On Broadway she performed in George White's revues Melody, Never Had an Education and Scandals, then with the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934.

[4] The group included trumpeter Frances Klein, Canadian pianist Ruth Lowe Sandler, saxophonist Jane Cullum, guitarist Marian Gange, trumpeter Mardell "Owen" Winstead, and trombonist Alyse Wells.

[citation needed] The Melodears appeared in short films and in the movie Big Broadcast of 1936.

[3] Soon after, she started the Ina Ray Hutton Orchestra (with men only) that included George Paxton and Hal Schaefer.

[3] The band appeared in the film Ever Since Venus (1944), recorded for Elite and Okeh,[7] and performed on the radio.