Richard Jay-Alexander Turns His Eyes to the Talents of Amy Shaughnessy, a Former Assistant

Last Thursday, we noticed that an engagement was quietly added to the schedule of London's famed The Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel.

The announcement was for a debut of Amy Shaughnessy, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander. We knew nothing about it, so, since both are friends of BroadwayWorld, we reached out.

Yes, it's true. On March 31st, Amy Shaughnessy (An American In London) will make her cabaret debut in London, helmed by her mentor and former employer, Richard Jay-Alexander. It turns out they have been discussing it for some time. Richard has had unique relationships with his multiple assistants over the years and they have mostly been performers. Last year, he debuted Nellie Beavers in a sold-out, well received act at Green Room 42, and it turned out to be an amazing evening of burlesque and song. Another assistant, Carlos Clemenz, who attended his alma mater of SUNY Oswego, works with Jay-Alexander every year for the Film at Lincoln Center's Chaplin Awards. We found out that BOTH will be in London to cheer Amy on, for her debut. They are known together, as #theassistants and are all friends.

Amy Shaughnessy and Richard go as far back as meeting in 2008 at The Hollywood Bowl, when mounting LES MISÉRABLES there and they both hit it off. Not long after that, Amy attended NYU and interned with him and was eventually hired onto special projects with Kristin Chenoweth, Barbra Streisand and many others and they traveled the world together.

Amy has dual citizenship in England and the U.S., as her father (one of two Emmy-Winning parents) is British. She thought she would like to pursue the start of her career on the other side of the pond, as the opportunity would be now or never. Jay-Alexander agreed and has been waiting for the window of time to put Amy on her feet, as she has helped him do with others. Makes perfect sense. Her dream was The Crazy Coqs and, well, here they are.

Enter Eoin Mallon, who is the show's Musical Director. "Amy told me about this guy and I got to meet him this past summer, in London, when I was over there with Barbra Streisand, for Hyde Park and the Summer Music Festival. He is so gifted, so charming, so smart and is contributing so much to this .... I am thrilled!", say's Jay-Alexander. It also turns out the Amy and Eoin have become good friends. They were introduced through a mutual friend, Harriet Thorpe, and not only is Eoin a brilliant musical director with tons of talent and ideas, but he is one of the top vocal coaches in London.

Richard is thinking about this as a sort of "reverse" TELL ME ON A SUNDAY ... which was about an English girl coming to the States. He certainly knows the show. He worked on the Broadway production starring Bernadette Peters and directed by a mentor of HIS, Richard Maltby, Jr. So...we now have an American Girl in England ... with some history, too. Amy's grandfather wrote UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS!

From Amy: "I've been dreaming for a show of my own for years, so to finally have it all come together, and to have Richard Jay-Alexander and Eoin Mallon in my corner, is the best feeling. I've been lucky enough to witness, firsthand, how Richard Jay- works and to now have the opportunity to work with him on my own thing is something I've been waiting for, for a long time."

Eoin Mallon trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London in musical theatre before furthering his training with Mary Hammond and Tom Burke. Eoin is one of London's Top Vocal Coaches and works for leading Talent & Casting Agencies, Record Labels and Music Conservatoires including ArtsEd, GSA and Sylvia Young Theatre School and has been connected to all schools in the AMTC.

Eoin's clients range from West End performers, artists currently in the pop charts, and notable TV household names. Clients are currently appearing in Hamilton, Wicked, The Lion King, Les Misérables, and numerous West End shows, where Eoin also works as an associate. Additional clients include backing singers of Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Robbie Williams and he has recently been involved with projects for Disney, Warner Bros and University of Oxford. Eoin has coached, music directed, and performed throughout the world from London's West End to music halls in Europe and arenas throughout Asia.

This all sounds very exciting to us and, if it's anything like what we've seen Jay-Alexander deliver before, whether for huge stars or unkown new talents, it's sure to be a special night and we would suggest you reserve early. After all, The New York Times recently referred to him as the "celebrated diva handler" when reviewing Kristin Chenoweth's FOR THE GIRLS on Broadway.

Richard and Amy are both very excited about the musical content for the evening, Eoin's arrangements and scoring and the myriad of stories that will be shared with us.

BroadwayWorld, of course, will be there! For tickets and more information, click here.