He’s officially a Baron, but Charles Shaughnessey is probably better known as Shane Donovan from “Days of Our Lives” or Maxwell Sheffield from “The Nanny.”
Now he’s playing Henry Higgins on stage in Theatre by the Sea’s production of “My Fair Lady” in Matunuck through July 18.
“I trained for the stage and I love the stage,” Shaugnessey told WPRO’s Kim Kalunian on the WPRO Morning News. Shaughnessey said he had a condensed rehearsal period for the production, and even Skyped into some of his sessions with fellow actors.
“It’s the perfect musical, actually,” said Shaughnessey, who is playing Higgins for the third time. “It’s a wonderful show, and [Theatre by the Sea] is a wonderful place to see the show.”
Shaughnessey, who now resides in Los Angeles, said he has never been to Rhode Island before but has been exploring places like Block Island, Newport and Narragansett.
He also opened up about his official title: Lord Shaughnessey Fifth Baron of Montreal and Ashford County Limerick. He said it all goes back to his great-grandfather, the son of an Irish potato farmer who ended up running the Canadian-Pacific Railroad and was made a lord during the First World War. He said the title “bounced over to the English side” of his family about nine years ago.
