Meet the Next Generation of Cabaret Showstoppers- The New York Times By Elysa Gardner

Highlights:

Teacher’s notes Statile called Shepherd, who has also studied dance since childhood, “a true triple threat.” As the Leading Player in P.P.A.S.’s production of “Pippin” last March, “She brought wit, power and mystery to the role.”

I have dreamed “I would love to do everything — Broadway and cabaret, and I’m open to TV and film,” Shepherd said, adding, “I’m half Puerto Rican and half Caribbean, and growing up, I didn’t see many people that looked like me in musical theater. So that’s another driving force in my head — I want another little brown girl to see that if I can do it, she can do it.”

‘Because of Winn-Dixie is suprisingly powerful musical’ - Montgomery Advisor By Rick Harmon

“Leonay Shepherd, who plays Amanda, is wonderful as she manages to transform her character from someone who seems cold and distant to someone who seems heartbreakingly sympathetic. Both the young performers sing with power that belies their age.”

‘Little Miss Sunshine’: Fractious Family Indulging the Dream of a Child - The New York Times By Charles Isherwood

“I also adored the chorus of her competitors, played with hilarious verve by Alivia Clark, Victoria Dennis, Miranda McKeon and Leonay Shepherd. In their first appearance, they crawl up from a trapdoor in the stage like a pack of sparkly snakes — or the weird sisters in “Macbeth” — to taunt and tease poor Olive.

I soon began to pine for return appearances. The pageant sequence featuring these little monsters parading across the stage with insistent smiles is the comic highlight of the show..”

A Pageant-Style Interview With Little Miss Sunshine‘s Five Precocious Princesses - Theater Mania By Bethany Rickwald

~Heres a cute, group interview from my child acting days!~

“Nordberg and her fellow faux pageant girls (Leonay Shepherd, Miranda McKeon, Alivia Clark, and Victoria Dennis) sat down with TheaterMania for a slightly wacky and surprisingly wise Q&A, with actual pageant-inspired questions.”