Cynthia Shaw is a Brooklyn-based actor, pianist and singer. As an actor she’s played fun roles like starstruck Liz Fuller in the two-person Bette Davis play, Me and Jezebel; clueless Mrs. Drudge in The Real Inspector Hound; the kooky, yet insightful Mrs. Winemiller in Summer and Smoke and the arrogant and needy Arkadina in a new musical, Mr. Chekov and Mr. Porter at the Medicine Show Theatre. As a singer she’s sung backup vocals for Paul McCartney at Carnegie Hall, new age music with Icelandic pop star, Björk, and as a pianist she musically directed the New York Christmas Revels chorus at Symphony Space and at Town Hall on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. Her film work has been presented at Cannes, the Soho International and the Big Apple film festivals and her recent film, d’Urn it!, which she produced and had a lead role, was an official selection at the Chelsea and Chain film festivals. Her award-winning biographical solo show, Velvet Determination~a musical journey about wrong notes, hard knocks and the keys to success, played to sold-out New York houses at both Hudson Guild Theatre’s Winterfest and at Theatre Row’s United Solo Festival where she won “Best Festival Debut”. Other awards include “Best Solo Show” at Pittsburgh Fringe and “Best Theatre Production” at Galway Fringe. In 2021 Velvet Determination will be presented by 59e59 Theater in their East to Edinburgh festival and will then travel to Scotland for the internationally famous, Edinburgh Fringe Festival.