Megan Shenefelt has been busy making her dreams come true.
Shenefelt graduated from the U’s Musical Theatre program in 2015 and has been seeking out opportunities to perform ever since. “You don’t make it every time. In the NATs competition in Chicago I didn’t even make it past the first round,” she said.
But it would seem that persistence pays off. Out of 1,800 singers who auditioned for the musical theatre division, she is now the 2nd place winner of the International Vocal Competition, sponsored by Classical Singer Magazine, and will be enjoying the opportunity to work one-on-one with a current Broadway director, where she will receive professional advice on the best way to move her career forward.
“I’m really, really excited about it. It’s a little bit surreal and it hasn’t really hit me that its happening. It’s kind of nuts! I hope good things come out of it. I’ll learn a lot either way!” she said.
Shenefelt is careful to give credit to the education she received while attending the U, expressing how much she has grown because of the program. “I learned so much while I was there. It’s incredible that you can have a program that you can keep learning from the beginning to end.”
Her mentors also contributed to helping her performing abilities mature. “The resources at the U for acting are immense. Denny knows how to bring out a story,” Shenefelt explains, speaking of Denny Barry, director of the U’s Musical Theater Program. “She would always tell us, ‘If you don’t make me feel something, it doesn’t matter how good you are,’ and I think that’s one thing that really has helped me grow.”
What lies in the future for this talented singer? The dream is always Broadway, but Shenefelt explains that she is taking things one day at a time and making efforts to devote some of those days to her family. “If my path leads me to New York, that’s great and I’ll do it! But I’m not in any hurry. There is a career to be had here, too. There are wonderful people to work with here and other places too. It always seems like the ultimate goal would be New York or Broadway, but that’s not necessarily the life I need to have to be happy anymore,” she says.
Whether it’s taking the Broadway stage, building a strong career in the Utah theatre community, or enjoying time with her two-year-old daughter, she speaks of everything with a note of gratitude and a determination to appreciate everything that comes her way. Though she has a gift for appreciating the simple little things in life, Shenefelt will not “throw away her shot”- this is a U alum to watch.