What happens when a couple of Southern Belles meet up in the land of their dreams — New York City? You get a heartfelt musical revue like “Dixie Divas.”

Courtenay Collins and JoLynn Burks are two former beauty queens who first met while performing at Six Flags Over Georgia one long hot summer not so long ago. Their life choices and experiences took them to many different places, but it was perhaps inevitable that they reconnect in the Big Apple.

“I never would have thought to go to city hall to locate a professional performer, but that’s exactly where I discovered Courtenay Collins,” said Tim Chapman, executive director of the Averitt Center for the Arts. “Mayor (Bill) Hatcher told me about his niece who has extensive credentials and then I heard her. She is fantastic. I really think local audiences will enjoy this class act.”

Collins is not just any Southern girl. She’s a Julliard graduate who has toured both nationally and internationally as Christine in Ken Hill’s Phantom of the Opera. In New York, she created the role Mary Bland in the cult movie musical “Eating Raoul.” During her time in New York, she also performed as Babette in “Walt Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” Maggie in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Julie in “Showboat,” Fiona in “Brigadoon” and Rizzo in “Grease.”

Since returning to her hometown of Atlanta, she has continued to wow audiences with performances in theaters around Atlanta. She was said to push the limits of cabaret when appearing at Libby’s.

But typical of a Southern Belle, Collins has many layers to her persona. She believes in giving back to the community that fostered and encouraged her talent. So when she’s not performing on stage, she’s teaching as a private vocal/performance coach, offering Intensive Workshops and directing Camp Broadway USA! each summer. In her spare time, she assists teachers with high school theater programs.

Statesboro is fortunate indeed to be able to present these two multi-talented women in the revue “Dixie Divas.”
Audiences are sure to be wowed as they travel with this hilarious pair of “recovering beauty queens” on a musical journey through Broadway, New Orleans, and the South. Laughter will not be the only thing on the menu that night, however. The range of Collins’ voice and the combination with Burks will delight music afficionados.

Collins and Burks will appear in Dixie Divas on Friday at the Emma Kelly Theater in Statesboro at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for youth, twelve and under.

Staff, faculty and students from Ogeechee Technical College will receive a 15 percent discount. Tickets may be purchased by phone or at the box office in the lobby of the theater, Tuesday through Friday, 1–5:30 p.m.

For more information, contact info@averittcenterforthearts.org, or call (912) 212-ARTS.