Shannon Tavarez

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Shannon Tavarez
Born	Shannon Skye Tavarez (1999-01-20)January 20, 1999 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 1, 2010(2010-11-01) (aged 11) New Hyde Park, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Acute myeloid leukemia
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	2005–2010
Website	shannonsshare.org

Shannon Skye Tavarez (January 20, 1999 – November 1, 2010) was an American child actress and singer. She played young Nala in the Broadway theatre production of The Lion King by Walt Disney Theatrical.

Background[]

Shannon Tavarez was the only child of Odiney Brown, a human resources administrator,^[1] and one of the daughters of a Dominican man with the surname of "Tavarez".^[2] She was a native and resident of Bellerose, Queens,^[3] and she was an honors student at P.S. 176 ^[4] as well as a student of vocals and piano at the Harlem School of the Arts.^[5] She was chosen to play the role of young Nala after a at the Apollo Theater,^[6] and she became one of two girls who split the role, with each of the girls performing four shows per week.

Illness and death[]

Several months after her September 2009 debut in The Lion King, she was forced to leave the show after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.^[7] Because of her African-American and Dominican ethnic backgrounds, she faced much greater difficulty in attempts to find a match for a bone marrow transplant.^[8] Alicia Keys, Rihanna, and 50 Cent recruited prospective donors from among their fans to help her find a bone marrow donor.^[9] Her former co-stars from The Lion King also helped her by selling "Shine for Shannon" key chains and bracelets to raise money to help her mother pay for her medical bills.^[10]

Tavarez was then able to find a partial bone-marrow donor match.^[11] She subsequently had an umbilical cord transplant (prior to which she'd been undergoing chemotherapy^[12]) because the doctors could not find a full bone-marrow-donor match for her.^[13] She died on November 1, 2010, at Cohen Children's Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, at the age of 11.^[14]

The lights at the Minskoff Theatre, where The Lion King was playing, were dimmed in her memory on the night that she died,^[15] and her funeral was held at Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York.^[16]

In a statement released following her death, her mother (who started a year thereafter) said that "Shannon's dream was to perform on stage, and that she did."^[17][18]

References[]

External links[]

• Shannon's S.H.A.R.E Foundation
• Shannon Tavarez at Find a Grave