Grace Detroit

A chanteuse and a creative mastermind, Grace Detroit is the founder of Detroit’s much-loved, long-running, neo-vaudeville jazz and variety show Torch With a Twist. And Broadminded couldn’t do a women-over-40 variety show in Detroit without her!

A native Detroiter (legend has it, her mother went into labor with her on the Boblo boat), Grace spent her formative years in northern Michigan and came back to her Motown roots at 20. As a young, single mother, Grace worked a variety of service jobs, including at Nami Sushi bar, where she met a member of Tuxedo Junction, a Detroit-area swing orchestra. Grace soon began playing out with a few of the Tuxedo band members, creating the original act she now calls, “Grace and the Guys.” 

In 2005, Grace joined Planet Ant Theater’s sketch-comedy variety show The Bannisters’ Wholesome Family Fun Hour. At Planet Ant, Grace expanded her horizons beyond performing, to recording, working with video production, using comic relief and developing characters. She also helped open and run Amsterdam Espresso in the old Forest Arms building, where she connected with Drew "Tovio" Roberts, one of the founding members of the iconic Detroit performance group, "Fire Fabulon," who was instrumental in helping develop her original cast for Torch. Eventually attending Burning Man, Grace connected with musician David “Dixon” Hammond, and circus artist Douglas “Flec” Schell, and the nexus of what would become Torch really started to gel. 

Torch With a Twist ran regularly for years at the legendary Cliff Bell’s jazz club, and there was truly nothing like it! Where else could you hear live jazz standards while a bellydancer charmed a snake, and a circus performer walked on glass? Although Torch has been on pause in recent years, Grace is still belting out the hits around town with “the guys,” and she may even be bringing the old Torch gang back together for some reunion shows. Stay tuned! And in the meantime, don’t miss your chance to see her in her variety show glory with Broadminded Revue.