Boye to Bring 1-Woman Show on Ann Miller to Playhouse Theater
By Guy D'Astolfo, The Business Journal
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – “Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story,” the latest one-woman play by Kayla Boye, will get its Mahoning Valley premiere.
The play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. April 11 at the Youngstown Playhouse’s new downtown theater at 220 W. Boardman St.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased in advance at YoungstownPlayhouse.org or by calling 330 259 9651.
Boye is a professional actor and playwright based in Chicago. A Howland native, she appeared in many musicals at the Youngstown Playhouse earlier in her career.
“Shake It Away” is the latest biographical show that spotlights an entertainment legend. Earlier, she wrote and starred in “Call Me Elizabeth,” which focused on Elizabeth Taylor.
The new show examines the life of Miller, a star of the screen and stage from 1934 to 2001.
It is set at the infamous 1970 MGM Studios auction. Miller, the effervescent dancer and actor, revisits the Golden Age of Hollywood and discovers her second act as a Broadway star while treasured pieces of filmdom are sold for pennies on the dollar.
Boye recently completed a critically acclaimed festival tour of the show. It included performances at Hollywood Fringe in Los Angeles in June, Off-Broadway in New York in July and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.
Before Boye moved to Chicago to pursue her stage career, she appeared in many acclaimed productions at the Playhouse, including “Chicago” (2010), “Curtains” (2010) and “Mary Poppins” (2015).
She describes “Shake It Away” as Miller’s love letter to the entertainment industry.
“At a time when so much is uncertain, our hearts long to feel unbridled joy,” Boye said in a press release.
In a 2025 interview with The Business Journal, Boye described Miller as an eager performer who, unlike some of her peers, embraced the studio system.
“She became kind of a torch bearer for MGM,” Boye said, appearing in the “That’s Entertainment” films, which compiled segments of movies made by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio.
Boye said Miller’s joy as a performer inspired her own stage career.
“I think my first time seeing her on screen was actually in the ‘That’s Entertainment’ series,” Boye said. “And I was like, ‘Who is this phenomenal entertainer who just loves show business and loves sharing the history of it?’ She loved the studio system because it pulled her and so many other performers out of the Great Depression, and it gave her a steady salary.”
It all started after Miller and her deaf mother moved to Los Angeles. Money was tight, so she began supporting the household by working as a dancer while she was barely a teen.
“She was discovered by Lucille Ball while performing in a nightclub in San Francisco,” Boye said. “Lucille got her a screen test at RKO when Ann was 13 years old.”
Miller made her Broadway debut at age 16 and then went back to Hollywood to resume her film career.
“Shake It Away” is named for the song “Shaking the Blues Away,” which Miller sang in “Easter Parade.” Boye said the song matches Miller’s irrepressible spirit.
Boye’s show is directed by Michael Weber. Tammy Mader is the choreographer, and Linda Madonia is music director.
“Shake It Away” is the second show written and performed by Boye that focuses on an entertainment legend.
In her first effort, the acclaimed “Call Me Elizabeth,” Boye played a young but emotionally weary Elizabeth Taylor with great attention to detail.
That show appeared in theaters throughout the U.S. and overseas, including at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in 2021 at the Youngstown Playhouse.
Pictured at top: Kayla Boye stars in “Shake It Away: The Ann Miller Story.” (Photo by Heather Stumpf)
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