29/4/2008

Entertainment

Inside story of the musical greats

HEAR the inside story when Sheila Tracy presents her new show at the Epsom Playhouse.

Sheila spotlights Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, the brothers who never got on, and Duke Ellington, whose musicians stayed with him for the whole of their careers.

She also tells inside stories from the musicians of British bands Geraldo and Ted Heath, with the musicians themselves reminiscing on the golden age of swing.

Sheila met many of them in the making of various documentaries for Radio 2.

Sheila Tracy studied at the Royal Academy of Music before joining the Ivy Benson All Girls Band. She then formed a vocal/trombone duo, the Tracy Sisters, appearing on television and radio, as well as in cabaret all over the world.

When the act broke up, Sheila joined BBC television as an announcer and then as a freelance.

In 1974, she became the first woman to read the news on Radio 4 and was one of the four newsreaders chosen for the start of broadcasting from Parliament.

On Radio 2, she devised and presented the Truckers’ Hour and introduced Big Band Special from 1979 until 2001.

The show takes place  tomorrow (Thursday) at 2.30pm and 7.45pm.

Tickets, £9.50, are on sale now from the box office on 01372 742555 or www.epsomplayhouse.co.uk

First printed in: News & Mail Series