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      Halley Electra Mayo's performing career began before she can even remember.  Before she was able to speak in complete sentences, Halley was belting songs from Annie, Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. Her mother, an avid musical theatre fan, encouraged Halley to sing and dance at all times, instilling an almost innate fascination with all things theatre in Halley.  Although, Halley's mother passed away when Halley was only four, the time with her mother inspired an undeniable passion and drive in Halley to become an actor. Enrolled in ballet and jazz class at 5, Halley was cast as a music box in the seminal classic, Mr. Popinger's Toy Shop at her elementary school. Halley was by far the best music box (SEE?!------>)

dancer and from then on, Halley was hooked. Eager to live in the limelight Halley wrote papers to persuade

her elementary school music teacher to cast her in her grade's musicals and thus was cast as Ollie the

Octopus, Santa Claus (perhaps the first female to play this role - EVER), and Benjamin Franklin's wife.

 

      Halley credits her step-mother, Vicki, for her continuation in theatre after Halley's impressive stint on

the Happy Hollow Elementary School stage.  It was Vicki who first saw that Halley had the potential to be

a professional and when Vicki saw an advertisement in the local paper for ArtsLive! auditions, a local young actors company, she encouraged (made) Halley audition.  For the audition, Halley prepared "The Girl I Mean to Be" from The Secret Garden, but was only asked to cold-read and sing "My Favorite Things" - so easy - and then was told the auditioners had seen enough.  When she relayed this to Vicki, Vicki pushed her to go back in and sing the song Halley prepared.  Battling extreme shyness, Halley walked back onto the Walton Arts Center stage in her plaid Gap jumper and insisted on singing her song.  The tenacity she showed in this - her very first audition - earned her a coveted spot in the company where, over the next 5 years,  she learned invaluable technique - studying genres from Greek Tragedy to Restoration comedy, and Oscar Wilde and an introduction to Meisner - under the instruction of many incredible teachers including award-winning founders of TheatreSquared, Robert Ford and Amy Herzberg. 

 

       After winning the prestigious Thea Performing Arts Scholarship in 2004, Halley decided to continue her education in the arts, after high school and majored in Theatre Arts at Hendrix College. During the summers, Halley delved into honing her skills with an internship at Dallas Children's theatre,  studying through NYU's CAP21 Musical Theatre Intensive and performing in her hometown's community theatre. The day after graduation, Halley started her first professional acting job with Arkansas Shakespeare Festival and for the past six years, Halley has worked from New York City to the Sierra Nevada in California. Halley starred in the World Premeire of Kevin Cohea's Sundown Town - featured in American Theatre Magazine - at the American Theatre Wing award-winning TheatreSquared. She's been nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical in San Francisco's Broadway World Awards for her portrayal of Ado Annie and won the superlative "Best Sleeper" on the National Tour of A Christmas Carol in which she traveled the country playing the eldest Cratchit child, Martha. Over the past four years, Halley has become a staple and audience favorite at Great Plains Theatre, performing in over 15 plays and musicals at the miracle of a theatre in Abilene, Kansas. 

 

      As an actor, Halley prides herself on versatility, seamlessly transitioning between light lyric and brassy belt sounds, quirky character roles and sincere ingenues,  comedies and dramas.  One summer, Halley played Laurie Williams in Oklahoma! and the next summer played Ado Annie.  Halley parlayed her classical lyric vocal training into singing the deep, soothing twang of Patsy Cline. Halley holds an MFA in Theatre from the University of Arkansas and just completed a run of A Little Night Music in which Desiree was her thesis role.     

     

For clips of performances and recordings, please visit Halley's "Video" page. For a complete list of Halley's work please see  "Resume".