Sarah Ellis found Broadway through family Furman ties

When she thinks back to her childhood, Sarah Ellis thinks of music, she thinks of laughter and she thinks of Furman University. The professional actor, dancer and singer grew up spending summers with her grandparents in Greenville. Her grandfather, the late Dan A. Ellis (a musician and educator who led Furman’s band program from 1958 – 1995) helped create Furman’s prolific music program and helped launch the Furman’s Music by the Lake Concert series. The Dan A. Ellis practice field is named in honor of him.

Sarah Ellis (second from left), her brother, Daniel Ellis, Barry and Terri Ellis. Courtesy photo

But the connections run deeper. Ellis’ father, Barry Ellis ’82 and mother, Terri Ellis ’82 met while both were music students at Furman. When they married a few years later, their wedding party included Boston Pops director Keith Lockhart ’81.

Ellis will be in Greenville Nov. 10-15 as part of the touring Broadway production of Dirty Dancing: The Musical. Among the places she plans to visit while in town is Furman.

“Furman is just such a special place,” Ellis said. “I want to just walk the grounds so I can be transported back in time to spending time with my parents and my grandparents there.”

The child of two band directors in Platteville, WI, Ellis was surrounded by music. She would often accompany her parents to their concerts and spend time in the orchestra pit. It was common for the family to hold post-dinner singing sessions, with her mother playing piano and leading songs from Annie and Pocahontas.

“I didn’t realize that wasn’t every child’s experience,” Ellis recalled. “Music was just such a huge part of our household; it just felt like an extension of love. It was just how we communicated.”

While Ellis grew up playing both cello and clarinet, she felt drawn to singing and eventually to musical theater.

Her parents nurtured her big dreams.

“Whatever I wanted to be, I knew I could because they made it seem possible for me,” she said.

Since her parents’ jobs often entailed running intensive marching band camps during the summer, Ellis and her younger brother, Daniel, would spend those weeks with their grandparents in Greenville.

Sarah Ellis and her grandfather, Dan A. Ellis, in front of the clock tower at Furman. Courtesy photo

The visits were filled with trips to Furman. Outings included strolls through the rose garden and around the clock tower and attending lakeside concerts conducted by her grandfather.

Ellis followed her interest in musical theater to Penn State University, where she was one of 12 students selected for the prestigious theater program.

In her career, Ellis has built an impressive resume. She was part of the first touring production of the Tony Award-winning “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” and she has appeared in countless productions in theaters around the country. She also founded the indie musical short film company, MT Shorts.

“Dirty Dancing,” in which Ellis plays Vivian Pressman, is her Broadway debut.

“I’ve always just had this fire,” Ellis said reflecting on her path. “I think it’s my parents encouraged me to just dream and to never limit what I wanted.”

Barry Ellis passed away in 2018 and Terri Ellis continues to teach music in Platteville, Wisconsin.

The show tour began in late August in St. Paul, Minnesota, and will end in Toronto in early January, before appearing on Broadway in February.

It is an intense schedule. Generally, they perform eight shows a week, travel Mondays and then start again in a new venue and a new city. But Ellis loves it.

Performing. Music. It’s all in her blood.

Dirty Dancing will run at The Peace Center Nov. 10-15. Tickets are available on the Peace Center website.

*Ellis will not perform in the Nov. 13 show as she will be in Columbia to support her brother who will be performing an oboe solo with the South Carolina Philharmonic