This fall, ARTworks will be celebrating American Music with a season of concerts honoring luminaries of the 20th Century.
The series kicks off on Saturday, September 27 with “Jump, Jive & Swing”, a musical variety show featuring songs from WWII, the Big Band and Swing eras. However, there’s more to the show than that. Like the Andrews Sisters, the performers are a sister act. In this case, though, there are only two sisters, Emily and Lacy Miller, who are known professionally as “Gracie and Lacy”. The sisters grew up in Missouri where their shared love of music and theater developed early. At ages 8 and 10, they hung a bed sheet curtain across their parents’ garage door, creating their own “theater” to perform musicals in, with lawn chair seating in the driveway. Their productions became a neighborhood tradition, earning the name “Broadway On The Driveway”. The name stuck even after a few years, when the sisters moved their musical theater productions to a local performing arts center and mounted semi-professional shows comprised of up to 90 youth performers, a full orchestra, and technical crew.
Continuing to both perform and direct musical theatre throughout their teens and early 20s, the duo won numerous awards and acclaim in their home state of Missouri, including grants from the Young Singers Foundation for 12 years in a row, a stint as Branson Guest Entertainers, Finalists on Marvin Hamlisch’s Star Search and recipients of a Missouri Senatorial Resolution recognizing their contribution to the arts.
Always fascinated with classic Americana and the glamor of vintage fashion, the pair decided to focus on creating their own shows based on each sister’s talents in 1997. Now touring nationally, the pair is known onstage for tight harmonies, retro costumes (which Lacy designs) and tap dancing (which Gracie choreographs), all set to the classic music of the 1930s through the 50s. This talented pair will perform “Jump, Jive & Swing” at ARTworks on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $20.
Other performances in the American Music Series include: An Elvis Presley tribute show on October 18 by Elvis impersonator Michael Viljac, The Life and Music of Johnny Mercer on October 25, Trae Gurley Performs Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits on November 14, and a Swingin’ Christmas Show on December 7.
ARTworks is located at 2127 Boundary Street in the Beaufort Town Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.beaufortcountyarts.com or contact the ARTworks box office at 379-2787.
