Q & A: Phyllis McGuire

Sunday, Oct. 2, 2005 | 2:35 a.m.

Legendary vocalist Phyllis McGuire was inducted into the Nevada Entertainer/Artist Hall of Fame at UNLV during an award ceremony Thursday.

McGuire, 74, was the lead singer of the McGuire Sisters, the immensely popular trio of the '50s and '60s that included Christine and Dorothy.

McGuire recently discussed her career and her interest in her adopted hometown with the Las Vegas Sun.

First of all, where are Christine and Dorothy and what are they doing?

Dorothy lives in Paradise Valley (Arizona). She's involved in local things there. She and her husband have been married 48 years.

Christine has a home here in Summerlin, but she only lives here part time. Her husband has a wine business in New York and so she lives on South Long Island most of the year.

Dorothy and I will get together every couple of months, sometimes more. Chris doesn't come out as often -- I haven't seen her in six months. But we talk a lot on the telephone.

You spend a lot of your time these days doing community work. More so than entertaining. Why?

This is my home. It has been since 1960. I love Las Vegas.

What inspired you to become so involved with community affairs?

I've just always taken a deep interest in Las Vegas. I'm so involved with the Nevada Cancer Institute. And I'm very honored to be part of the project to build a Performing Arts Center. I've done work with the Alzheimer's Association, the Nevada Ballet Theater. Recently I helped raise over $300,000 for the Nathan Adelson Hospice ...

How did you end up in Vegas?

It was suggested to us in the '50s that we should work Las Vegas. When we arrived I said, "Why are we here?" There was very little in Vegas at the time, but our manager said, "You're here because of the money."

The money was great, so we worked here two months out of the year, mostly at the Desert Inn.

I liked the weather, I liked the people. I have always loved the energy of the place -- now it's comparable to what New York used to be.

Did you ever dream that this small town would ever grow to its present size?

I could not imagine it, not in in my wildest dreams. I live in Rancho Circle (Rancho Drive and Alta Drive). When I moved here it was out in the country. There was a one-lane road from Sahara Avenue to here. It's that way all over the valley.

How do you like the entertainment scene today?

I love what's happening. From day one, Vegas has always been about variety.

Why did you and your sisters end the trio?

It just doesn't interest us any more. We did the PBS salute to our music in Atlantic City earlier this year. Before that, the last time we performed together onstage was at The Orleans in 2000.

We just sort of saw the handwriting on the wall. We all unanimously decided we had been in the business long enough, and it was becoming so complicated to travel.

It was a great ride. Did you and your sisters ever plan on doing anything but perform?

Actually, we didn't intend to go into show business. It was not even in our thoughts. We were evangelical singers, singing in a small church where our mother was an ordained minister. We never sang in a choir, we were special singers in the church, using our God-given talents.

No, the furthest thing from our minds was a show business career as the McGuire Sisters, although I have to admit it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to sing with a big band.

So how did it happen?

It happened so quickly. An agent listened to a religious radio show we were on and at the end of the service he called us and said if we would like an agent he would like to talk to us. I was 18 years old, just out of high school.