Sheila is based on the life of the original actress who played her, Carole (Kelly) Bishop.
30 years old, Sheila is brassy sexy, sophisticated, but can also be vulnerable and very likable. She is one of the more popular and featured characters in the show, and usually gives a stand out performance.
Generally, I'm assuming the history of Kelly is the background of Sheila: Kelly/Sheila's mother wanted to be a dancer, but dropped out for a marriage that was a failure. "She wanted something better for her kids, so she schlepped me down to every ballet in
Denver."
She went to NYC right after HS graduation. She was scared at first, but "I wanted to get there. I wanted to study there. I wanted to get into a ballet company." She auditioned for American Ballet Theater, but didn't get in. Then she joined the Radio City Music Hall corps de ballet. However, she got sick of doing the pointe work every day. She found a job with the 1964 World's Fair in NY. She found she loved
the people, the style of dance, the rhythm. "I found myself getting into jazz very easily."
Next, she travelled to Las Vegas where she worked for two and a half years. Although it was very hard, she said it was the best. "You'd never dance without working everything--your head, your eyebrow, your smile, your shoulders. When you weren't
dancing, you slept." Once, she got hurt, and someone gave her a pill to help her 'get through' the show. Although it's not explicitly stated, I get the impression she got addicted to pain killers. She said "We didn't know. People were not aware then. Unfortunaltely, that tended to happen with most of the
dancers."
After two and a half years, she returned to NY, realizing that the only way to become bigger in Las Vegas was by going topless--not what she wanted to do. She did shows in New York, and eventually wound up in ACL.
The song "At the Ballet" started with Kelly's
recollections of her childhood. During her monologue she is first hard and insincere, much like Bobby before her. Only after Zach yells at her does she reveal her vulnerable side and answer honestly about her rocky family life. Sheila is one of the few
roles in the show that change dramatically (the others being Paul, Cassie, Diana, and Zach), so it's not surprising she won the Tony for her performance. Even though she makes wisecracks throughout the audition, the change from her "name"(Really...and I'm real glad) in the beginning to the maturity and simplicity of the "alternatives" scene
(Opening a dance studio) is one of the most extreme.
She is good friends with Bobby, and a lot of her lines are cracks and asides to him and the other experienced gypsies who surround her at the audition. She is also old friends with Cassie, and knows Diana, Connie, Mike, Greg, Al, and supposedly dates or has dated Don--despite his marriage. In a scene cut from the final
version of the show, the two talk about Don's impending divorce. Sheila has at some point, married and left her husband. Sheila also had a scene with Cassie in which they commiserated over the younger talents of Diana.
It is interesting that Sheila talks about being almost 30, when Al, Cassie, Connie, and Greg are all 1-2 years older than her. This gives them a bond which is not shared by say, Maggie or Mark. It seems that Sheila is very upset about this, but she said, "Really I was glad to be out of my 20s--I mean, I was finally going to be an adult!" So, she's ambivilant, but it seems like a positive thing in her eyes.
I have also read that Sheila dated Zach at some time, but I don't know when. (I'd use it, if I were playing the role) Her role with Val is fairly well defined in the show. It's clear she sees Val as a threat, and really isn't Val a younger version of Sheila?
Val also implies that Sheila had breast implants as well, and we know she's not beyond getting her "Eyes done" One cool thing I saw once was after Sheila was cut, she walked right past
Val and paused. It looked like she was going to smack her (Because Val made it), but then she gave her a light punch on the shoulder as if to say "Go get 'em" I don't believe this was in the original, but I thought it was cool.
Sheila has a lot of funny lines, so although she can be soft, she has to have great comic timing, as well as be gorgeous, since she's a "show girl" type. She wears a shiny, fancy, pink leotard. At the time, it was the first of the shiny type of
dance clothes: all the others were matte. So, it seemed like her leotard was a sort of "suit of armour." Very appropriate for someone who keeps their defenses up. By the way, she is seventh from the left between Cassie and Bobby.
Kelly Bishop was one of the few performers in the show to have relevant acting experience, and as mentioned before, she went on to win a Tony. She continued in other roles as well as film. (She was Jennifer Grey's mother in the film Dirty Dancing.) She was the first original cast member to leave the show, but also
returned many times and thinks ACL is "a wonderful way to say this is what I gave so many years to. This is what it's really like".
