The Broadway spectacular “Thoroughly Modern Millie” is the story of a young woman having the courage to leave home and start a new life.
Like fictional small-town girl Millie Dillmount, the distinctly nonfictional small-town girl Shannan Steele moved to New York City with a dream.
And in the grand tradition of musical theater, she landed the first job she went for in her chosen field …
Physical therapy.
Wait. What?
Steele, who will appear in her 12th Arvada Center production when “Thoroughly Modern Millie” opens Tuesday in its regional premiere, went to the Big Apple in 2002 armed with a master’s degree in physical therapy from Regis University.
Within days, she was offered a plum job as the physical therapist for a new Broadway national tour called “The Lion King.” First stop: Denver. It was to be the ideal job for a woman with experience in dance, sports and physical therapy.
It just wasn’t what she wanted.
“I was so grateful, but I turned it down,” said Steele. “What I thought I had wanted all my life had changed. As crazy as it sounds, I put everything I had learned on hold to pursue my own career in musical theater hardcore.”
Steele was raised in Lamoni, Iowa, population 1,500. Parents Dennis and Linda were musicians and, with her two brothers and sister, the Steele Family performed together for years.
“My first stage experience was at the Rimrock Dude Ranch in Cody, Wyo.,” said Steele. “I was 5, and I was supposed to sing a little country song called, ‘If You’re Waiting on Me, You’re Backing Up.”‘
But at that moment, “I just started weeping,” she said with a laugh, “and it’s the big family joke now because that song still makes me cry.”
Steele was a three-sport star at Laramie (Wyo.) High School, which was so small it put on a musical only once every three years. When it came time to put on “Fiddler on the Roof,” Steele was a senior and heading to the state track finals. The basketball and volleyball star soon walked on to the Regis women’s basketball team. By her sophomore year, she was on a full basketball scholarship.
“Even though I loved to sing with my family, it never occurred to me in Wyoming that you could get a degree in musical theater and perform for a living,” she said. “That just wasn’t a reality for me at the time.”
It started to become one when she was performing in Six Flags Elitch Gardens’ Broadway Rhythm series. She quit the basketball team and started auditioning. She was cast in the Arvada Center’s “Violet,” the first show she tried out for. “I was jumping on the bed and freaking out, I was so excited,” she said.
Rod Lansberry, who also cast Steele in “Millie,” plucked her from the crowd. “Her raw ability was obvious,” he said.
Steele won a succession of roles while finishing her master’s program. Then it was off to New York, which turned out to be a short residency. After two months, she landed a prime job for any actor – starring in “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.” It came with a great paycheck and uncharacteristic longevity. It employed her for the next 2 1/2 years – back home in Denver.
The show was playing at the Denver Center’s Galleria Theatre, and it finally closed in 2004 as the longest-running musical in Colorado history.
Even more unlikely is that Steele has never gone unemployed since, including roles in the Sinatra tribute “My Way” at the Galleria, the Arvada Center’s “1940s Radio Hour,” for which she won a Denver Post Ovation Award, and most recently, “Swing!” at the Country Dinner Playhouse.
“Every opportunity I have had has been such a huge gift,” she said, “because I never expected to be here. Never. Now I think every show is a huge opportunity for me to learn, because I have always felt behind. I soak up as much as I possibly can with every experience, because I still feel like I have so much to learn.”
That’s why she’s thrilled to be back at the Arvada Center in “Millie,” even as a chorus girl.
“It says something that Shannan has never been out of work,” said Lansberry. “It says she works hard at her craft. Her ability is obvious, but the skills she has developed on her own are incredible.”
She would not be performing in Arvada today if she didn’t have the courage to go to New York four years ago.
“What I love about Millie is that her dream changed, and once she figured out what she wanted – again – she never quit, she kept going for it.
“There are so many people who know what they want deep down, but they don’t actually go for it, either out of fear or doubt or whatever those things are that hold people back.
“I have been lucky.”
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
“Thoroughly Modern Millie”
MUSICAL|Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd.|Starring Nicole Sterling and Leo Ash Evens|THROUGH DEC. 31|7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, also 1 p.m. Wednesdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays|$38-$48| 720-898-7200 or arvadacenter.org
