The Opry has filled out their line-up for this weekend:
The Grand Ole Opry has posted the preliminary line-ups for this weekends shows. I say preliminary because over the past couple of weeks there have been some last minute cancellations and also the schedule still has a couple of slots to fill.
This weekend's Opry shows will take place at Two Rivers Baptist Church, which is across Briley Parkway from the Opry House. Two Rivers Baptist Church was the site of the funeral of Ernest Tubb, which took place on September 10, 1984. 1500 people attended the services that day. The pallbearers included Bill Monroe, Cal Smith, Carl Smith, Hank Williams, Jr., Teddy Wilburn, Carl Butler, Jack Greene, Billy Parker, Junior Pruneda, Porter Wagoner, and Ernest's brother C.R. Tubb, Jr. Among the stars who attended the funeral were Roy Acuff, B.J. Thomas, Jimmy Dickens Kitty Wells, Billy Walker, Hank Snow, George Hamilton IV, Jim Ed Brown, Connie Smith, Lorrie Morgan, Charlie Walker and Jeannie Seely. Bill Monroe and B.J. Thomas sang at the service. A number of Ernest Tubb songs were also played.
With the Opry at Two Rivers, there will be one show on Friday night and one show on Saturday. Here are the line-ups:
Friday May 14:
7:00: Jeannie Seely(host); Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys; Andy Griggs
7:30: Lorrie Morgan(host); Jack Greene; Matt Kennon
INTERMISSION
8:15: Jimmy C. Newman(host); Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press; Holly Williams
8:45: Jean Shepard(host); Jan Howard; Charlie Daniels Band
Saturday May 15:
7:00: Jeannie Seely(host); Jimmy C. Newman; Holly Williams
7:30: Jim Ed Brown(host); Jean Shepard; Matt Kennon
INTERMISSION
8:15: Steve Wariner(host); Jack Greene; Riders In The Sky
8:45: Ricky Skaggs(host); Charlie Louvin; The Whites
I was and am curious. Sometimes, the Opry Square Dancers are not listed. I am going to presume the stage at Two Rivers is big enough to accommodate them.
ReplyDeleteThere could be a couple of reasons for it. One is that you are right and the stage might be too small. Another might be that the Opry was to keep the number of performers down as there may not be enough room backstage to accommodate all of them. And another reason may be that the baptist church would not allow dancing on stage (I know there are churches that are pretty stict about things like that.
ReplyDeleteOr it could be a mistake and the dancers will be on. We will see.
For those who are interested, and I mention this because Lorrie Morgan is on the Friday Night Opry, she has posted a video on YouTube, that lasts about 4 minutes, where it shows her going to soundstage and seeing the damage that was done to her stage items and musical instruments. Pretty interesting and really shows how she was affected by the flood. Just type in Lorrie Morgan in the search box and it should come up.
ReplyDeleteInterseting that they are still having the intermission when I doubt any concessions are being sold at the church and probably limited souveniers if any. I know the Opry was taking surveys from people attending the show and asking what they wanted to see. Wonder if the intermission was a result of these surveys?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you mention the surveys. About a month ago, I received two emails from an independent company hired by Gaylord, asking me to participate in a survey regarding the Opry. The subject of an intermission was not mentioned. They did ask questions about what I thought about the show, the quality of the shows, and about the Opry House, gift shop, and ticketing.
ReplyDeleteBefore the flood, I think Gaylord realized that they had a problem at the Opry, with the attendence dropping and the fact that the Opry was really affecting their bottom line. We have talked before that Gaylord probably created a lot of these issues themselves, with the ticket prices and lack of quality line-ups. But, I also think that they were starting to make a real effort to address those concerns and fix it.
Also at the church, I wonder if the Opry is running the concession business or if it is the church, and they are trying to make extra money from it. I know that at a lot of churches, the youth groups do that sort of thing and use the money for mission trips, etc. And, I would guess that it is pretty limited, items such as pop, chips, candy bars....
Looks like no square dancers tonight as they were not on at the start of the Opry.
ReplyDeleteWonder if the stage at Two Rivers has carpet? That might be why the dancers weren't on. Is this the first Saturday night Opry they have missed? I remember when Melvin Sloan was heading it up, he mentioned on either TNN or CMT that they hadn't missed a Saturday night since his brother Ralph started or something to that effect. Hate to see them break the streak if that is still the case.
ReplyDeleteI wish they had figured out a way to have the square dancers, or at least have the band play the music. That's the other thing--this would be the first Saturday night ever, except perhaps for the performance that Mr. Acuff held when Martin Luther King was killed, that didn't have the old time music. Granting that the Opry is in a tough situation, that is a shame.
ReplyDelete