Shannon Schilstra likes to be active and she enjoys meeting new people. Those innate characteristics, plus a lot of smarts and talent, positioned her well for dual professions as a doctor of physical therapy and a professional actor.
“I see a lot of crossover with physical therapy and theater,” Schilstra says. “Someone sitting in an audience for two hours, watching a story unfold, makes a huge impact on their day.
“My hope, when a patient comes in to see me, is that I can also make a difference and that it’s also a highlight of their day.”
She is definitely having an impact on the local theater scene. Oftentimes in Richmond, a new talent will emerge and then, suddenly, that actor seems to be everywhere. That’s been the case with Schilstra since 2022 when she made her professional stage debut as an ensemble member in Virginia Repertory Theatre’s “Mamma Mia!”
Since that production, she’s stepped into starring roles, winning accolades along the way, like a Richmond Theatre Community Circle award for her star turn in Richmond Triangle Players’ “Head Over Heels” in 2023.
Her next appearance will be in “Snapshots” at HATTheatre, opening this weekend, her seventh show in 3 years.
Though Schilstra has been involved in theater most of her life, it took her a while to find her way to the local professional scene. “Musical theater has always been my passion,” she says. “But, when I started my graduate school education, I didn’t really have the opportunity to perform.” After graduating from Virginia Tech in 2017, she moved to Richmond to study at Virginia Commonwealth University.
After settling in over her first year, she started auditioning. “I was really missing being in shows and having that sense of community,” Schilstra says.
She started auditioning for community theater. Frank Foster was the director of her first local show, “The Sound of Music” at the Theatre Company at Fort Lee (now Homefront Players) in 2018. He is also directing “Snapshots,” the fourth show he’s worked on with Schilstra.
“I immediately recognized her talent and just how wonderful a person Shannon truly is,” says Foster. “There was also excitement in the company knowing that this was somebody who had the ability, for instance, to play Ariel in “The Little Mermaid,” a show that had been on our list to do for a long time.”
One of Schilstra’s strengths is the ability to portray characters much younger than she is. In Firehouse Theatre’s 2024 production of “Peter and the Starcatcher,” she played a 13-year-old. In “Snapshots,” she’ll be a character that ages from 11 to college age over the course of a couple of scenes.
“I’ve always been cast a bit younger and I believe it’s because I go through life a bit more light-hearted in general,” says Schilstra. “It’s really fun playing younger characters because they don’t have their walls up yet so you can be really vulnerable.”
“Snapshots” is the story of a married couple at a nexus point in their relationship. As they consider whether to stay together, they reflect on pictures from their decades-long life together. The show repurposes the music of Stephen Schwartz, the composer behind “Godspell” and “Pippin,” who is enjoying a flurry of attention thanks to the movie version of his show, “Wicked.”
Schilstra’s character sings “Popular,” the only song from “Wicked” in “Snapshots.” “I love that song so much,” she says, “Even though the lyrics are a little different to fit within the context of this show.”
Like most theater professionals working in a mid-market city like Richmond, Schilstra has to balance a full-time job with her opportunities on stage. “It’s definitely a hard balance,” she says. “But something I do for myself because theater means so much to me.
“I save up my PTO [personal time off] for when I know rehearsals are going to be really crazy. I would 100% save my PTO for theater instead of taking a day off to go to the beach, because, you know, for performers, theater is our oasis.”
“Snapshots” will run from March 14 to March 23 at HATTheatre, 1124 Westbriar Dr. Tickets and information available at https://hattheatre.org/index.html.
