“Little House on the Prairie, the Musical” fits in pretty well in Music City. Nashville has received the show and the cast very well. Too bad the weather hasn’t been so nice.
We flew out of Minneapolis-St. Paul on a dark and dreary Monday, then had to change planes at Chicago’s O’Hare moving from Terminal B to Terminal F—about a ¾ mile walk, at least. The Little House cast of 30 filled half of the plane for the Chicago to Nashville leg—that should give you some idea how big the plane was.
We were greeted in Nashville by sun!!! Our spirits were immediately buoyed after six hours of travel!
We’re staying at Sheraton in downtown Nashville and just across the street is our play’s venue, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. It’s located just in the shadow of the State Capitol Building. TPAC seats nearly 2,500 and attendance has been great—near capacity many times.
The sun stayed behind the clouds most of the rest of the week—warm and shirtsleeve weather some of the time, but rained a couple of the days and got cool. Some Georgia Tech fans got real nervous Saturday night when they saw me with an umbrella in hand on the elevator. They were heading off for Tech’s game at Vanderbilt (just down the road) and I had to explain to them that I was just getting back from a morning affair when it had been raining. I think the Tech fans had been partying all afternoon anyway and a little rain wouldn’t have bothered them anyway.
Forget the weather—we’ve had a great time in Nashville! Helen and I were able to relive some previous memories when we visited here years ago, but we’ve found that passage of time has brought some changes in former haunts. Some years ago we “line-danced” at the Wild Horse Saloon and ate great “pulled-pork sandwiches. Now they put tables on the dance floor so more people can drink and listen to the bands (the sandwiches weren’t as good either).
We checked out the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. Last time there, we just walked in the front door, wandered around the theater, walked backstage and onto the stage. Now, they’ve built a new visitors center complete with a gift shop and a $12.50 per person admission charge ($16.50, if you want a backstage tour). We were content this time to take a picture of life size bronzed Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff statues sitting on a bench in the foyer.
I’m happy to say that Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge-just across the alley from the Ryman—is just like we remember it. It's famous! Legend has it that country stars appearing at the Ryman slipped across the alley to have a quick drink while shows were going on. I don’t know about that but it’s a great to have a beer while watching fledging country bands perform in the front window.
Of course, neither Taylor nor her school chums visited these haunts. They don’t have time with five hours of classes, Tuesday through Friday. Next week is going to be really tough for them because we’ll be in two separate cities---four shows including a matinee in Little Rock, AK, and four more in Springfield, MO, later in the week—with a bus ride at midweek. I guess they’ll do some reading too on the bus ride.
As tough as it is though, none of them are ready to call it quits. They’re having too much fun.
They attended a party in the TPAC museum on opening night Tuesday, then another on Thursday hosted by The Seeing Eye, a group that provides support services for the blind. We were very fortunate to meet at the latter party a couple of parents who brought their 10-year-old daughters to the show. Taylor had a great conversation with the girls and Helen mentioned that we were not sure how Taylor would get to dress up on Halloween and “trick or treat.”
The next thing we knew Taylor was invited to join the girls at a morning party on Saturday at their church in downtown Nashville. Taylor dressed up as “Alice in Wonderland” costume that we bought in St. Paul. It was a holiday festival with games, prizes, several inflatable slides and bouncers plus a real good magic show. There was plenty of candy, food and soft drinks for all. So Taylor got to be a kid before heading back to TPAC for two shows on Halloween. The older members of the cast also made Halloween better for the kids with candy bowls in every dressing area-although I think they enjoyed he candy as much as the kids.
Earlier in the week, Taylor’s schoolmates, Carly and Michael plus the 16-year-old in the cast, Kurt Engh, visited the Belle Meade Plantation outside of Nashville. The humble beginnings of the plantation trace to the 1820s in a small cabin. The owner became a wealthy race horse breeder and the mansion that remains today was built in 1853. In its prime, the plantation occupied 3,000 acres of land and was maintained by 132 slaves.
The owner was a Southern States sympathizer and was thought to have contributed $500,000 to the Dixie war chest prior to the war. He spent a year in Union jail at the beginning of the war, but his wife appealed to the Union Army, paid a $20,000 fine and the plantation was given an exemption for the length of the war. Fighting went on all around the plantation but only one skirmish was reported on the property during the war.
Accompanying the kids were Scott Engh, Kurt’s father; Bruce Boxleitner, Michael’s father, and myself. Don’t know who had more fun—the kids or the chaperones. Boxleitner and I found out we had a lot in common—both born in Illinois although a decade apart and he says he probably was a participant in some of the ’68 Days of Rage protests that I covered while working for the Associated Press in Chicago. He, of course, survived those days very well and went on to a continuing career in movies and TV. He is really an interesting guy. He’s also a fan of country music and is really knowledgeable about the civil war.
I got to experience one of the LHOTP shows in a whole new way during this stop—the percussionist made special arrangements with the musical director to allow me to view their work and the show itself from a different perspective –from the orchestra pit. Wow do they work really hard there during the show!
