Shea Arender
Shea Bradley Arender also performing as Shea (born 7 November 1980), is an American singer-songwriter[1] and Broadway producer[2]
Education
Arender was educated at Georgia State University in Atlanta,[3] and attended American Inter-Continental University at both the Atlanta and Miami campuses, at which he studied international business. He graduated there in 2004, with a BS in International Business. Throughout college, he performed musically on various local stages.
Career
In 2000, at age 20, Arender enjoyed a brief stint as a sub at the Imperial Palace in Biloxi, Mississippi, for the popular “Legends in Concert.” Soon after, he found himself touring his Elvis tribute show across the south, in Brazil and in Italy. While in Grado, Italy, at age 22, he studied Opera and Italian Music studies at Scuola Insieme. The next year, he signed with the Tropicana Entertainment in Laughlin, Nevada, and performed for six months at many of their U.S. entertainment properties. For the remainder of his 20s, he continued to perform in various venues throughout the US.
In 2007, Arender released a solo tribute album entitled “American Trilogy,” [4] that was only made available at his live shows. In 2010, Arender’s co-wrote with Steve Blaze,[5] from the legendary hard rock group Lillian Axe[6] an original Christmas song entitled “The Christmas I Met You,” released on New Orleans-based Mandeville Records. “The Christmas I Met You” rocketed up the singles charts, receiving rave reviews. It peaked at .6 [7] on the Billboard Singles Christmas Charts [8] and rose to .1 on the Cash Box Easy Listening Charts.[9] The Merry Christmas Network honored it by adding it to its “Top 100 All Time Christmas Songs.” In 2011, Arender performed over a 100 shows, called “The Great American Songbook Experience,” at Branson, Missouri’s Hall of Fame Theatre[10]
In 2012, Arender returned to Las Vegas, where he was approached by friend and performer George Bugatti on behalf of the estate of legendary music composer Harold Arlen .managed by his son, Sam Arlen., known for writing the songs of “The Wizard of Oz” [11] and so many other great American standards, including Frank Sinatra’s “One for My baby,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and “I’ve Got the World on a String,” [12] which Sam Arlen had heard him sing online. Following this contact, the Harold Arlen Estate/Yellow Brick Productions hired Arender to perform as one of the three crooners for their musical, “The Wonderful Wizard of Song.” [13] Thereafter, Arender became Executive Producer of the show, taking it to New York City, where it became a hit Broadway musical.[14]
While in New York City, Arender created, produced and starred in an original off-Broadway musical at St. Luke’s Theatre, entitled “Shea: Prince of Christmas,” [15] a Christmas love story which received favorable critical and fan reviews. Also another dream came true as Arender performed a concert version of his Christmas Broadway musical for the National Arts Center, in association with the estate of famed pop artist Andy Warhol [16][17] and Warhol’s Public Relations firm, Jeffrey Richards & Associates, [18] headed by R. Couri Hay.
In 2014, Arender executive produced “The Wonderful Wizard of Song” musical at the Smith Center in Las Vegas [19] and represented Yellow Brick Productions for the 75th Anniversary of the musical soundtrack of the “Wizard of Oz” at the 2014 Tony Awards [20] in New York City.
Discography
References
- ^ "Shea Arender - Songs - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Tickets Now Available For Shea Arender's Reggae, Jazz, R&B & Pop Holiday Mash-Up, Shea: Prince of Christmas - Broadway Buzz - Broadway.com". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "GSU Alumni Association - Your Alumni Association". Pantheralumni.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "American Trilogy by Shea Arender". Mtv.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Bio". Steveblaze.net. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "LILLIAN AXE OFFICIAL SITE - HOME". Lillianaxe.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Jump for Judy". Pagesix.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Amazon.com: The Christmas I Met You: Shea: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Easy Listening Top 20". Cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Hall of Fame Theatre in Branson, MO". Bransonshows.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Harold Arlen - Biography - We're Off to See the Wizard". Haroldarlen.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits! - Frank Sinatra - Releases - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "The Wonderful Wizard of Song". Thewonderfulwizardofsong.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "The Wonderful Wizard of Song: The Music of Harold Arlen". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Shea: Prince of Christmas-2013". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Westhampton Resident Steven Colucci Debuting New Exhibition At National Arts Club". Hamptons.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Sounds of Color Art Exhibition". Joonbu.comg. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Jeffrey Richards Associates". Jeffreyrichardsassociates.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ The Smith Center. "Wonderful Wizard of Song - The Smith Center's Cabaret Jazz". Thesmithcenter.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ "Home - TonyAwards.com - The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards® - Official Website by IBM". TonyAwards.com. Retrieved 2015-03-16.
- ^ a b "Shea Arender Latest Albums". MTV Artists. Retrieved 2015-03-16.