Biography
When Shelley was two years old, her mom decided it was time to find a place where she could expel the endless amounts of energy she seemed to have. She was always dancing and singing around the house, so her mom enrolled her in ballet. From the moment she stepped on stage in her little flower costume, Shelley was hooked.
Shelley went on to win multiple awards and scholarships as a competitive dancer with the Major Motion Dancers. In 2002, she was featured in Dance Spirit Magazine, and selected as one of eight dancers in Chicago to tour the country with the Dance Olympus Summer Convention. Shelley auditioned many times for the program, and it was a dream come true to finally be chosen as an elite Dance Olympus VIP dancer. While there, she had the opportunity to assist some of the top choreographers in the nation including the legendary Frank Hatchett (Broadway Dance Center Founder) and her mentor Steven Boyd. This experience led her to pursue musical theatre performance and acting as a career.
Shelley graduated from the theatre program at North Central College with degrees in theatre, dance, and history. While there, she received an Irene Ryan nomination for her role in Follies. She studied voice with soprano Lisa Saunderson and acting with Kurt Naebig. She also continued her education by taking classes at The Acting Studio Chicago and Lou Conte Dance Studio.
She has performed with many prominent regional theatres, including: Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, Heartwood Regional Theater Company, Illinois Theatre Center, Drury Lane Oakbrook, First Folio Shakespeare, Theatre at the Center, Alphabet Soup Productions, and NightBlue Performing Arts Company.
She was nominated in 2016 for a Denver Broadway World award for "Best Actress in A Musical" for her role as Justice in Rock of Ages.
Since moving to Denver, she has booked numerous commercials and print ads, and even had a role on the award winning webseries Unfit. Shelley is currently represented by Wilhelmina Denver, which was voted the best Denver area talent agency in 2020.
She loves Arrested Development because "there is ALWAYS money in the banana stand!," history, hats, boardgames, puppies, pandas, the 60's, books with spines, pizza, Stewart's Orange and Cream Soda, and her Chicago sports teams!