at her suggestion) in favor of a couple of seasons of White Christmas. She will be back with an all-new Christmas at The Shedd in December, 2011.
Shirley is a veteran performer of the stage, having played roles in Sweet Charity, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Godspell, Peter Pan, The Boy Friend, and How to Succeed In Business. She has sung in a multitude of musical revues with the Treehouse Restaurant Company and Ragozzino Productions, where her vocal talents have been showcased. She teaches private voice as well. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Oregon and is a loyal “Duck “ fan.
| Jul 31-Aug 9 | Shedd Theatricals 2009 | Oklahoma! | Silva |