Our Legendary Line of Long-Legged Lovelies
At age 28
Stephanie Eley
"The good ol' summertime to me means going to the beach, barbecues, lazy hot days, late afternoon thundershowers, early sunrises and late sunsets."
Joining the Follies this season is a petite lady with a show business resume that's anything but!
Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, her profession was pre-ordained as either teacher or secretary. Unfortunately, she couldn't sit still, and the dance studio soon became her home. At age 16, she received a dance scholarship to Loyola and spent the summer studying in Chicago.
After graduation from the North Carolina School of the Arts, she headed to Las Vegas where she performed in the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana Hotel and opened for such stars as Frank Sinatra, Jr., Flip Wilson and Rich Little at the Sahara.
Next, she toured the U.S., South America and Great Britain, and appeared in such television specials as the Emmy Award-winning Baryshnikov on Broadway.
Broadway itself soon beckoned, and she was chosen for the original cast of Dreamgirls and My One And Only, including understudying Twiggy in the lead role for the latter. She also appeared in the Broadway production of A Chorus Line.
For the past 10 years, she's been executive director for PACT (Partnering Artists Children Teachers), a cultural and arts education organization with the New York City Department of Education.
Now, at age 60, this gypsy is happy to be "back on the boards!"
MORE FUN FACTS
- From 2009–2010, she taught English in Banos, Ecuador, integrating all art disciplines--theater, dance, music and visual arts--into the core curriculum.
- She's trained and/or worked with such dance legends as Michael Kidd, Michael Bennett, Ron Lewis, Jerry Jackson, Martha Graham and Tommy Tune.
- She appeared in the original Jane Fonda Workout video.
- Managing three children and a career was the most challenging experience of her life; surviving three divorces was the most difficult.
- Her heroes are the 9/11 first responders.
- Favorite Spanish Proverb: "La falta de todos consuelo de bobos" ("The lack of all is the consolation of fools.").
