Array opens in Pigeon Forge
By Michael Williams
April 14, 2023

The Cast of Array performs a wonderful, family oriented variety show featuring a variety of acts from around the world performing music, comedy, juggling and much more.

Pigeon Forge is the new home of a new show aptly named Array. As the name implies the show features a dazzling array of talented singers, dancers, comedian, jugglers, silk aerialists and more. The show was created by Hugh and Chelsi Warren, a husband and wife team that have performed at other venues such as Dolly Parton’s Stampede. The Warrens created a similar show in Indiana that is now in its fifth year. Hugh performs in the show as well as his 9-year-old son, Jace, who was a featured performer at Country Tonite in 2022.

Array features performers from around the world such as Niels Duniker a world class jugglar who has set eight world records featured in the Guniess Book of World Records. Among theose records are the record for juggling the longest duration while blindfolded and juggling 14 Indian clubs. Part of Dunikers act involves juggling luminous clubs that change color and design that creates amazing and colorful optical illusions.

Opening the show and providing comedy relief is the colorfully dressed and amusing Ray Adams who plays the bumbling stage hand and emcee. Among other performers are singers and dancers performing music from the ‘80s including pop, country and gospel. The performers pay tribute to Latin music influenced by music of Cuba and a rhythemic medley of hits by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine with such tunes as “The Rhythm is gonna get you”, “Conga” and others.

Many fans of the Smokey Mountain Opry will remember the silk aerialist duo of Leann Farley and Semyon Gruzdev who appeared at the Opry for several seasons before its closing. The duo met in Branson, Missouri where Gruzdev was performing at the Yakov Smirnoff Show. The duo formed an act known as Duo Artis in which he performs acrobatics while dangling above the stage suspended by two sheets of silk.

“GoGaucho” dancers Sebastian and Amberlyn Sayago bring a unique, high-energy Argentinian performance to the stage. The Latin troupe use boleadoras “bolas,” double balls affixed to long leather cords, to dance with their native drums.

Nicole Landkas and Cristian Bilea, “Duo Devotion,” perform a difficult and dangerous chair balancing artistry and strap aerialist act. Landkas from Sarasota, Fla., is a fifth generation circus performer who started performing at the age of 6. Bilea, from Bucharest, Romania, is a second generation circus performer. He attended the Academy of Circus in Italy and the Academy of Gymnastics in Romania. Both Landkas and Bilea have performed in Circus Hollywood (the world’s largest outdoor thrill circus), in several Cirque du Soleil shows, on Celebrity cruises and at Busch Gardens.

Array is located at 2135 Parkway in Pigeon Forge in the former Buttonwillow Civil War Theater which is now known as the Mountain of Entertainment Theater.

Warren said that the show was partly inspired by Cirque du Soliel and the Smoky Mounatin Opry.

“We didn’t want to copy the Opry but we wanted to get the same feel,” said Warren. We want people to experience as many different elements as they can in one show,” Warren said. “We will also have music to fit everyone’s musical taste. We want to bring something to this Smoky Mountain region that we believe is missing in today’s entertainment options. To call our new show, ‘Array,’ the newest and most exciting variety show in Pigeon Forge is an understatement.

Array is not to be missed. It is a show that has been missing in Pigeon Forge for quite some time. For more informmation, visit the website mountainofentertainmenttheater.com.