Janice J. McArt (1927-2021) was born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. She majored in theater at DePauw University in Indiana until she left to tour as the lead in Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! In New York, McArt studied voice at Juilliard, acting at the Actor’s Studio and with Lee Strasberg, and starred in the world premiere of Around the World in 80 Days. McArt sang with the San Francisco Opera Company and the NBC Opera Company, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, and toured with Liberace and Jack Jones, among others.
In 1977, McArt opened the Royal Palm Dinner Theatre in Boca Raton with William Orhelein, who died in 1987. She added Jan’s Rooftop Cabaret Theatre above the dinner theatre, and founded the Little Palm Children’s Theatre. A fire in 1993 required extensive reconstruction on the Royal Palm. It was converted to nonprofit status in 1998 and closed in 2001. McArt then joined the faculty of Lynn University in 2004 as Director of Theater Arts Program Development.
McArt’s many honors include the George Abbott Lifetime Achievement Award from the South Florida Entertainment Writers, “One of the 100 Most Influential People in Florida for This Century” from The Palm Beach Post, and a Carbonell Best Actress Award. She was among the first honorees in the Walk of Recognition of the Boca Raton Historical Society in 1997. Florida governors Lawton Chiles and Bob Graham nicknamed McArt the “First Lady of Florida’s Musical Theater.”