The Shadow
CLIFTON FORGE—The Commonwealth of Virginia’s official Opry, The Virginia Opry, will perform “Patsy Meets Elvis at Its Blue Christmas Show” at the Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center on Sat., Dec. 2, at 7:00 p.m.
World Champion Elvis Tribute Artist Michael Hoover and his Showcase Band will perform many of Elvis’ hits, and Tribute Artist Denise Glass will present many of Patsy Cline’s songs and join Hoover to perform duets.
Both will return to perform in the hotel’s Washington Hall where a sellout crowd gave each a standing ovation for their individual sets before giving the couple a standing ovation at the end of the show on Aug. 12, 2022.
Hoover defeated 95 other Elvis tribute artists in Memphis to claim the World Championship, and he won the prestigious East Coast Talent Search competition as a country singer before switching to pursue his current career.
He has paid tribute to Elvis on TV, cruise ships, and stages across the nation and in, Mexico, Nova Scotia, Europe, and Japan.
Glass known in Southwest Virginia as the “Hillbilly Diva” of Lee County where she joined her father’s band as a child vocalist who fell in love with Patsy Cline’s music.
She remarked, “I remember my 5th grade teacher gave me a Patsy Cline cassette tape, and I played it over and over and learned every song.”
Glass, a frequent performer at the Lee Theatre in Pennington Gap, has been inducted into The Virginia Opry along with Hoover, and she has performed throughout Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
She and Hoover will be performing at the Graceland Entertainment Complex and several other Memphis venues during Elvis Week in 2024, and she and Hoover have performed several shows during Mayberry Days in Mt. Airy, North Carolina.
Both have performed numerous times at The Historic Masonic Theatre in Clifton Forge where Hoover held the box office record for Appalfolks of America Association (AAA), the founder of The Virginia Opry, for several years.
Tickets purchased in advance are $25. Those purchased on the day of the show are $30. The group rate for 10 or more is $20 per ticket.
Tickets may be purchased by visiting www.thevirginiaopry.com.
The Virginia Opry was founded on October 17, 1992, in Clifton Forge, and the Virginia House of Delegates honored the Opry by passing “Resolution 397” on February 17, 2017, for completing 25 consecutive years of country music productions.
Governor Ralph S. Northam signed “Senate Bill 283” to designate The Virginia Opry as the official Opry of the Commonwealth of Virginia on March 31, 2020.
Some of the artists who have performed for AAA are Dan Seals, The Kentucky Headhunters, The Freight Hoppers, The Farm Hands, The Darrell Webb Band, Chris Lane, Lily Rose, Ashley Cooke, Goose Creek Symphony, Charles Billingsley, Glen Shelton, The Easter Brothers, Charlie Waller and the Country Gentlemen, Mike Seeger, Bruce Allen, Keith Bryant, Robin and Linda Williams and Their Fine Group, Bob Campbell and the Coachmen and Bill Pinkney’s Original Drifters.
