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Click on Photos to
Enlarge
AN
UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GRAPEVINE OPRY..
now back again as the Palace Theater
A
major part of this article was gleaned from an
original article that appeared in April 1984 in "The Magazine for
Northeast Tarrant County" by Robert Klemp
Not
many like to talk about the Opry out in public. It's even spooky
sometimes, in fact. It happens in the movies over and over
again. A stranger comes to a happy town where folks are friendly
and always willing to talk. That is, until the stranger asks the
one question too many. The bar falls silent. The bartender's
not so friendly. The folks the stranger's been chatting with
suddenly have to go. It was like that in Grapevine, when a
newcomer asks too many questions about the Opry.
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Opry
Stage 1984, Click on Photo to Enlarge. The theatre caught fire in
1986 and most of the stage and box areas were destroyed.
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But
talk about The Opry folks will. With relish, in fact, once they're
away from the crowd. The Opry is that curious kind of
subject that the less folks want to talk about, the more
they will. From such stuff legends are made. And they
talk, they spin their stories, in fact, of behind-the-curtain
feuds, of charades played in a game where the sakes were
favors--and finances--from Aunt Susie Slaughter.
Who would've thought the old Palace Theatre, nicknamed the Roach
Palace as it sat empty and deteriorating on Main Street, was
destined to become the subject of more talk than just about
anything that ever happened in Grapevine. Maybe, that ever
will.
It was the Palace that captured the imagination of a 28-year-old
dance instructor named Chisai Childs. Chisai's local dance
studio hadn't exactly set the woods on fire businesswise, and
since show business was in her blood, she saw bigger and better
things for both herself and the Palace.
| Grapevine
Opry 1984.Click on Photo to Enlarge |
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Chisai's last
performance in her "fairy palace" ended with "Vaya
con Dios, " and a tearful announcement the Opry was changing
hands.
As
a child, Chisai performed at civic clubs, talent shows and church
functions, in fact, at just about every opportunity. Her
mother, Anseth Childs, drove for the Red Cross, taking college
performers to military bases and veterans' hospitals. When
the performers didn't show, Chisai filled in.
Chisai raised enough money to lease the Palace with an option to
buy for $200 a month. A Jergen's Lotion salesman named
Johnnie High, with radio and TV experience, threw in and together,
they began a series of weekly "family-oriented"
country-western shows. Allusions to alcohol, violence and sex were
banned from the Opry's stage, a code that was strictly
enforced. Other elements of C&W were actively
promoted. Religion was a popular theme and frequently, the
show ended with all performers on stage for a patriotic grand
finale. Thee Opry, said later review, was "a case study in
wholesomeness."
Tickets for the first shows weren't hard to sell; they were hard
to give away. High tells the story that the Opry band played
"Y'all Come" in the back of a pick-up in Northeast
Mall's parking lot while High tried to hand out tickets to
passers-by. The first-show crowd numbered 23 people, mostly
relatives.
Things took an upward turn early in 1975, however. It was
then that the paths of The Grapevine Opry and Susie Slaughter
first crossed; for better or worse, for richer or poorer.
Aunt Susie's husband, Robert L., had been heir to millions of
dollars in oil-saturated Texas prairie land near Lubbock.
Since his death six years earlier, Susie had gained popularity in
country circles as a patron of the art, and in the realm of local
municipalities, as a philanthropist who, without notice, would buy
a city fire truck, an acre of two of real estate or give a police
officer $10,000 to pay medical bills.
When Aunt Susie came to visit her grandniece's show palace that
spring, one of the rickety theater seats collapsed with her.
Not long after, new seats were installed in The Opry, compliments
of Aunt Susie Slaughter. The show had Susie's interest.
Susie next bought the old theater outright for Chisai. The
price, $33,000. She continued to finance improvements for
The Opry, building it into what Chisai called "her
fairyland." The renovation continued, costing Susie
nearly $1 million before it was completed in time for The Opry's
grand opening on September 13,(1975) Susie Slaughter's birthday.
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| Chisai's last
performance in her "fairy palace" ended with "Vaya
con Dios, " and a tearful announcement the Opry was changing
hands. |
| The Grapevine Sun described
in its pages the Opry's new look shortly before completion:
"Inside, four red velvet opera boxes are being
installed on each side of the stage, with four seats in a
row. A new stage with enough light for color
television has been built, and the stairways are designed
like Disneyland's Palace Theater. Crystal chandeliers
hanging in the lobby once hung in the old Majestic Theater
in Fort Worth. Chisai's upstairs dressing room with
matching bath is decorated with gold foil paper with red
flocked flowers, red carpeting, crystal chandeliers, and
special make-up mirrors." |
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Next Page..The Grand
Opening, then the rivalry for Aunt Susie's attention..Click
Here
Copyright LNO 2001 - All
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