Thursday: St. Louis’ Robust Theater Scene Inspired Smith Sisters’ Entertainment Aspirations

This interview will be on “St. Louis on the Air” over the noon hour Thursday. This story will be updated after the show. You can listen live.

America's entertainment industry has St. Louis to thank for the creativity fueling some of the most wildly popular shows out there these days. And that includes the Smith sisters.

Lauren Ashley Smith is the head writer and co-executive producer of HBO's Emmy-nominated “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” Rachel Smith has a diverse background of working with Sesame Street and TIDAL music streaming service, and now serves as associate director of social media in External Relations and Development at Columbia Business School. And Mariah Smith runs the popular Kardashian blog "Keeping Up with the Kontinuity Errors" and writes for the Fox sitcom "Outmatched.”

The three of them have now combined forces to host their new SiriusXM initiative "Smith Sisters Live,” a six-week pop culture show. It got off to a strong start late last month as fellow St. Louis native Andy Cohen called into the program during its launch.

The sisters credit their parent’s involvement with the local arts and theater scene for sparking their interest in show business growing up. They saw almost every touring show at the Fox Theater, the Black Rep and Muny, and tuned in regularly to 5 On Your Side’s “Show Me St. Louis” lifestyle program. Participating in plays, musicals, speech and debate during middle school and high school helped hone their entertainment skills.

On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, the Smith sisters will join host Sarah Fenske to talk about how their St. Louis roots have impacted their outlooks on life and career paths.

Have a question or comment for the Smith sisters? Tweet us (@STLonAir), send an email to talk@stlpublicradio.org or share your thoughts via our St. Louis on the AirFacebook group, and help inform our coverage.

“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.

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