McGuire Sisters consider return to the Big Apple

Robert Macy

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2000 | 12:48 p.m.

Nearly half a century after they began their show business careers as teen-agers, The McGuire Sisters are contemplating a return to where it all started, the Big Apple.

"We'd like to put together something like a special concert in New York City, where it all began," Phyllis McGuire said Monday as she and sisters Dorothy and Christine prepared for a four-night engagement here.

"We'd like to do a concert, maybe in Carnegie Hall, to mark our 50 years in the business," she told The Associated Press.

The three got their show business break in 1952 with an appearance on the Kate Smith Show. The year 2001 would mark their 50th year of performing professionally.

A subsequent appearance on the Arthur Godfrey show propelled them into the national limelight and they became one of the hottest music attractions of the 1950s and 1960s. They produced a host of gold records, including "Sincerely", "Sugartime", "Picnic" and "Goodnight Sweetheart, Goodnight."

They quit performing as a trio at the height of their popularity in 1968, but returned to the stage as a threesome in 1985.

They're scheduled to perform at The Orleans Hotel here Thursday through Sunday, then Laughlin, Nev. Feb. 1-6, Palm Desert, Calif. Feb. 11 and the Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago June 7-10.

Ms. McGuire said she and her sisters plan to cut back on their public performances and concentrate more on recording.

"We could be booking in 2003 right now, but we want to prioritize," she said. "We love to perform, but we want to focus on what we want to do now. There is just so much time you can take away from your regular life. We want to pick and choose because we don't have to work."

Phyllis and Christine live in Las Vegas; Dorothy in Scottsdale, Ariz.