Here's the C-J article: "New 'KentuckyShow!' will debut next month; 'KentuckyShow!' is nearly all new"

Here's a snip:

Quote:

The old north lobby at the Kentucky Center is being transformed into the home of "KentuckyShow!" The show, a 31-minute, multimedia production on the state's history, people, culture, economy and geography, will have a VIP charity preview Sept. 12, then open to the public daily starting Sept. 13. The show will be an "emotional and compelling, multimedia contemporary portrait of Kentucky," said Sharon Potter, the executive producer and chairwoman of the show's nonprofit board. The original "KentuckyShow!" opened on Fourth Street in the old Kentucky Theatre in 1984. When the show began to lose money it moved to Bardstown, where it played sporadically for nearly 10 years.

Coincidentally, the old "KentuckyShow!" was run at the Civil War Museum in Bardstown, where LouHI co-founder and Civil War historian/author Bryan S. Bush was curator from 1996–2000. He became very well-acquainted with running this program, along with what was a very antiquated technical setup, from what he has told me.

This new version should be very interesting, and more importantly, refreshed.

Steve Magruder — LouHI Administrator and web programmer


Please become a fan of Louisville History & Issues on Facebook

Dear Fellow Louisville citizens:

I have just come back from seeing the Kentucky Show! and I thought I would report on the show. The Show! has gone through some major changes. The Show! covers the people, history, culture, music, religion, sports, politics, and geography and broken into several themes including, Time, Place, and Perspectives. The Show! starts off with talking about the early settlers and talks about the Civil War and gave the statistic that Kentucky gave 100,000 men to the Union and 40,000 to the Confederacy. The Show! has included a lot more about black culture and history which the first show was sorely lacking. The Show! has been updated to show that UPS and Humana are huge powerhouses in the state. I liked seeing Ricky Skaggs as the torchholder for Bluegrass Music. The Show! covers Louisville's economic history very heavily and made the statement that without Louisville, the state cannot survive economically and without Kentucky, Louisville cannot survive. The Kentucky Show also points out the extensive rivers, lakes, and the longest cave system in the world, being Mammoth Cave. The Kentucky Show also covers UofL and UofK very heavily with their colleges and sports. One thing I would like to see changed in the show, and revert back to the original is Kentucky's state song: Stephen Foster's My Old Kentucky Home. In the original production, My Old Kentucky Home is sung at the very end with one of the most moving renditions of the song. After playing the show for five years, the end song managed to bring a tear to my eye every time. The song is now played during the part of the greatest two minutes in sports: the Kentucky Derby. The end of the show now has just smiling faces. The Show! would have a much more powerful ending if the Kentucky's state song would be played at the end. Overall, I would highly recommend the Kentucky Show! to anyone who has brought friends to Louisville or Kentucky. The production is much better than the original and probably the closest to a museum we will ever get in the city. Hats off to Donna Lawrence.