FROM ENGLAND, WITH ‘LOVE’
Charles Shaughnessy, wife bringing one-night production to Beverly
From England to New England: Charles Shaughnessy will be taking on the North Shore Music Theater this fall, and for a good cause.
The London-born actor — who also happens to be a baron, per the Peerage of the United Kingdom — will be taking the stage with his wife and fellow thespian, Susan Fallender, to co-star in A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters.” The onenight production, which will be held at the Beverly playhouse on Sept. 7, will also feature former WCVB-TV anchor Susan Wornick as an emcee and will benefit the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps.
Shaughnessy is probably best known for his daytime role as Shane Donovan on the popular soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” as well as for having starred opposite Fran Drescher as Maxwell Sheffield in the ’90s hit sitcom “The Nanny.” Meanwhile, if you think back a few decades, you might remember his better half for her appearances in the movie “Trading Places” and TV shows such as “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Space Rangers.”
When this husband-wife duo tackle the theatrical romcom “Love Letters,” they will play two friends, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, who exchange letters and cards through almost the entire course of their lives. Audiences watch as the characters confide in one another, sharing their deepest, darkest everything — from their wildest dreams to their most devastating disappointments — for more than 50 years, starting in primary school. While the longlived correspondence is clearly a testament to the strength of their friendship, the question still lingers: Should their connection be more than ink-deep?
More information about the show’s tickets can be found on the North Shore Music Theater, and sales will go towards the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps, a Boston-based nonprofit that advocates child welfare and juvenile justice through its different programs and services for at-risk youths and their families. Both Shaughnessy and Wornick are advisory council members with the organization and are involved with the children within its care.