Shaun Cassidy Hits Kingston

“Well, if I’d been born into a family of plumbers I don’t think I would’ve become a plumber,” says Shaun Cassidy when asked if his descending from a showbiz family—his parents were actors Jack Cassidy and Shirley Jones, his older half-brother was singer and actor David Cassidy, and his younger brother Patrick is also an actor—meant that his vocation was preordained. “On reflection, it seems like [entering the entertainment field] was inevitable; when I was 18 everyone around me was on me, asking if I was going to do it. The minute I started, I decided I was going to put my heart and passion into it.” Millions of crush-crazed adolescent girls around the world were certainly elated by that decision. And it’s a safe bet that many of them, now grown up and with families of their own, will be at Assembly on March 11 when the singer, actor, television producer, and screenwriter brings his “The Road to Us” tour to the venue.

Born in Los Angeles in 1958, Cassidy had already flexed his wild side before he exploded as a teen heartthrob in 1977 via his lead role on ABC-TV’s “The Hardy Boys” and his self-titled platinum debut album, home to the giddy singles “Da Doo Ron Ron,” a number-one US hit, and “That’s Rock ’n’ Roll,” a number-three smash. “My parents sent me to boarding school in Pennsylvania to get me away from the fast-and-furious stuff I was getting into in LA,” recalls the entertainer, who in high school fronted Longfellow, a protopunk band, and regularly attended area performances by Iggy and the Stooges and the New York Dolls, often partying with the groups backstage.

“It was supposed to be a Dickensian-education situation in Pennsylvania, but when I was there I actually ended up getting into way crazier stuff [than in Hollywood],” he remembers. “I’d take the bus from Trenton into New York every week to hang out at Max’s Kansas City with people like Debbie Harry and Bryan Ferry, and CBGB’s, where [music mogul] Danny Fields, who I knew because he’d worked for [teenybopper magazine] 16, brought me to see this new band he was managing—the Ramones.”

The 19-year-old put his edgier leanings aside and adopted the wholesome image that went along with his signing to Warner Brothers and his prominent newfound TV role. “The punk thing wasn’t gonna fly for that stuff,” says Cassidy, who eventually would record a punk/new wave album, 1980’s Todd Rundgren-produced Wasp. “So I had to ditch the earring and everything [laughs].”

Cassidy’s rocket ride to the top of the pops was a blast, but by the early ’80s he’d put the grinding circuit of stadiums, state fairs, and television acting aside after playing his last arena concert to 55,000 people at the Houston Astrodome at age 22. “I enjoyed it at first, but after a while I didn’t like being away so much,” he says. “I’ve always been kind of a homebody.” Live theater became his new calling, and Shaun was soon appearing on Broadway and in London’s West End; winning a Drama-Logue Award for his part in Mark Sheriden’s “Diary of a Hunger Strike” at the Los Angeles Theater Center; and costarring with David Cassidy in the highly successful musical “Blood Brothers.” Despite his stage success, however, it was a different discipline that had long been his dream gig, one he’d next explore.

“Writing was what I’d always really wanted to do,” he explains. “When I was first got into acting, the screenwriters were total magicians to me. They were these people who had superpowers and could just make something out of nothing.” He sold his first script in his late 20s and his screenwriting career took off from there; soon, he’d add television production to his occupational arsenal. Among the popular programs Cassidy has created, written, and produced are “American Gothic,” “Roar,” “Cover Me,”“Invasion,” “Ruby & the Rockits,” and “New Amsterdam.” Yet during Covid he began to feel a familiar, nagging itch. “I missed performing, that audience connection,” he recalls.

So in 2021, after nearly 40 years since his supposed farewell concert, Cassidy unveiled “The Magic of a Midnight Sky,” a one-man show that played to sold-out rooms nationwide. “The Road to Us” folds in elements of “Midnight Sky” for an intimate evening of songs and tales from across his fabled life. “Storytelling is my actual job, so it’s a way for me to do it live, in front of people,” says the performer. “I’m singing way better than I did back when I was in my teens and twenties and would blow my voice out all the time, and a lot of the stories that I get into are really funny. This is the biggest tour I’ve ever done: 60 shows in seven months.”

Now 67, the former teen idol has seven children from three marriages, several of whom themselves work in acting, screenwriting, and production. After his many decades in and behind the limelight, what is it that Cassidy would most like to leave behind? “Seven good human beings,” says the proud father, without missing a beat. “When it comes down to it, that’s all I really want.”

Shaun Cassidy will bring his “The Road to Us: North American Tour 2026” to Assembly in Kingston on March 11 at 7pm. Tickets are $77-$135.