Skye Dee Miles grew up in one of those small towns in the Midwest where “dreams are what you see in the movies, not something that happens to you,” she says—a long way from the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip, where the singer, entertainer, producer and director has been owning stages for nearly two decades.
From smash-hit stage shows like Menopause: The Musical to more intimate venues at the late, great Tropicana or high atop The Palms at Ghostbar, Skye is one of those presences, those voices, that Vegas locals might call part of the fabric—a grounding presence in a city that is constantly evolving.
Like so many success stories, Skye’s story is one of perseverance—a story of a little Black girl in a rural, predominantly white Missouri town who started in on her goals early. She began singing and performing in church at the age of eight, where she “learned early the power of music and how it relates to people.”
And that power has been a force she has used for good during a career that took her to San Francisco and New York and then Las Vegas, where she turned up as "a Black, short woman of a certain age,” uncertain where she was going to fit in but charging ahead just the same.
She first arrived in Las Vegas in 2005, armed with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and that powerful voice that made her a star in San Francisco, where her voice was a driving force behind the success of Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest-running musical review in history.
Today, her uncertainties have more than been laid to rest. in 2023, she was named the city’s best one-woman show by Las Vegas Weekly. “When she starts singing, it feels like Skye Dee Miles is the only person in the room,” the editors raved.
But for Miles, life in Las Vegas, which she found upon arrival as having the feeling of a small town not unlike her own hometown back in Missouri, is all about collaboration and community. She says that culture in Vegas means “tastes, smells, sounds, colors and traditions, coming together for a common good."
“We are like a family,” she says. “A close community, an underrated community. People are not aware of the rich talent” Las Vegas has to offer. People, that is, who haven’t heard her belting her mix of gospel, blues and jazz on stages all over town, including Sunday nights at the Juliet Cocktail Room at The Venetian and selected Sunday mornings at Carmen’s Love Brunch, named for her late, inspirational mother. It’s a regular soul feast for the ears and the palate with gospel singing backed by a band and a choir.
Her advice to anyone looking to make it in a field as challenging as entertainment? “Patience, diligence and a good support system. This business is not for the weak. You think you can fly like a bird one day and the next day you can feel like a bird with no wings. You must know your greatness for yourself,” she urges.
And preparedness is key, always, even when you think you’ve made it. For her, that means a lot of “prayer, quiet time, vocal exercises,” plus plenty of water and “a shot of whiskey” before going on stage.
Skye's goal is to have her own production company, with an emphasis on both entertainment and education — with multiple sold-out shows in and around Las Vegas. “I used to want to sprinkle a little Skye around,” she says. “Now, I want to pour down glitter.”