FAMILIAR FACE JOINS GAYLORD OPRYLAND THIS CHRISTMAS

Louise Mandrell's "Joy to the World" Christmas Dinner & Show New for 25th Annual "A Country Christmas"

Nashville, Tenn.—( September 3, 2008 ) Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center's 25th annual A Country Christmas celebration has added a new—and familiar—face to its Christmastime events. Straight from her highly popular theater in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, Louise Mandrell's spectacular Christmas dinner show is giving the holidays at the hotel a whole new feel.

 

The Louise Mandrell's "Joy to the World" Christmas Dinner & Show runs Nov. 15 through Dec. 25, 2008. This traditional holiday production features the multi-talented Mandrell and her band as they bring a combination of lively Christmas music, dancing, and comedy to the stage in an instrumental journey around the world. The new menu, created by Gaylord Opryland's award-winning chefs, includes traditional trimmings and hearty comfort food served family-style.

"Louise Mandrell has been a beloved performer known across the nation for more than two decades since she and her sisters debuted their Mandrell sisters variety show in the 1980s," said Pete Weien, senior vice president and general manager of Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center. "Louise has a passion for families, in fact her niece is in the show. She also has a passion for music and Christmas. She will combine the best of all three making her show one to remember for many years for our guests."

"'Joy to the World' describes my show perfectly. Celebrating the birth of Jesus with traditional Christmas music and a 'trip around the world' where I get a chance to play some of my instruments. We will also be taking a special trip to the North Pole where 'Lou the Mailman' will be reminding us of the true meaning of Christmas," Mandrell explains.

Mandrell is all about family, so she decided to put hers in the show. "The Master of Ceremonies is my nephew Matt Dundey, Barbara's (Mandrell) oldest son. We have worked together for years and are very excited to show off my niece, Matt's wife, Christian recording artist and songwriter, Christy Sutherland. We plan to bless you with a great deal of joy."

The Louise Mandrell's "Joy to the World" Christmas Dinner & Show includes a delicious holiday dinner featuring a new menu created by award-winning Executive Chef Michael Swann. Some of the menu highlights include a colorful, tangy, apple salad with bleu cheese and an orzo pasta and harvest grain salad with wheat berry, pearled barley, dried cranberries and bloomed wild rice for starters. The main entrées includes individual roasted sleigh bell chicken roulades with cranberry cornbread stuffing, as well as a beef tenderloin pot pie, which contains roasted potatoes, pearl onions, root vegetables, and red wine glaze, all served under a flaky pastry crust. Each entrée is complemented by candied yams with blackstrap molasses and toasted English walnuts, old-fashioned scalloped potatoes with mozzarella crust and country-style green beans. And dessert lovers will have two options: bananas foster bread pudding with eggnog English cream, and New York-style cheese cake with a graham cracker crust and a sweet cherry sauce.

One of country music's most successful female entertainers, Mandrell has been winning hearts for many years. She was no doubt shaped by her musical family, who started the Mandrell Family Band. It was during this time that Mandrell honed her skills playing instruments like the fiddle, bass, piano, guitar, banjo, synthesizer and clarinet. In the early 1980s, Mandrell gained even more attention with her string of hits and her stint on the popular television variety show Barbara Mandrell & the Mandrell Sisters. And Mandrell's theater in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. was home to the most successful show in that area for eight years.

Mandrell's list of hits include "I Thought You Never Asked," "Some of My Best Friends Are Old Songs," "Save Me," and "I Wanna Say Yes." She has been highly successful in the theater world, performing at the Grand Palace Theater in Branson, Mo., and at her very own, Louise Mandrell Theater in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

The Louise Mandrell's "Joy to the World" Christmas Dinner & Show will be held in the beautiful Delta A Ballroom inside Gaylord Opryland Hotel, beginning Nov. 15 through Dec. 25. Ticket prices including tax are $65 for adults, $32.50 for children aged 4 to 11, and children 3 and younger are free. "A Country Christmas" vacation packages are also available. For reservations vacation package and show information, please call 1-888-999-OPRY (6779) or visit www.gaylordopryland.com.

 

 

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