Fortress of Solitude
De Shields has portrayed Barrett Rude Sr. in "The Fortress of Solitude", the musical based on Jonathan Lethem's novel "The Fortress of Solitude", since its inception in 2012 at Vassar College. "The Fortress of Solitude" premiered at the Dallas Theater Center in spring 2014, and the off-Broadway production of "The Fortress of Solitude", co-produced with The Public Theater, ran through November 2014. De Shields, Lillias White, Stefanie Powers, and Georgia Engel starred in the new musical "Gotta Dance", directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. The musical began performances on December 13, 2015, at Chicago's Bank of America Theatre and ran through January 17, 2016.