CLIFTON FORGE—Jana Allen, vocalist and actress, will replace Gentlemen South as an opening act for The Virginia Opry’s “Christmas with Charles Billingsley” at the Natural Bridge Historic Hotel on Tues., Dec. 21, 2001, at 7 p.m.
Allen will co-emcee the show with Glen Shelton. Both are graduates of Liberty University where Billingsley serves as the head of LU’s music program. Shelton graduated from LU in 1989, and Allen matriculated in 2003.
The Virginia Opry’s “Christmas with Charles Billingsley” will complete the troupe’s 30th performance season. The troupe has grown from 10 performers who were in the first Virginia Opry show on Oct. 17, 1992, to 43 members that constitute nine bands.
Billingsley has become one of the nation’s most popular Christian music recording artists, having released more than 24 Christian music albums and having performed with NewSong from 1994-1997.
After leaving Thomas Road Baptist Church in 2005 to accept a position with Dr. David Jeremiah at the Shadow Mountain Community Church in San Diego, Calif., Billingsley remained there until 2019.
Now he has returned to LU and Thomas Road Baptist Church, and he has recovered from being stricken with COVID-19 and has returned to performing solo.
Allen has recorded “Home Sweet Home, Virginia,” The Virginia Opry’s official theme song, and she has performed in more than 20 movies and TV programs from Hollywood to New York City where she attended the William Esper Studio in Manhattan for a two-year stint of studying the Misner method of acting.
She is the official spokesperson for The Virginia Opry, and she has been performing as a vocalist since she was in the 6th grade at Sharon Elementary School in Alleghany County. “Remember Yesterday: a Wilmington Love Story,” an independent film that she stars in as the lead female actress, is set to be released in 2022.
Hunt Brothers Pizza is the corporate sponsor of The Virginia Opry, and WKEY’s 103.5 Big Country is the Radio Home of The Virginia Opry. In July, Natural Bridge Historic Hotel and Conference Center became the Resort Performance Home of The Virginia Opry. In Oct., Clifton Forge City Council voted 5-0 to designate the Town of Clifton Forge as the official Home of The Virginia Opry.
Tickets are $40 each for The Virginia Opry’s “Christmas with Charles Billingsley” and may be purchased online by visiting www.naturalbridgeva.com, and dinner in the Colonial Dining Room (for a separate fee) will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m. for those who wish to dine prior to the show that will be held in Washington Hall.
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