a closeup of Shelley from a pic
from the play Vanities, 1981
Shelley starred (alongside Meredith Baxter Birney and Annette O'Toole) in the Jack Heifner play Vanities in November of 1980 at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles. It was filmed for TV as part of HBO's Standing Room Only series and was aired in 1981. Shelley immediately jumped at the opportunity to play Mary in Vanities after she left Charlie's Angels. "I didn't want to leave Los Angeles without doing something good," she explained. Although she had no prior stage experience, she was ready to take on the challenge. "I don't know how I got the guts to go right into a play immediately after leaving the series," Shelley said. "I started doing theater for the first time in my life although I'd never been on a stage before."
Shelley (with Meredith Baxter Birney
and Annette O'Toole) in a writeup
about her in the play Vanities, 1981
And her gamble paid off. The play was a record-breaking hit. Moreover, Shelley surprised critics with her wonderful performance and she received glowing reviews. She even won over her biggest detractor (Charlie's Angels writer/producer Ed Lakso) with her performance. "One year after the show, I saw Shelley in the stage play Vanities, and she did a wonderful job," Lakso said. Shelley would later star in two more plays, Close Ties at the Los Angeles Public Theatre (which was also filmed for TV) and Born Yesterday with the Pennsylvania Stage Company. Likewise, she attracted excellent reviews. Shelley said, "Every actor likes to do a variety of things - television, movies, stage. I like the theater because you have the live audience."
a pic of Shelley in the play Vanities, 1981
