Tracy Friswell-Jacobs started dancing and performing at the age of 2½. She studied ballet, jazz, musical theatre, and tap throughout her school career, and went on to graduate from the University of Delaware with a degree in Elementary and Special Education and minors in English and Theatre. For seven years, she taught a variety of subjects at the Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington, DE while still pursuing her love of performing. She currently teaches theatre, technical theatre, and tap dance at MOT Charter High School in Middletown, Delaware, and is the artistic director of Delaware Arts Conservatory, a performing and visual arts training academy in Bear, Delaware.
Her favorite role to date is twice playing Audrey in "Little Shop of Horrors." Other favorite roles include Polly in "Crazy For You," Rizzo and Sandy in multiple productions of "Grease," Lola in "Damn Yankees," Ruby in "Dames at Sea," and Mrs. Shields in "A Christmas Story." Tracy also performed with her husband as ON TAP and has traveled the world entertaining on luxury cruise ships and on several tours with Charo and The Drifters.
On the other side of performing, Tracy has directed and choreographed numerous shows including the world premiere of "Anything Cole" at the Riverfront Arts Center in Wilmington, "Gershwin, By George!" (also at the Arts Center), "Annie," "The King and I," "Bye Bye Birdie," "The Boys from Syracuse," "Anything Goes," "Oklahoma!," "The Wiz," "Legally Blonde," and "Shrek," for theatre companies and schools in the Mid-Atlantic States. Choreographic highlights include having her choreography performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in June of 2000 and at Lincoln Center in NYC as part of a benefit for the police and firefighters following 9/11. Tracy can be seen in numerous print ads, commercials, and industrial films for companies like QVC, Hershey Foods, Unisys, The Vanguard Group, CBS3, and Electronics Boutique. She can also be seen in the featured films "Dead Poet's Society" and "Flying Blind."
Tracy has received much recognition in the Miss America pageant system, winning the 1994 talent award for her song and dance routine in the Miss Delaware pageant. The following year, she was the runner-up to Miss Delaware, winning thousands of dollars in scholarships. Through this organization, Tracy has performed at functions for The American Cancer Society and Rotary International and was involved with the pageant system for over five years as an executive director for pageant hopefuls. She currently judges preliminary pageants and choreographs for pageant contestants.
When not performing, Tracy adjudicates performance competitions and teaches master tap, jazz and musical theatre classes for several convention and competition companies across the country. She is also the mother to Benjamin and Ella. She occasionally sleeps.