André De Shields Is Proudly “Wellderly”
The Tony-winner stars in Tartuffe inside a Gilded Age mansion before heading back to Broadway for Cats: The Jellicle Ball.
For most seniors, the golden years mean retirement, relaxation, and a slower pace. André De Shields is not that kind of senior. The multi-hyphenate performer even coined his own term — “wellderly” — to describe “old people who are still kickin’ ass.”
De Shields is certainly walking the talk. He won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his electrifying turn as Hermes in the Broadway hit Hadestown, followed a year later by a Grammy for the cast recording. The actor has been a fixture on Broadway since his debut in the early seventies. After a few short-lived flops, he broke through as the title character in The Wiz and later starred in the now-legendary Ain’t Misbehavin’.
He’s currently starring as the sly and conniving title character in Molière’s 17th-century comedy Tartuffe. The play follows a wealthy family that welcomes a pious con man into their home — only to have him scheme to tear them apart for his own gain.
The production unfolds inside a posh Upper East Side Gilded Age mansion once owned by the Vanderbilts. Known as The House of the Redeemer, the venue features a 16th-century library originally built for an Italian palace that the Vanderbilt family dismantled after World War I and reassembled here. Audience members line the library’s perimeter as the action plays out in the center, creating an immersive intimacy.
“It’s site-specific and the edifice is huge,” says De Shields. “But you get into that intimate room, and anything could happen. I mean, we are in your face. It’s that kind of choice that allows the show to be the off-colored gem that it is.”
About a year ago, director Keaton Wooden approached De Shields about the play. Though the two had never worked together, Wooden came highly recommended. “In a way, he seduced me,” says De Shields. “We had lunch at Chez Josephine, so he got a point for that. Some people like to meet in Starbucks, and people get demerits for that. But this was definitely the right kind of atmosphere to be talking about a French farce.”
When Tartuffe first premiered, it was banned for exposing the hypocrisy of religion. “It debuted in 1664,” says De Shields. “In terms of European history, that was prior to The Enlightenment — essentially the Dark Ages. There was no science or industry and people weren’t reading books because the Catholic Church said, ‘If you want to know something, we’ll tell you because you can’t read Latin and we do everything in Latin.'”
De Shields believes the play’s timing couldn’t be more apt. “From a body politic and intersection of history and evolution point of view, it’s time for this play to be seen again, reinterpreted, and used as a looking glass for the current kakistocracy that is in the White House.”
The LGBTQ actor continues to seize his moment. After Tartuffe, he will reprise the role of Old Deuteronomy in a vibrant reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash Cats. Set amid the queer Black and Latino ballroom culture of the 1980s, Cats: The Jellicle Ball premiered downtown in summer 2024 to rave reviews and will pounce onto Broadway in March 2026.
And how is he preparing for his next chapter on Broadway?
“I’m not looking over my shoulder because I’ve learned there ain’t nobody catching up to me,” he says. “[No one has] stepped up behind me and said, ‘Excuse me, I’m next.’ So since that hasn’t happened, I’m just gonna keep chuggin’ along.”
Tartuffe is playing through Nov. 14 at The House of the Redeemer, 7 East 95th St. in New York City. Visit tartuffenyc.com.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball starts previews on Broadway on March 18, 2026, at the Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th St. Visit catsthejellicleball.com.
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