Everything you wanted to know about the Grand Ole Opry and more! The Grand Ole Opry refers to two things. First of all, the Grand Ole Opry is the name of a radio show in which artists perform. Second of all, the Grand Ole Opry is the name of a theatre. The Grand Ole Opry (the radio show) usually takes place at the Grand Ole Opry (the theatre). During the months of November through January, the Grand Ole Opry (the radio show) takes place at the Ryman Auditorium because the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is performing at the Grand Ole Opry (the theatre). Got it? Good. The Grand Ole Opry (the radio show) is approximately two hours long. It is broken up into half hour increments with a different celebrity emcee each half hour.
Saturday night, I didn't have rehearsal so I figured I would venture downtown and go to the Grand Ole Opry. I have been to Nashville for four years and never been to the Grand Ole Opry. Plus Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood were performing and I couldn't pass that up. I was able to get a ticket to the sold out concert thanks to my company manager's connections.
I met some fellow cast members in the hotel lobby and we drove to downtown Nashville. We went to the will call window at the Ryman Auditorium to pick up our tickets for the evening. I ended up with the best ticket of our group even though I was the last to get my ticket. My seat was dead center on the first row of the balcony. Perfect!
We waited in line once they opened the doors to the Ryman. I headed right to my seat since it took a long time to get in the door and the show had already started. Little Jimmy Dickens was the emcee for the first half hour. He performed and also introduced the performers.
Martina McBride performed in the first half hour. She performed two songs, “This One’s for the Girls” and a song off of her Timeless album. She was amazing! I loved her!
(If you want to see the pictures bigger, click on the collage.)
Carrie Underwood performed in the second half hour. She performed three songs, “Don’t Forget to Remember Me”, a song I didn’t recognize so it must be off her brand new album, and “Cowboy Casanova”. It was fun to see her live and in person.
At this point, I am going to give you the honorable mention performer of the night. It is the back-up singer with the dark hair in the following picture.
First of all, she was crazy. That was obvious! She did this weird thing with her fingers while she sang. She just couldn't stand still. She was very distracting! (She only stands still in photos! I'm surprised the picture didn't turn out more blurry because of her constant movement.) Second, she was always messing around with the sheet music while the other singers were just sitting quietly waiting for their time to sing. Third of all, she was a microphone hog. (See how she is elbowing that guy out of the way so that she is right behind the microphone??) There's more but I will leave it at that.
Now back to the headliners. Rodney Atkins performed during the third half hour. He is TALL!! I love his music! He performed two songs.
At the end of the third half hour, they introduced a surprise performer who just showed up backtage…Vince Gill!! Vince Gill came out on stage in jeans and a sweatshirt. He said he was at the hockey game across the street at the Sommet Center and decided to come over to the Ryman after it let out to see what was going on. The Ryman told him he had to perform to earn his way in since he didn't have a ticket. Ha! Ha! He performed one song for us. We were ecstatic! He was an awesome, unexpected bonus! Of course, this was when my camera battery died. Dang! I took some pictures with my cell phone but they didn’t come out very well. I tried! Vince was amazing!
During the last half hour, Jake Owen performed two songs. He was a relatively new artist. One look at that man, and I was in love, I mean lust!! Holy cow! Jake Owen is super hot, especially when he flashes his amazing smile! Wow! His songs were great too. I don’t think I could ever get enough of looking at that man! I was mesmerized!
I had to put this picture in of Jake just so you can see just how hot he is! This was obviously taken at the CMA Awards last Wednesday. He just doesn't look complete without a date. Where is his date? She was sitting in a hotel room watching the show in her pajamas! Oh wait, that's what I was doing. Oh well, same difference! :) There will always be next year....
Here are some pictures from the party after the show.
AJ Irvin (Santa) and me in the limo
Me and Matt Kubicek
Michiko Sasaki and me
Laura Atkinson, me, Nick (our dresser), and Leann Bankowski
The Little Peeps-Leann Bankowski, Laura Atkinson, Dale Krutzig, Pancho Moler, and me
Shawnda Caulfield (the Director) and me
The Birthday Cake Mom Made For Me
Visited the Kona Hawaii Temple
Hawaiian Sunset
The View from our Hotel Balcony
