When Emily Miller was 10 years old, her parents took her to a production of the Broadway musical, "Annie." On the way home, she said she'd like to stage a show like that.

So she did. The first show for her theatrical company, Broadway on the Driveway, was, of course, "Annie." It drew an audience of 60. The flyer advertising the theatrical company said most of those were "parents and bribed relatives."

Since then, her theatrical troupe has expanded to about 45 kids and adults. They've staged six other Broadway shows and are no longer performing in the driveway of her west St. Louis County home.

Last summer, three performances of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" drew an audience of 1,800.

And, after September 11, the troupe gave three more performances that raised $1,000 for two New York charities.

One charity was Service International. That group was helping small businesses near the World Trade Center get back on their feet. The other part of the money went to a Baptist church organization helping a church near the disaster site.

Emily has another enterprise also. She has joined with her sister, 14-year-old Lacy, and brother, 13-year-old Michael, to give Broadway-style variety shows. These include singing, dancing, harmonica playing and humor.

All this activity earned Emily a Do the Right Thing award given to St. Louis area kids who are helping to build their communities. The coordinator for the program is Officer Lisa Pisciotta of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

The next project for Broadway on the Driveway probably will be the re-staging of "Fiddler on the Roof." An abbreviated version of that Broadway show was the third production by Emily's group.

But, she said, "This time we want to stage the unabridged version of the show."

Actually, the troupe has pretty much abandoned the household driveway as its staging area. Two years ago, the troupe started to hold productions in buildings so they could perform rain or shine.

Asked about the future, Emily said she'd like to start a Christian music company.

As with her current shows, Emily said she wants to offer entertainment "where the whole family can come and know there's not going to be anything objectionable to any of them."

The three Miller children are home schooled. Emily is now 16 and is the equivalent of a junior in high school. Concerning college, she's trying to find a school that excels in the arts but has a "Christian perspective."

Staging a show like "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" takes quite a bit of effort. Before putting on their first show, the cast practiced three hours a day, five days a week for six weeks. There were three dress rehearsals.

Emily was the director and the show's narrator.

Besides the practice, she and her family had to find or make costumes as well as design and build sets. And they do all that with very little money.

Emily and her family are always on the lookout for possible costumes at garage sales. "And we get a lot of community donations," Emily's mother, Sallie, said. She added, "Four of the moms in the cast sew really well."

Emily said, "Some of the cast members are really talented in making scenery."

Admission to most of their Broadway shows are free of charge. However, they asked for charitable donations for NYC disaster victims during the three performances of "Joseph" last November and December.

Emily has been building another little business associated with entertainment.

Sallie Miller said, "A number of smaller kids like what Emily is doing and want to learn also." So, Emily now gives singing, tap-dancing and piano lessons to younger kids. She charges for these classes.

Her theatrical activities have attracted national attention. Tony Award winner Marvin Hamlisch had the Miller kids as finalists in a Search for a Star competition two years ago.

The three Millers also appeared at the Sweet Adeline's International Convention in Orlando. The Adeline's have a Young Singers Foundation, which has made two small grants to the Millers.

If you'd like to host a theatrical or variety show performance, you can contact Broadway on the Driveway at (636) 527-0300.