She studied Drama and Film Studies from 2005-2009, graduating just before Drama moved to the Lir Academy of Dramatic Art. The course was ‘practical and academic – we did hands-on modules in acting, but also attended lectures and wrote essays. I kind of feel like I got the best of both worlds. People from my course went on to lecture and teach and write, as well as act. There was a huge variety and now we all have different careers, which is brilliant.’ In college, she got involved in the drama society, obviously, and in singing. ‘I did singing jobs and I continued to appear as Aisling [in Fair City ] throughout my college years, as well as doing other, non-performance part-time jobs. I was a grafter basically!’ She loved her college years - ‘being exposed to people from all over the world and from different backgrounds’. Still today, whenever she’s back in Dublin ‘I take a walk through Trinity and remember all the good times, and I always end up bumping into someone I knew then. It’s just that kind of place. I’m a Trinity bragger – I always tell people I went there!’ On graduation, she worked in Dublin for a time with Rough Magic, a company she ‘really admired’. The West End production of The Commitments – she played Natalie – gave her the opportunity to move to London in 2013. It was at another West End musical, Close to You: Bacharach Reimagined, that she met her husband, Canadian actor and musician, Kyle Riabko, who created the show. It resulted in an album and concert tours for Riabko in North America. The pair lived together in Los Angeles for a number of years before returning to London, where they are now settled – ‘it’s where we met and fell in love and it has always felt like a special place to us. We love the vibrancy and the location works for our careers and our business.’ They recently set up a company, Can-Land Music, composing and producing music for children’s entertainment and television, which really took off during lockdown and provided a great focus when live theatre and music was shut down. McKeon and her co-star, Samantha Barks, were both winners for ‘best performers’ in the 2022 WhatsOnStage Awards, and Stephanie has been nominated for an Olivier Award - Best Actress in a Musical. She agrees the show has the ‘potential to run and run’, like other musicals - ‘of course that’s what Disney would want - for it to run forever.’ If it does, I’m a Trinity bragger the roles of Anna and Elsa will eventually be filled by other actors. McKeon is ready for her career to take her in many directions, but for now she is happy ‘looking out – I always tell people I went there! into the audience and seeing all these little girls and boys dressed up as Anna and Elsa. These are wonderfully flawed characters, not perfect princesses - they’re real and relatable and humorous. There is something really special about kids getting to experience this in a live setting - they’ve all sat on the couch and watched it for years and now here they are in the theatre and it’s live in front of them, and we can hear them vocalising, just singing along and knowing every word.’
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