From the wizard to Tony-winning Greek deity, André De Shields has delivered for decades
Hadestown — a moment over 50 years in the making.The crowd leaped to its feet, keenly aware they were in the presence of a theatrical legend.
De Shields, in his typical, thoughtful manner, drank it in, then delivered a spiritual wallop that left the room speechless.“I would like to share with you just three cardinal rules of my ability and longevity,” De Shields said. “One: surround yourself with people whose eyes light up when they see you coming.
Two: slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be. And three: the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next, so keep climbing.”De Shields made his Broadway debut in the short-lived Warp!
My Battlefield, My Body, part of a sci-fi trilogy that had originated in Chicago. The show only lasted 15 performances but launched his New York theater career, which has included 15 Broadway credits, including performing in plays and musicals and even choreographing Bette Midler’s first self-titled solo show.The Tony Award — Broadway’s highest honor — remained elusive, despite bring-down-the-house performances in shows such as The Wiz, Ain’t Misbehavin, and The Full Monty (in which De Shields and his co-stars dropped their pants as a misfit band of unemployed steel workers).Through it all, De Shields has resiliently weathered an often unforgiving industry and also survived the height of the AIDS crisis, losing friends, colleagues, and lovers.
