It’s nice to see people picnicking on blankets on the grass again.
That was the scene on my first visit to The Grove, the outdoor venue at Germantown Performing Arts Center. I stopped by to take a photo and try some food at the Pok Cha food truck, which provided eats for the guests. I loved the food, but I also loved The Grove.
The Memphis Symphony Orchestra, directed by Robert Moody, was performing. I got to hear part of the Elgar cello concerto performed by Gabriel Martins. The weather was great. About 300 people were there. The facility is wonderful.
And they’ve already had 105 events there since May 2020, says GPAC executive director Paul Chandler. “We started with events with 25 people. Incredible. We’re exhausted.”
The Opera Memphis production of Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg will be featured at 7 p.m. on June 12th. “It’s inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg-Antonin Scalia.”
They hit the ground running after The Grove was completed. “The construction was completed in May of 2020,” Chandler says. It was added as “an audience builder for the overall complex. A 1,200 capacity outdoor venue. Patrons gather on the TrueGreen outdoor lawn. There’s a VIP seating area, tables. Paid patrons bring their own folding chairs and blankets.”
The Grove’s “big video wall” is something Chandler is particularly proud of. “That thing is really cool. It moves downstage and upstage. You can broadcast the performance that’s inside GPAC live outside. It also allows us to present films and movies. We’ve been doing films and movies with performing art-related movies since June 4th, of 2020.
“We have a new summer movie series.The next one is Friday, June 18th [at 7 p.m.]. Funny Girl. Made possible by Bellano Dental Health.”
The film series will run through August.
GPAC’s free event in The Grove is the Bluebird Happy Hour, which takes place between 5 and 8:30 p.m. every Thursday during June. “Live local performers for free. Cash bar and food trucks.”
And on June 26th, GPAC will present “Summer Soiree in the Grove,” Chandler says. “We hope to make it an annual event. It’s table seating for the first time inThe Grove.”
The Memphis Hepcats will perform. “We’re celebrating the great American songbook.”
For information on tickets and events, call the GPAC box office at 901-751-7500.