Balancing act 

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Marketing professional by day. Performer by night. Shanna Pagán is a jack-of-all-trades at this year’s Rochester Fringe Festival.

While her 4-foot-10-inch height might not suggest it, Pagán has a mighty, powerhouse voice that has granted her a spot onstage at Rochester’s Fringe Festival for four years. This year marks her fifth time in the Fringe spotlight — her show “Starborn: A Tribute to Legendary Voices” will be performed on Thursday, September 19 at School of the Arts — but this time, she also doubles as the festival’s director of marketing.

“As crazy as it sounds or feels, getting to do both at the same time is actually a total dream,” Pagán said.

Whereas other kids wanted to be astronauts or marine biologists growing up, Pagán wanted to be a popstar. At three years old, she started singing and dancing and hasn’t stopped a day since. Her 2022 song, “Bridesmaids,” a pop jam dedicated to the 16 bridesmaids in her wedding, garnered over three million streams and gained traction globally, with the largest portion of streams coming from India.

She’s always had a knack for performing, but Pagán is also well-versed in the world of marketing. When she was still in college, she scored a one-day promotional gig for Karma Water, which resulted in getting the CEO’s attention and led to a job offer. Thus began Pagán’s 12-year career in marketing for the wellness beverage industry.

Her newly assigned role as marketing director for Rochester Fringe Festival centers around promoting other artists and helping them market their shows. Her best friend and performing-partner, Meredith Bready, sees Pagán’s dual role at Rochester Fringe as a microcosm of who she is every day.

“She's the most ambitious person I've ever met in my life,” Bready said. “I've never met anybody who was able to meet someone, hone in on what makes them special and make them feel seen for that. She has a way of building people up that is really second to none.”

Bready will join Pagán onstage, along with violist Sean Mulligan and pianist Emiliya Mullerman from the Eastman School of Music, for “Starborn: A Tribute to Legendary Voices” at SOTA’s Allen Main Stage Theater. The performance will include classic pop covers from artists like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, Broadway favorites, original songs and even spoken word woven through the musical narrative.

“We’re so connected with our phones now,” said Pagán. “There are so few opportunities for us to literally just take a moment to be present. That's something we want to give to our audience … experience your favorite artists in a different way.”

While the purpose behind the performance coincides with Fringe’s theme this year — “lose yourself” — Pagán seems to have found herself in this dual role.

“Starting mid-June, she's just all-in on Fringe — she eats, sleeps and breathes it,” said Bready. “It's a ton of work, but I think it just feeds her soul in a way that nothing else really does.”

“Starborn: A Tribute to Legendary Voices” | School of the Arts: Allen Main Stage Theater | Thursday, Sept. 19 | All ages | $20

Colette Goldstein is a Goldring Arts, Style & Culture Journalism graduate student at the Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. The cohort previewed Fringe as part of a summer class.