AMHERST, N.S. — The Anne Murray Centre will present Lady Singers of Our Century, a musical tribute to some of the greatest female country singers of the past 60 years, at the Amherst Regional High School Theatre at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6.
The show, which celebrates the music of Anne Murray, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Reba MacEntire and Rita MacNeil and more comes from PEI where the group has been wowing audiences for four years. This is their first performance in Nova Scotia.
Lady Singers is one of a series of musical performances that the Anne Murray Centre is presenting as part of its ongoing 30th Anniversary Celebrations. Over the coming months the Centre will present a dinner theatre and more musical performances in Springhill, but wanted to do this show in Amherst to expand into the County. The series is made possible by a grant from the Municipality of Cumberland.
The show is a mix of comedy and music with identical twins, Joan Reeves and Judy McGregor, also known as Ding and Dong, telling comical stories as hosts of the musical performance. The two ladies got their nicknames when they worked at Island Tel. They will also sing some of their former gym teacher’s best known songs. That former teacher from Summerside’s Athena High School was, of course, Anne Murray.
Other members of the group are Jolee Patkai, Jacinta MacDonald and Colleen MacPhee. Patkai, a talented singer-songwriter, has released two CDs and performs with a group called Treble with Girls. Jacinta MacDonald has performed at the Country Music Week in Hamilton and at the Canadian National Exhibition in Vancouver. She was also the opening act for Wayne Rostand's On the Road Again. MacPhee has two recordings to her credit and regularly performs around P.E.I. as Rita MacNeil. The group is backed up by a four-piece band.
The Anne Murray Centre’s Board Chair, Bill Munro, said the Centre is excited about this series of live performances. “We’re thrilled to be offering these special events in addition to our regular operations. It’s important to us that we’re an active part of our community and this gives us a chance to provide some quality live entertainment for our supporters.”
Tickets for Lady Singers are just $20 each and are available at the Anne Murray Centre in Springhill as well as Bargain Bennie’s in Amherst. They are also available online from brownpapertickets.com or by calling 902-597-8614.