NPTPressroom - It’s a Thrill-Ride of Great Memories in NPT’s Nostalgic Visit to Opryland, USA

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It’s a Thrill-Ride of Great Memories in NPT’s Nostalgic Visit to Opryland, USA

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Written by Joe Pagetta
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Popular “Memories” series Revisits Famous Tennessee Theme Park NASHVILLE, Tennessee – November 18, 2008 -- For more than 26 years, a 212-acre area of eastern Davidson County in Tennessee was “The Home of American Music” and so much more to millions of music and thrill-ride fans. Opryland, USA, which opened in 1972, was the first major theme park dedicated to live performances, and as any kid who rode the Grizzly River Rampage or the Wabash Cannonball can attest to, howls of laughter and screams of joy were an important part of the experience. Nashville Public Television gives fans of the park, and viewers throughout Middle Tennessee, a chance to journey back to the park with MEMORIES OF OPRYLAND, the latest installment in the Memories of Nashville series, premiering on Sunday, November 30 at 7:00 p.m. on NPT-Channel 8. It’s “a thrill-ride of great memories” as writer and producer Justin Harvey (Nashville WWII Stories, Memories of Sulphur Dell) offers viewers an opportunity to relive the rides, shows and fun that made the park a favorite until its closing at the end of 1997. “We put a call out into the community for memories, photos and video, and I was overwhelmed by the response we received,” said Harvey. “So many people called me or wrote to me to share their fond memories of summers spent at the park. For many, Opryland was their childhood. For many of the performers, it was their first big gig and entrance into the entertainment industry. Everybody, it seems, loved Opryland.” It was Irving Waugh, then president of WSM, and his associate Elmer Alley, that first conceived of the park. Waugh wanted a new home for The Grand Ole Opry, which at the time was at the historic Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, and as his successor E.W. Bud Wendell explains, Waugh “became fascinated with the idea of not just a new Opry House, but because of the draw that the Opry had, the idea evolved to build an attraction and give these people that came distances something more than just coming to a country music show.” Opryland, USA opened its doors on May 27, 1972. By the end of its first year, more than 1.2 million people visited. Through interviews with Wendell, and Bob Whitaker of the Grand Ole Opry Group, we learn about the many aspects of the park’s development and success. A major part of the park’s plan was its focus on music and entertainment. “The story that we attempted to tell, and I think we did a pretty good job of it, was that this was America's musical showplace,” says Ed Stone, former Opryland, USA director of marketing and PR, in the documentary. “You could get a little piece of Americana in architecture. You could get a little piece of Americana in landscaping. You could get a little piece of Americana in the music. Music was our key. That's what we sold. We never tried to build the biggest, the baddest, the fastest ride in the country.” For Barbara Earheart, former head of Live Entertainment at Opryland, USA and Phillip Stegner, former musical director, creating dozens of shows meant hiring hundreds of musicians. Putting on shows in Music City, USA, meant finding the best musicians in the country. “When I was put on staff, part of my job was the audition tour where we went to 32 cities in a little over three months time every year which was pretty grueling but that's what we had to do to find the talent to get them to Nashville,” says Stegner. “They auditioned thousands and thousands of people,” says former park performer Cindy Moore. “To be picked was just an honor in itself. Once you were picked to be in that show, you got into that show you had to re-audition for your solos. You might be stuck with nothing, but it was still a great training ground. When you told anybody you worked at Opryland it was like whoah! You're it.” One of those performers working at Opryland, USA, in the “Country Music USA” show, was singer-songwriter Chely Wright, who went on to country music stardom after the release of her 1999 album Single White Female. “I liken being an Opryland performer to being an athlete,” Wright says in the documentary. “We were doing four shows a day outside. You don't ever give less than 100% on stage, and I really, really learned the craft of that at Opryland. There was a professional benchmark that we were taught and they pounded into us. And I'm forever thankful, because I think it prepared me for doing what it is that I do today.” Other artists who got their start at the park include Diamond Rio, Little Texas, Tim Nichols and Steven Curtis Chapman. The park, of course, may have been famous for its music shows and connection to the Grand Ole Opry, but for the millions of children who came to Opryland, USA, the rides were the real draw. In addition to the renowned Grizzly River Rampage and the Wabash Cannonball, there was the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, the Old Mill Scream, the Barnstormer, Chaos and Hangman. “The Screaming Delta Demon was one of my favorites,” says Steve Spencer, a ride enthusiast who runs Thrillhunter.com, a site dedicated to preserving the memories of Opryland, USA. “Basically it was a bobsled type ride. You would get to the top of the bank and you would bobsled through the whole ride. And you can lean into it and would go up into the turn. I've never seen another one like it. I'm sure there are other bobsled rides. It just ain't the Demon.” Everyone had their favorite ride, and for adults and kids together, the Tin Lizzies were hard to beat. “They were kind of the nerd ride,” says Gail Kerr, an Opryland, USA fan and Tennessean columnist. “Nobody wanted to admit they really liked it, but it was really fun, especially for kids because they felt like they could kind of drive a car." “We would fight over who was going to get to drive,” adds fan Sharon Collie Smith. “My sister and I would fight – ‘I'm driving! No, I'm driving!’ ” Janet Ivey, who served as director of the Opryland Kids Club, says that when word started to spread about the park’s closing at the end of 1997, “people were literally coming in with hammers and screwdrivers and unscrewing things from the park and walking out with memorabilia. It was very important for them to have a piece of the park.” For viewers, Harvey hopes that MEMORIES OF OPRYLAND will serve as a treasured piece of the park, one that puts them upside down once again on the Wabash Cannonball; fills their senses with the smells of Julio’s Pizza; places their hands around fruit-shaped drink containers; and puts them in the front row of every one of those world-class music productions. MEMORIES OF OPRYLAND was written, produced and directed by Justin Harvey. Matt Emigh was the editor; Erin McInnis was the production assistant. Camera by Jim DeMarco; makeup by Susie Thiemonge. Larry Black narrates. ABOUT NASHVILLE PUBLIC TELEVISION Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.2 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve. * * *
Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 January 2009 )

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