Lee Mace's Ozark Opry

Launched in 1953 by Brumley, Missouri's own jigging and slapping bass fiddle player, Lee Mace started his Ozark Opry next to the Bagnell Dam (at the mouth of the Lake of the Ozarks) in Bagnell, Missouri. Performing twice weekly from 1953, by 1957 the show was being put on four nights a week and Mace moved to the newly built Ozark Opry Auditorium in Osage Beach which was about 5 times as large. Before long the show had been televised and was broadcast to both KRCG-TV Jefferson City and KMOS-TV Sedalia. Produced in the "Branson-style" (a musical and comedic variety show oriented toward traditional community values and featuring country, bluegrass, and old time styles), the Ozark Opry ran continuously for 53 years every summer until 2006. The Opry closed its doors permanently in 2010 and, after a fire in 2013, the building was refurbished to become a museum for the Ozark Opry. Prominent members of the Opry included: • Lee Mace • Shorty Moyer • Bill "Goofer" Atterberry • Dave Blaser • Shirley Bradhurst • Howard Hinkley • Paulette Reves