MARJORIE FAILONI

Marjorie Failoni is a St. Louis city native, having attended New City School and the Classical Junior Academy of the St. Louis Public Schools before graduating from Rosati-Kain High School in 2004. She studied voice with Sheila Dugan, piano with Diane Ceccarini, and dance with the Gerri Stretz and Yvonne Meyer Professional Dance Center as a competition dancer, and also with Caston Ballet Academy. Her training also included summer programs at Interlochen Arts Camp, New York City Dance Alliance, Jillana Ballet in New Mexico, World Masters Ballet in Vail, Stages St. Louis Summer Theater Workshop, and Webster University Conservatory. She is now a senior in the BFA musical theatre program at the University of Michigan.

Marjorie’s professional debut was at the age of eight in the role of Molly in the St. Louis Muny Opera’s production of Annie. She was an original Muny Kid and one of the members who entertained at the White House in 1996, and then continued as a Muny Teen. In 2003 she was cast in the adult ensemble of Cinderella at the Muny. She has danced in the Nutcracker with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal at the Fox Theatre and has participated in the St. Louis Tap Festival. In 2000 she was a tap soloist in Marvin Hamlish’s Search for a Star with the St. Louis Symphony. In 2004 she was a featured performer for the Fox Theatre’s Seventy-fifth Anniversary Show. She also was one of four characters in the children’s educational syndicated television series, Did You Ever Wonder? and worked frequently in television commercials for toys. Other professional credits include two seasons with Wagon Wheel Theatre in Indiana as dance captain and assistant choreographer with roles such as Gloria in Damn Yankees, Dream Laurie in Oklahoma, a bird girl in Seussical: the Musical and Ruth in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

While growing up in St. Louis Marjorie performed in many school and community productions including those sponsored by Characters & Company and Crestwood-Kirkwood Youth Theater. Among her favorite roles are Adelaide in Guys and Dolls at Rosati-Kain High School, Anita in West Side Story at CBC, and Lois/Bianca in Kiss Me Kate at St. Louis University High School. At the University of Michigan she has performed in Seussical the Musical, The Pajama Game, and The Who’s Tommy, and choreographed Bat Boy: the Musical. Marjorie also has performed for many charities, like the Variety Club of St. Louis, the Parkinson’s Foundation, Cancer Society, and Leukemia Association. Among her many awards, she is especially proud of being honored in 2001 as the St. Louis Gateway Young Achiever of the Year by the Gateway Leadership Network, which recognizes academics, activities, service and talent. She now participates in the alumnae Young Achievers and for the past few years she has sung the national anthem at the annual spring awards ceremony in St. Louis.

Marjorie is the Dance Captain and Swing for the first national tour of Disney’s High School Musical that began in June, 2007. The tour has performed in cities in the Midwest and east coast. After Thanksgiving the tour will move to Little Rock, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tucson before coming to the Fox Theatre in St. Louis in January. Marjorie’s association with High School Musical actually began in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the fall of 2006 when she choreographed the first high school production in the United States at one of the local high schools there. Little did she expect to become part of the national tour six months later! She is having an incredible experience, enjoying every minute of performing and traveling. She is looking forward to Thanksgiving in St. Louis!