The Connie Abston Archive & History Exhibition

We're opening up our Green Rooms every Wednesday at 2pm for an incredible and immersive guided tour that will take you from our 1936 beginnings all the way to the present, and everything in between. Our historic stage has some stories to tell, and now you have the chance to hear them!

IT ALL STARTED WHEN…

From FDR to Operetta through Elvis to the North Mississippi Allstars—an Overview of Memphis Music from almost a Century at the historic Overton Park Shell. Experience The Shell’s 86-year historic story in the Green Rooms of The Shell curated through the support of Connie Abston, whose devotion to The Shell lives forever with our backstage experience.

Tour Opportunity

$15 per person for 30-45 minute backstage experience

*Includes guided conversation in the Green Rooms and stage tour of Overton Park Shell.

*Group tours of 5+ will need to schedule a reservation (up to 20 people).

For more information and to book your tour, call 901/300-3011 or email: tours@overtonparkshell.org

All proceeds from the Connie Abston Archive & History Exhibition supports the continued preservation of the Overton Park Shell.

The Connie Abston Archive & History Exhibition honors Connie’s long and meaningful history with The Shell, beginning with her childhood in the 1940s during the Memphis Open Air Theater (MOAT) period. Beginning in 1950, her stepmother, the renowned singer, Marguerite Piazza, was a regular performer and staunch Shell supporter, allowing Connie to enjoy The Shell through several decades with her, especially given that Marguerite Piazza performed at The Shell into the 1990s.

The Connie Abston Archive and History Exhibition is funded in part by a grant from Humanities Tennessee, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the NEH Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) initiative.