Longtime WCCO anchor Don Shelby to star in ‘Love Letters’ at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·2 min read
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Retired WCCO-TV anchor Don Shelby will return to the stage for four performances of “Love Letters” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.

The show will be performed at 1 p.m. Nov. 9 and 13 and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 13 and 20. Tickets are $44, or $62 with dinner, and are available by phone at 952-934-1525 or online at chanhassendt.com.

Shelby is starring in the play with Nancy Nelson, a fellow WCCO vet and former Miss Minnesota who was once named “International Infomercial Queen” by Forbes. Nelson is also CDT’s greeter and emcee.

Written by A.R. Gurney, “Love Letters” tells the story of an on-again/off-again couple who sit side-by-side and read 50 years worth of notes, letters and cards they sent to each other.

After making its Broadway debut in 1989, “Love Letters” went on to become a popular show for actors with busy schedules, as it is a simple production that doesn’t require script memorization. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Elizabeth Taylor, James Earl Jones, Carol Burnett, Brian Dennehy, Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek, Liza Minnelli, Desi Arnaz Jr., Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels are among the many actors to star in the show.

“We’d been discussing this project before the pandemic hit and it had to be tabled,” said CDT artistic director Michael Brindisi. “Nancy and Don are also dear friends in real life, which makes a project like this so meaningful and personal for our audiences and I can’t wait to direct them.”

Shelby retired from WCCO in 2010 after spending 32 years at the CBS affiliate. In the time since, he has appeared in Lab Theater’s production of “The Rocky Horror Show” and “Safe at Home” at Mixed Blood Theatre. He’s also played Mark Twain more than 200 times at performing arts centers throughout the state and aboard the Delta Queen Riverboat on the Mississippi River in St. Louis.

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