Actor + Writer

Sharon Wheatley is a Broadway actress, a writer, an educator, and a mom.

Sharon appeared as Diane and others, roles she originated, in the Tony© Award Winning musical Come From Away for its entire run on Broadway. Playing at The Schoenfeld Theater, it opened on March 12, 2017 to critical acclaim and closed October 2, 2022. Sharon is on the Original Cast Recording of Come From Away, and is Diane and Others in the film of Come From Away on Apple TV +.

Since Come From Away ended it’s record breaking run, Sharon has focused on the writing and development of her new play, Drive, which played to standing room only crowds at the La Jolla Playhouse’s WOW Festival in April of 2023, and starred Sharon and her long-time friend and Come From Away cast mate, Astrid Van Wieren. In the summer of 2024 DRIVE is having it’s Canadian Developmental Debut in Gander and St. John’s Newfoundland before launching world-wide.

Sharon has enjoyed many years in New York City as a professional actress. Her Broadway credits include her role in Come From Away (Diane and others, original cast) Avenue Q (Kate Monster/ Lucy T. Slut, Mrs. T. Yellow Bear), the final company of Cats as it finished its record breaking run at The Winter Garden Theater (Jennyanydots, The Gumbie Cat), Les Miserables (Cosette and Eponine), and The Phantom of the Opera (Madam Firman). Sharon holds the distinction of being the only actress to appear in all three of these Broadway blockbusters on Broadway. She has also toured nationally and internationally with Come From Away, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Sound of Music, and also originated Avenue Q at The Wynn Casino and Resort in Las Vegas (Mrs. T/Yellow Bear/ Kate and Lucy).  Her film credits include Gods Behaving Badly. On TV, she has been seen as “Mary Jo” in My Life Is A Lifetime Movie.  

In addition to her Broadway career, Sharon is a featured soloist around the country with Symphony Orchestras, including The New Jersey Symphony, Detroit, Seattle, Portland, Naples, Milwaukee, Omaha and Oklahoma City. 

As a writer, Sharon recently published her second book DRIVE Stories From Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere (Rivergrove Books), a nationally published memoir/travelogue. DRIVE follows the pandemic shut-down journey of Sharon and her family from Broadway's sudden closure to when the curtains finally go back up. Along the way, Sharon thinks back on the humor and grit of her parents and draws strength from those memories in order to confront the challenges of shepherding her family (and pets) through this unprecedented time, while making hilarious memories along the way. DRIVE is part travelogue, part Little Miss Sunshine, and all Broadway. Sharon’s first book, ‘Til the Fat Girl Sings (Adams Media with Simon and Schuster) follows the trials and tribulations of being an overweight midwestern kids with giant Broadway dreams. Readers of all ages deeply relate to Sharon’s story about an underdog on a mission to prove that talent and perseverance win out.

As a blogger, Sharon is best known for SMASH FACT OR FICTION? an episode by episode run through of what is fact and what is fiction in NBC’s TV show Smash. This blog, written with love and fun, was written up in Marie Claire and named as “highbrow and brilliant” in New York Magazine’s "Approval Matrix”, as well as appearing in various newspapers around the country.

Additionally, Sharon wrote nationally for Weight Watchers for many years and had a loyal following on her episodic story blog, My Own Space.

Sharon also wrote for actress Kristin Chenoweth, including sketches for her US and Australia tours, sketches for the Hollywood Bowl and other concerts around the country.  A favorite was co-writing a parody of Anthony Weiner to the song “Popular” for Kristin to sing on The Tonight Show, which aired on July 30th, 2013, and went on to be re-played by news outlets around the world. Sharon also produced, directed and co-wrote Avenue Zoo, a 30 minute original musical written for The Bronx Zoo WCS.  It ran for four months at The Bronx Zoo in 2016 and 2012, and was rewritten and performed at The Houston Zoo for four months in the summer of 2013. Avenue Zoo was written up in the September 2013 issue of American Theatre Magazine

Sharon is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio where she attended the renowned Musical Theater program at University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. In 2006 Sharon received the CCM Musical Theater Young Alumnae Award.

When not acting or writing, Sharon speaks to groups about a variety of subjects (contact her for information). She also runs musical theater workshops for aspiring actors at both the college and high school level. Sharon served on the advisory board of Rosie’s Theater Kids, was an elected member of Actors Equity Association's National Council and she served as a voter for the Tony Awards for 8 years.

As an educator, Sharon is currently an adjunct professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Sharon also taught at the renowned Professional Performing Arts High School in New York City for several years, where she focused on auditioning for college theater programs and as an overall college preparation and selection advisor. Her talented students were accepted to major theater programs across the county. 

Sharon is available to coach in person and online. She especially enjoys teaching high school and college classes around the country, giving masterclasses about careers in show business, coaching the art of singing a song, or (her favorite and what she teaches at UArts) how write your own show.

Sharon is the proud mother of Charlotte and Tobi. She wrote a parenting column for Equity News, the Actors’ Equity Association newspaper which attracted the attention of The New York Times and they featured Sharon and her kids in a story and video about a Broadway Childcare project with The Actors’ Chapel.  It can be seen here (Click on the photo on the page to watch the video). Sharon recently married Broadway stage manager, Martha Donaldson. Their journey was written up in the "Styles" section of the Sunday The New York Times. It can be seen here.