Flat Rock Playhouse Presents PICKIN' AAND A GRINNIN'

Flat Rock Playhouse will continue the 2018 season with a Flat Rock Favorites all-star performance featuring the musical styles made famous by The Grand Ole Opry. Combining the talents of performers from Million Dollar Quartet, Music on the Rock: Johnny Cash & Roy Orbison, and Music on the Rock: Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson, Pickin' and A Grinnin': A Night at the Opry guarantees a high energy, merry riot of musical expression. Running from October 18th to 28th on the historic Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage, Pickin' and A Grinnin': A Night at the Opry will offer the perfect chance to bring the whole family together for a hand clappin' foot stompin' good time!

Pickin' and A Grinnin': A Night at the Opry, developed by the Flat Rock Playhouse creative team, honors a well known regional tradition, The Grand Ole Opry. As one of America's greatest musical traditions, the Grand Ole Opry started in Nashville, Tennessee in 1925 as a weekly one-hour radio show and party. Today it is the longest-running radio broadcast in US history. It launched the careers of everyone from Bill Monroe and Roy Acuff, to Hank Williams and Chet Atkins. Legends like Cash, Parton, Wynette, and the unmatched Willie Nelson also all owe their fame to the Opry stage.

Featuring some of Flat Rock's most recognizable musical talents, Pickin' and A Grinnin': A Night at the Opry will showcase everything from bluegrass to honky-tonk, blues to rock n' roll, and tin pan alley to pop standard. The All-Star cast includes Nat Zegree (Million Dollar Quartet, Amadeus, One NAT Only, The NAT Before Christmas), Eric Anthony (Million Dollar Quartet, Music on the Rock: Johnny Cash & Roy Orbison, Beatles), Jeremy Sevelovitz (Million Dollar Quartet, Music on the Rock: Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash & Roy Orbison), Paul Babelay (Music on the Rock and Mainstage Flat Rock Playhouse percussionist for over 20 years), and Ben Hope & Katie Barton (The Buddy Holly Story, A Flat Rock Playhouse Christmas, Music on the Rock: Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson). Also featured in this star-studded cast are Flat Rock Playhouse newcomers Sarah Hund (Fiddle), and Russell Weaver (Steel Guitar).

Pickin' and A Grinnin': A Night at the Opry will be directed by Producing Artistic Director, Lisa K. Bryant. Adam Goodrum will serve as Production Manager. Dennis Maulden, CJ Barnwell, Ashli Crump, and Will Burns will serve as Scenic, Lighting, Costume, and Sound Design respectively. Brooke McPherson serves as Stage Manager. Cassidy Bowles will be designing the properties.

Pickin' and A Grinnin': A Night at the Opry is presented by Opening Night Sponsor BMW of Asheville, Mainstage Series Sponsor Henderson County Tourism Development Authority, Transportation Sponsor Hunter Subaru, Downtown Series Sponsor Rug and Home, and Executive Producers Morris Broadband, WHKP, Asheville Regional Airport, and Park Ridge Health.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE

Pickin' and A Grinnin': A Night at the Opry will run from October 18th to 28th at The Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage in Flat Rock. Performances Wednesday and Thursday at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM, Friday at 8:00 PM, Saturday at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM, and Sunday at 2:00 PM. Tickets are $20 - $52 with a child ticket at $17 for 17 and under and can be purchased by calling the Playhouse box office at 828-693-0731, toll-free at 866-737-8008 or online at www.flatrockplayhouse.org.

Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage is located at 2661 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock, NC 28731.

FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE

In 1937, a group of struggling performers, led by Robroy Farquhar, organized themselves as the Vagabond Players. The Vagabonds worked in a variety of places over the course of three years, and in 1940 found themselves in the Blue Ridge region of Western North Carolina. The local and tourist community welcomed them with open arms when they presented their first summer season of plays in a 150-year-old grist mill they converted into The Old Mill Playhouse at Highland Lake. So successful was that summer, they returned in 1941. After WWII, the Vagabond Players reorganized, came back to the region and opened a playhouse in nearby Lake Summit. The Lake Summit Playhouse thrived during the post war years and soon the Vagabond Players were looking for a larger and permanent home. In 1952, the troupe of performers, and a newly formed board of directors, made an offer to buy an 8-acre lot in the Village of Flat Rock. This new home made the Vagabonds "locals" and a rented big top gave birth to Flat Rock Playhouse. As the beautiful Western Carolina region continued to grow, so did the Playhouse and in 1961, by Act of the North Carolina General Assembly, Flat Rock Playhouse was officially designated The State Theatre of North Carolina. What began as a few weeks of summer performances in 1940 is now a nine-month season of plays including Broadway musicals, comedy, drama, and theatre for young audiences. The Playhouse's dual mission of producing the performing arts and providing education in the performing arts includes a professional series; a summer and fall college apprentice and intern program; and Studio 52, year-round classes and workshops in theatre and film for students from kindergarten through adults. Flat Rock Playhouse now hosts over 100,000 patrons annually and is a significant contributor to the local economy and the Arts in North Carolina.