Grand Ole Opry Owners to Open Multi-Level Entertainment Venue and
Restaurant in Early 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 2016--
Country music’s most famous brand is coming to New York City. Ryman
Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE:RHP) today unveiled its plans for
Opry City Stage, the Grand Ole Opry’s first “home away from home,” a
four-level entertainment complex on historic Broadway in Times Square.
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Set to open in April 2017, Opry City Stage will share the best of
Nashville food and music, including live entertainment, simulcast
performances from the Grand Ole Opry House and more in a two-floor bar
and restaurant space. A world-class listening room and private event
space will occupy the fourth floor, and the ground level will hold the
complex’s retail area featuring many of Nashville’s signature brands.
“For 91 years the Grand Ole Opry has connected country music fans with
their favorite artists through live performances, radio and more
recently, digital technology,” said Colin Reed, chairman and CEO of
Ryman Hospitality Properties. “Opry City Stage is all about taking the
diverse sounds that originate in Nashville to other markets so that fans
have another way to discover new artists and connect with the music they
love. We believe that once our Opry City Stage guests get a taste for
all the Grand Ole Opry and Nashville have to offer, they are going to
want to visit Music City and experience it for themselves.”
The fourth-floor listening room will feature an array of programming,
including curated performances from Music City’s famed songwriting
epicenter, the Bluebird Cafe, made possible by a licensing agreement
between Ryman Hospitality Properties and the Nashville Songwriters
Association International. The relationship extends beyond the Times
Square property to include future venues, touring products,
sponsorships, and ecommerce opportunities.
“We are tremendously excited that two of the most compelling
entertainment brands in Nashville—the Grand Ole Opry and the Bluebird
Cafe—are embarking on this partnership to share our unique styles of
entertainment in New York City and beyond,” said Erika Wollam Nichols,
president and general manager, Bluebird Cafe, Inc. “The Opry and
Bluebird have each developed a wide base of loyal fans who are wildly
passionate about and respectful of the music, both in our longtime homes
of Nashville as well as when we have stepped outside our Nashville
footprints for special shows on the road. Our songwriting community is
part of what makes Nashville so great, and we simply can’t wait to
entertain rooms full of New York City listeners, introducing them to
Nashville and New York-based writers alike.”
Opry City Stage Times Square will be opened by a joint venture
partnership with New York City-based SPK Hospitality Group LLC.
Reed continued, “The Opry has always enjoyed a warm welcome in New York
City, and we believe Opry City Stage will appeal to both New Yorkers and
tourists who will now be able to hear authentic country music in one of
the world’s most famous entertainment centers. With its millions of
annual visitors from around the world, Times Square is a logical place
to debut the Opry City Stage concept, which we believe can be expanded
to other tourist-focused markets in the near future.”
About Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) is a REIT for federal
income tax purposes, specializing in group-oriented, destination hotel
assets in urban and resort markets. The Company’s owned assets include a
network of four upscale, meetings-focused resorts totaling 7,805 rooms
that are managed by lodging operator Marriott International, Inc. under
the Gaylord Hotels brand. Other owned assets managed by Marriott
International, Inc. include Gaylord Springs Golf Links, the Wildhorse
Saloon, the General Jackson Showboat, The Inn at Opryland, a 303-room
overflow hotel adjacent to Gaylord Opryland and AC Hotel Washington, DC
at National Harbor, a 192-room hotel near Gaylord National. The Company
also owns and operates media and entertainment assets, including the
Grand Ole Opry (opry.com), the legendary weekly showcase of country
music’s finest performers for 91 years; the Ryman Auditorium, the
storied former home of the Grand Ole Opry located in downtown Nashville;
and 650 AM WSM, the Opry’s radio home. For additional information
about Ryman Hospitality Properties, visit www.rymanhp.com.
About The Bluebird Cafe
Opened in 1982, the Bluebird Cafe is one of the most famous listening
rooms in the world. Focusing on songwriters and the original music they
create, the 90-seat venue has gained worldwide recognition as an
intimate performance space where both up and coming songwriters and
chart-topping hitmakers perform “in the round”, sharing their songs and
stories behind those songs. The Bluebird is known for jump starting
people’s careers including Kathy Mattea, T. Graham Brown, Faith Hill,
Taylor Swift and of course, Garth Brooks’ legendary performance that
secured his record deal with Capitol Records. Over 70,000 people attend
a show in the tiny venue annually; many of them as a result of seeing
the Bluebird in the Foo Fighters' documentary, Sonic Highways,
the feature film, The Thing Called Love or most recently on the
hit drama, Nashville. Over the years, the Bluebird Cafe has been
featured in publications such as Southwest Spirit, National Geographic
Traveler, The New York Times and Rolling Stone where the venue was voted
one of the Top 10 Best Clubs in America.
RENDERINGS: Rymanhp.com/images
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161027005915/en/
Source: Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.
Ryman Hospitality Properties
Brian Abrahamson, 615-316-6302
babrahamson@rymanhp.com