This Is Nashville
This Is Nashville
WPLN News - Nashville Public Radio
Re-air: Opryland’s Lasting Legacy
49 minutes Posted May 7, 2026 at 6:00 pm.
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Opryland has been closed for nearly 30 years, and as the producer of a new documentary puts it, some people are still “butt hurt” about it. Maybe we didn’t know what we had until it left a theme park-size hole in Nashville’s heart. A documentary premiering at the Nashville Film Festival, called “A Circle Broken,” gives us a good excuse to reopen that wound and hear the story of Opryland like we’ve not heard before, a story about how perhaps Opryland saved the Grand Ole Opry itself. We’re talking to the characters who are keeping the memory alive and hearing your memories of Opryland USA.
Guests:
Brandon Vestal, filmmaker
David Ewing, historian
Bob Whitaker, former Opryland General Manager
Michael-Demby Cain, Opryland performer who went to Broadway
Jennifer Roberts, performer
Lynn Wright, half of first couple married at Opryland
Sean Hughes, “The Balloon Guy”