Opry100: A Live Celebration on @nbc @peacock. Celebrating the past 100 years while looking forward to the next 100, the design embraced the undeniably iconic barn backdrop that is inseparable from the Opry stage. Expanding outward from this backdrop, I designed video walls that followed the primary shape of the barn. These served a dual purpose - both the feeling of growth and expanse, and also serving as a sort of 'hall of memories' in which historical images could be shown while modern day artists performed, blending the past and present live on stage. The bandstand was designed to unify the geometric lines from the back wall with the radiating circle from the embedded portion of the Ryman stage at center.
Also as part of the Opry100 celebration, we honored the early home of the Grand Ole Opry -- the famed Ryman Auditorium. My design for this portion of the show was really an homage to the origins of this venue. In its early days, the Ryman had no proscenium - the balcony extended all the way to the back wall, which had stained glass windows within it. The audience could sit in the balcony in what is now the wings of the stage. To recreate this, we fabricated scenic extensions of the balcony that reached upstage and terminated at a line of floating windows... impressions of what once was. We outfitted the stage with a circular floor piece with a glowing edge, mimicking the circle of embedded Ryman stage floor at the Opry House today.