Here’s a collection of pictures from our time in Music City:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=122166778703%3A1576417321
We head out Monday morning for our next stop—Little Rock, AR.
We flew out of Minneapolis-St. Paul on a dark and dreary Monday, then had to change planes at Chicago’s O’Hare moving from Terminal B to Terminal F—about a ¾ mile walk, at least. The Little House cast of 30 filled half of the plane for the Chicago to Nashville leg—that should give you some idea how big the plane was.
We were greeted in Nashville by sun!!! Our spirits were immediately buoyed after six hours of travel!
We’re staying at Sheraton in downtown Nashville and just across the street is our play’s venue, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. It’s located just in the shadow of the State Capitol Building. TPAC seats nearly 2,500 and attendance has been great—near capacity many times.
The sun stayed behind the clouds most of the rest of the week—warm and shirtsleeve weather some of the time, but rained a couple of the days and got cool. Some Georgia Tech fans got real nervous Saturday night when they saw me with an umbrella in hand on the elevator. They were heading off for Tech’s game at Vanderbilt (just down the road) and I had to explain to them that I was just getting back from a morning affair when it had been raining. I think the Tech fans had been partying all afternoon anyway and a little rain wouldn’t have bothered them anyway.
Forget the weather—we’ve had a great time in Nashville! Helen and I were able to relive some previous memories when we visited here years ago, but we’ve found that passage of time has brought some changes in former haunts. Some years ago we “line-danced” at the Wild Horse Saloon and ate great “pulled-pork sandwiches. Now they put tables on the dance floor so more people can drink and listen to the bands (the sandwiches weren’t as good either).
We checked out the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. Last time there, we just walked in the front door, wandered around the theater, walked backstage and onto the stage. Now, they’ve built a new visitors center complete with a gift shop and a $12.50 per person admission charge ($16.50, if you want a backstage tour). We were content this time to take a picture of life size bronzed Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff statues sitting on a bench in the foyer.
I’m happy to say that Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge-just across the alley from the Ryman—is just like we remember it. It's famous! Legend has it that country stars appearing at the Ryman slipped across the alley to have a quick drink while shows were going on. I don’t know about that but it’s a great to have a beer while watching fledging country bands perform in the front window.
Of course, neither Taylor nor her school chums visited these haunts. They don’t have time with five hours of classes, Tuesday through Friday. Next week is going to be really tough for them because we’ll be in two separate cities---four shows including a matinee in Little Rock, AK, and four more in Springfield, MO, later in the week—with a bus ride at midweek. I guess they’ll do some reading too on the bus ride.
As tough as it is though, none of them are ready to call it quits. They’re having too much fun.
They attended a party in the TPAC museum on opening night Tuesday, then another on Thursday hosted by The Seeing Eye, a group that provides support services for the blind. We were very fortunate to meet at the latter party a couple of parents who brought their 10-year-old daughters to the show. Taylor had a great conversation with the girls and Helen mentioned that we were not sure how Taylor would get to dress up on Halloween and “trick or treat.”
The next thing we knew Taylor was invited to join the girls at a morning party on Saturday at their church in downtown Nashville. Taylor dressed up as “Alice in Wonderland” costume that we bought in St. Paul. It was a holiday festival with games, prizes, several inflatable slides and bouncers plus a real good magic show. There was plenty of candy, food and soft drinks for all. So Taylor got to be a kid before heading back to TPAC for two shows on Halloween. The older members of the cast also made Halloween better for the kids with candy bowls in every dressing area-although I think they enjoyed he candy as much as the kids.
Earlier in the week, Taylor’s schoolmates, Carly and Michael plus the 16-year-old in the cast, Kurt Engh, visited the Belle Meade Plantation outside of Nashville. The humble beginnings of the plantation trace to the 1820s in a small cabin. The owner became a wealthy race horse breeder and the mansion that remains today was built in 1853. In its prime, the plantation occupied 3,000 acres of land and was maintained by 132 slaves.
The owner was a Southern States sympathizer and was thought to have contributed $500,000 to the Dixie war chest prior to the war. He spent a year in Union jail at the beginning of the war, but his wife appealed to the Union Army, paid a $20,000 fine and the plantation was given an exemption for the length of the war. Fighting went on all around the plantation but only one skirmish was reported on the property during the war.
Accompanying the kids were Scott Engh, Kurt’s father; Bruce Boxleitner, Michael’s father, and myself. Don’t know who had more fun—the kids or the chaperones. Boxleitner and I found out we had a lot in common—both born in Illinois although a decade apart and he says he probably was a participant in some of the ’68 Days of Rage protests that I covered while working for the Associated Press in Chicago. He, of course, survived those days very well and went on to a continuing career in movies and TV. He is really an interesting guy. He’s also a fan of country music and is really knowledgeable about the civil war.
I got to experience one of the LHOTP shows in a whole new way during this stop—the percussionist made special arrangements with the musical director to allow me to view their work and the show itself from a different perspective –from the orchestra pit. Wow do they work really hard there during the show!
Here’s a collection of pictures from our time in Music City:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=122166778703%3A1576417321
We head out Monday morning for our next stop—Little Rock, AR.
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