Day 1 You'll See:
- Beale Street
- Playhouse on the Square - Matinee
- Memphis Rock n Soul Museum
- National Civil Rights Museum
Day 2 You'll See:
Day 3 You'll See:
On this 3-day tour through Memphis, your student group will get to experience the city's most iconic and educational attractions while performing along the way, stopping at Memphis' most popular theaters and performing spaces like the Orpheum, Playhouse on the Square, and Graceland.
1
Beale Street
Energetic and resilient Beale Street has survived a hurricane of feast, famine, scourge and plague, renovation and renewal and growth and change to arrive where it is today: the TOP attraction in all of Tennessee, acclaimed entertainment venue, local hangout, and important Memphis cultural hotspot. Today, Beale’s bawdy, bluesy atmosphere is somewhat tempered by a strong, tourism-driven economy, though the area remains a virtual 2-mile beacon of cafes and restaurants, raucous clubs, live music, street performers, an array of kitschy novelty and eclectic specialty shops, music stores, houses of worship, theaters, pool halls, landmark museums and historic points of interest with a distinctly Southern-fried appeal steeped in a richly authentic Blues culture and feel.
Playhouse on the Square Matinee
This performing arts company has put on 744 shows since opening in 1969, starting their dazzling career with a performance of The Fantasticks. Today you will see popular on and off-Broadway shows such as Kinky Boots, Peter Pan, Little Shop of Horrors, and much more each season. One of our favorite things about the theater production center(s) is the fantastic education options available to students near and far. When visiting the Playhouse on the Square your group can take part in several different classes, workshops, and performances themselves, with ample educational resources available for parents and teachers. We highly suggest you take a tour of the theater, see either a School Matinee or evening performance, and consider taking part in any workshops that may be happening during your visit, such as Play Slam!, Youth Theater Classes, Teens 'N Theater, and much more!
Memphis Rock n Soul Museum
Visitors here are introduced to the brave musical pioneers who overcame daunting racial and socio-economic barriers to craft the music that would ultimately shape a city. Located at 191 Beale Street, the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, developed in unique cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution, offers guests a personal and comprehensive Memphis music experience they won’t soon forget, with a convenient digital audio tour presenting more than five hours of music and fascinating information ushering guests at their own pace through seven galleries filled with wonderful musical artifacts and surprising treasures, summarily providing a detailed and intriguing cross-section of the rich history of that unmistakable, unforgettable sweet Delta sound.
National Civil Rights Museum
Through a comprehensive series of interactive exhibits including A Culture of Resistance, The Rise of Jim Crow, World in Transition, Join the Movement and The King’s Last Hours, fascinating historic collections and a range of dynamic speakers and special events, a tour of the National Civil Rights Museum leads groups on an enlightening and immersive journey through five centuries of history, from the dawn of the resistance and through the Civil War and reconstruction to significant events of the late twentieth century that inspired people around the world to rise, step away from an oppressive heritage of stolen futures and mournful predisposition, shake off the heavy chains of segregation and stand for equality.
2
Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum
Visitors to the Burkle Estate, just a few minutes from iconic Beale Street, are treated to a well-presented tour of the modest clapboard house and grounds, wonderfully preserved and recreated in the manner of its day of service with historical documents, period furniture, hand-stitched quilts, and other relevant artwork and well attended by passionate, knowledgeable guides who supply the details of the darkly oppressive days of slavery during Jacob Burkle’s time, and the way in which many were aided, en route to possible freedom, with safe-haven provided in the home. Guests will learn how slaves transmitted coded information via songs (spirituals) and quilt patterns to escape captivity and are shown the cellar, secret crawl spaces and trap doors they used to access refuge on the property, where they would silently wait for the right time to continue on their perilous journey upriver.
Sun Studio Tour
Student groups on Tennessee holiday exploring iconic Beale Street must NOT miss an opportunity to stop in at this landmark historic attraction, a springboard for some of the most important careers in the history of music and comfort food for established modern talent looking to tradition for occasional inspiration.
3
Performance at Graceland
See the legend's mansion, jets, cars, and all the things that influenced him to turn into the legend he is today. Student groups are offered the opportunity to perform at Elvis Presley’s Memphis, the new facility just opened across the street from the Mansion. This is a great way to inspire and encourage your group, hard work, and dedication from the experience resonating in the minds and hearts of your students. There isn’t a much greater reward for a teacher than knowing you shaped your student’s lives in a productive and positive way, and a trip to the Mansion could be just the thing to do so and motivate them for years to come!
Graceland Tour
Guests enjoy audio-guided tours of the mansion featuring charming commentary and stories by Elvis and his daughter, Lisa Marie; they see where Elvis worked, played, ate, slept and spent quality time with his family and friends on a very personal look inside his home, with peeks into each lovingly, elaborately decorated room, furnished in his signature extravagant style. You will visit the notorious Jungle Room, which Elvis turned into a home recording studio, the Trophy Building, actually, an enclosed area of the home, where a magnificent collection of gold and platinum records, as well as a cache of wonderful memorabilia from Elvis’ early career, movies, charitable endeavors and more, reside, and the Racketball Building in the backyard, where a few of the King’s iconic custom jumpsuits and an impressive array of posthumous awards are displayed.