Queen City Sisters know their Rosemary Clooney classics

They know their McGuire Sisters and Andrew Sisters, too.

The Queen City Sisters will be in concert at the Fairfield Community Arts Center as part of the cabaret-style “Wine, Women & Song” series on Feb. 10.

One of the group’s founding members, Edy Dreith,

said, “All of our singers live and work in the Greater Cincinnati area. We have teaching jobs and church jobs, and we’re professional singers in the community. One of the reasons we chose Queen City Sisters was because we want to be firmly planted in Cincinnati,” Dreith said.

Comprised of Dreith (alto), Melanie Woodruff (soprano) and Kirsten Smith (who sings the middle parts), the a cappella trio with tight harmonies will present an evening of songs from the 1930s, ’40s, ’50s and beyond.

“It’s hard to find three-part arrangements, so we have taken it upon ourselves to arrange the three parts for us, and we’re all a part of that. Musically, we all have a good ear, and we listen to each other really well. We all have music degrees,” Dreith said.

She said, we want to be the face, look and the sound of good, quality singing and music — to bring back this era of entertainment. The music is so good, optimistic and upbeat.

“We’ve been very surprised by the reaction. Everywhere we go, there’s at least one or two songs where people say, ‘Oh, I haven’t heard that in years,’ or ‘That was my grandmother’s favorite song,’ and they recognize it. A lot of the songs from this era have stuck with us in our musical consciousness as Americans,” Dreith said.

So when we start singing “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” or “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” everybody immediately smiles and they tap their feet, or clap their hands along with us, and they recognize most of our songs. The set list will span from the 1920s through the Fifties to a few arrangements of 1980s songs, such as Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” by the Eurythmics, she said.

Classics by Rosemary Clooney (the national legend from Cincinnati), The McGuire Sisters (born in Middletown and grew up in Miamisburg), Doris Day and The Andrews Sisters will round out the night’s song list.

Founded in 2013, the Queen City Sisters have performed at a wide range of venues, including the 2015 Major League Baseball All Star Game, which was played in Cincinnati.

Contact this contributing writer at gmwriteon@aol.com.


How to go

What: Queen City Sisters in concert

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. Enjoy a cabaret setting for the concert with complimentary light hors d’oeuvres and cash bar starting at 7 p.m.

Where: Fairfield Community Arts Center, 411 Wessel Drive, Fairfield

Admission: For tickets call (513)-867-5348 or visit www.fairfield-city.org/tickets. Tickets are $20 for café seating and $18 for stadium seating.

More info: www.fairfield-city.org/events and www.queencitysisters.com

About the Author