SHAUN TAYLOR-CORBETT I’Pyooksisstsiiko’om was in the original production of In the Heights on Broadway and closed the show in the role of Sonny. He played Frankie Valli in the 2nd National Tour of Jersey Boys, Juan in Altar Boyz Off Broadway, and Usnavi/Sonny in In the Heights on the First National Tour. His original Indigenous musical, "Distant Thunder," co-written and created with his legendary mother Lynne Taylor-Corbett, received its first production in 2022 with Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma at First Americans Museum, and was produced Off-Broadway in NYC last Fall by Amas Musical Theatre and Tall Tree Productions! It had its first workshop at Native Voices at the Autry in Los Angeles.
The show is based on his Blackfeet community and the importance of language preservation for our youth in strengthening identity, purpose, and a sense of well being in life. It is the first big Broadway-style Indigenous show of its kind. He has used the show to teach multiple workshops to youth around the country, and hopes to one day have the show, with a full Indigenous cast, be performed by schools and communities across the country, starting with Browning, Montana, the heart of the Blackfeet nation. Shaun has also worked multiple years with Zara Aina in Alabama, a non-profit dedicated to guiding kids to create their own shows performed for their communities (zaraaina.org). Shaun will also follow in his mother’s footsteps soon and teach workshops with Rosie’s Kid’s, which offers an arts education to underserved New York City public school students.
For more information on “Distant Thunder” go to www.distantthunderthemusical. com. Shaun is proud to be a mixed-raced artist from the Amskapi Pikunni (Blackfeet) community with Black and Scandinavian heritage, as well as being a member of the Kaa Nux Im mii Taaks (Blackfeet Crazy Dog Society).
He is an original cast member of the 1491s hit show “Between Two Knees,” and the voice of Coyote on the Netflix series “Spirit Rangers,” created by Karissa Valencia. You can also hear his voice on over 100 audiobooks, including Tommy Orange’s There There, and Rebecca Roanhorse’s series Between Earth and Sky as the voice of Serapio. You will see him on the upcoming tv limited series, “The Artist.”
