New York — When you talk to people in the Broadway community, they will often tell you that they are like family. Those family connections were on full display Wednesday at the Broadway Museum.
She hosted an event called “Casting the Role of a Lifeline” to find bone marrow matches for people with leukemia. It’s a case of concern to the crew of “The Lion King,” who lost one of their own 15 years ago, Shannon Tavarez.
“Shannon, she was definitely light and very talented. She had a huge personality,” said her mother, Audene Brown. “She was about 5 years old, and I could see that this little girl was talented.”
Tavarez can sing. She can dance. She landed her dream role as young Nala in “The Lion King” when she was 10 years old. But everything changed when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, and doctors told her there was only one way to cure it.
“We were looking for a bone marrow donor, a match,” Brown said. “We were like, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ And what we found is that the numbers of African Americans are very low. Only about 6% of African Americans registered. So there was only a 29% chance that you would find a 100% match.”
The entire Broadway community jumped in to try to help Tavarez, but she lost her battle with leukemia in 2010. She was only 11 years old.
“She was very energetic, full of life. She was someone who really embodied the themes of our show,” said L. Steven Taylor, who plays Mufasa in The Lion King. “It was such a joy to have her go through what she went through and then for her to still be that character, so full of life, so full of emotion, so uniting people all the way to the end that really speaks to who she is.”
Now, her Broadway community continues to come together every few years for campaigns like the one held Wednesday.
“This is the lifeline role,” Taylor said. “I actually got involved in this whole process of getting the swab and became part of the donor registry through Shannon SHARE. One of Shannon’s wishes was to get as many people on the bone marrow registry as possible.”
“I started a foundation with my very close friend,” Brown said. “And one day we decided what we were going to do. How were we going to continue her legacy?” Because she was an advocate of helping others even at this young age. “We are going out to different communities, especially those of color, to try to encourage people to register.”
The process is simple: a swab on the cheek and filling out just one form. You then remain on the bone marrow registry until you are approximately 61 years of age.
“You never know,” Brown said. “Shannon never lost that light. One of the things she said during the interview was that if I were 18 and had the opportunity to swab to save someone’s life, I would do it. That stuck with me. That’s why I carry on her legacy and name to continue to help others.”
To learn more about becoming a donor, visit https://www.dkms.org/. To learn more about Shannon and her battle, visit https://shannonsshare.org/.
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