Gruene Hall
A Country and Western Music Fantasy
Gruene Hall – Written by Alan Nafzger
PREMISE: When a Country and Western musician dies in Texas they don’t go to heaven; they go to Gruene Hall.
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Gruene Hall – FADE IN:
Gruene Hall
INT. GREENROOM – Gruene Hall – NIGHT
GARY P. WISEMAN (80) is a very old man. He is the attraction of a motley band of country and western performers. He is surrounded by immature kids – Donnie (20), Robert (21), JOHN (24) and KELLY (17). Backstage, the band’s children are nervously pacing and occasionally one of the band members walks out to glance at the crowd.
Gruene Hall
Gary is reclining, with a cowboy hat over his face, calmly waiting for the concert to begin.
Gruene Hall
The four young men are all staring at a reproduction hanging on the wall – W.H.D. Koerner’s “Hard Winter”. It is a fairly famous painting of a cowboy on a horse in a blizzard.
Gruene Hall
John nods to the painting.
JOHN
You ever been that cold?
ROBERT
No.
DONNIE
Not me.
KELLY
One time, Wichita Falls, it was 9 degrees and the wind was blowing. I had the flue and was out of gas. I had to get out the truck and pump the gas. I was miserable.
They look at the kid like he is a wimp.
JOHN
So what are you trying to say?
Kelly is speechless.
JOHN
Putting gas in your truck. That is nothing like the suffering of a real cowboy on a horse in a blizzard. Maybe miles or days away from a fire. Might be dead pretty soon.
(chuckling)
Pumping gas…
EXT. DANCE HALL & STAGE – Gruene HALL – NIGHT
Outside we see at sign, “TONIGHT COUNTRY LEGEND: Gary P. Wiseman”.
INT. DANCE HALL & STAGE – Gruene HALL – NIGHT
The crowd is fairly thin. A single ROADIE (35) is setting up the equipment. There is a disc-jockey playing country dance tunes warming up the crowd. Three or four couples are dancing. Mostly people are chatting, drinking and waiting for the live music.
INT. GREENROOM – Gruene HALL – NIGHT
JOHN
Old man, how long you been workin’ these dive bars?
KELLY
I don’t know this place is okay.
ROBERT
I seen nicer.
DONNIE
What are ya’ll talking about; he was on television.
ROBERT
Black and White, yea.
JOHN
When was that?
Gary wakes up. Takes the hat off his face and sits up.
GARY
DONNIE
That was color, right.
JOHN
Bars like this?
GARY
Since 1957.
JOHN
Shit!
DONNIE
You must have been a kid.
GARY
Yep. I was in the 7th grade.
DONNIE
Damn.
GARY
My daddy didn’t want me to go. But my mom took me.
DONNIE
Heheh! I’d like to have seen that one.
JOHN
An elementary school teacher in a bar back then must have been a scandal.
GARY
Not really. She sat at a table up front.
KELLY
So you didn’t get nothing thrown at you?
GARY
Something like that.
JOHN
What about your daddy?
GARY
He was a church deacon and stayed out in the car.
KELLY
Boy howdy.
GARY
But he told her to come out there and get him if there was any trouble.
KELLY
That is a good story. See, I told you boys we’d learn something playing in this band.
CUT TO black and white:
INT. COTTON CLUB SALOON – LUBBOCK – 1957
There are four grown MEN and a boy on stage. The men look comfortable but the BOY (Gary) is nervous and stiff in appearance. There is a conservative woman, dressed something like Joan Cleaver, sitting watching the band perform. She is enjoying it immensely. There is a fight and she is jostled around a bit.
The front man for the band stops singing but the band continue to play. He motions to the back of the room.
FRONT MAN
Hey can we get some help up here. These two boys need to go outside.
Some bouncers arrive and herd the still fighting men outside. They don’t stop the fight but sort of shove them out a fire exit door.
The front man resumes singing.
The boy on stage looks afraid his mom is going to pull him out of there. But she doesn’t. They continue to play.
RETURN TO:
INT. GREENROOM & PATH TO STAGE – Gruene HALL – NIGHT
The roadie opens the door and waves for them. The stage is ready and the show is about to begin.
The young band members are on the stage before Gary is out the greenroom door. Gary gets off the couch like he is 80 years old. Only a few in the crowd applaud. They take their instruments and do the sound check.
INT. HALLWAY TO THE STAGE – Gruene HALL – NIGHT
Gary is escorted down the hall by the club manager but is stopped in the hall by a very pretty FILLY(16). Cute frisky. Bubbly.
FILLY
Mr. Wiseman? I’ve wondering. What does the “P” stand for? Gary P. Wiseman on all the posters and the albums have your middle initial. What does it stand for?
GARY
Potsqualli.
FILLY
(chuckling)
What?
GARY
It’s native American. Fierce war Comanche chief back in my family line somewhere.
FILLY
Like your great grandfather? He was an Indian chief?
GARY
Great great great grandfather. I think.
FILLY
I’d have loved to have met him.
GARY
He would have killed you.
Gary looks at the whole girl.
GARY
On second thought, he would have let you live. For a while anyway.
FILLY
Oh. Wow! I knew there was a story in there somewhere. Amazing.
MANAGER
Girl, run on. This man is working.
FILLY
Daddy! I want to know what is going on.
MANAGER
Later okay?
The girl exits the back stage area and walks out on the floor.
MANAGER
Gary. Your middle name is “Paul”.
GARY
Well I know that. But it adds to the act. Don’t you think?
MANAGER
(chuckling)
American Indian. I never heard such a tall tail.
GARY
Show business.
MANAGER
Yeah, I know. She will post that on the internet. I get it.
INT. STAGE – GRUENE HALL – NIGHT
Gruene Hall
Gruene Hall, built in 1878 by Henry (Heinrich) D. Gruene and located in the historical town of Gruene, Texas (now a part of New Braunfels), bills itself as “the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas”. By design, not much has physically changed since the hall was first built. The 6,000-square foot dance hall with a high-pitched tin roof still has the original layout with side flaps for open-air dancing, a bar in the front, a small lighted stage in the back and a huge outdoor garden. Advertisement signs from the 1930s and 1940s still hang in the old hall and around the stage.
Under the current ownership, Gruene Hall has become internationally recognized as a destination tourist attraction and major music venue for up-and-coming as well as established artists. Gruene Hall has hosted such acts as Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard,LeAnn Rimes, George Strait, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lyle Lovett, Hal Ketchum, and Gregg Allman. It was also used as a set for Michael, starring John Travolta. Tracie Ferguson, the booking agent of 30 years, is credited with starting the original music approach that has made Gruene Hall an iconic music venue, helping to jump-start the careers of Lovett, Townes Van Zandt, Ketchum, Bruce Robison, Nanci Griffith, Ryan Bingham, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams and many others.
The hall has been featured in several books including Pat Green’s Dancehalls & Dreamers, Gail Folkins’ Texas Dance Halls: A Two Step Circuit, Vokac’s The Great Towns of America and Schultz’s 1000 Places to See Before You Die.
In 2019, ZZ Top did interviews, and played live music for many parts of the Documentary That Little ol’ Band from Texas, at the famous dance hall. At the end of the documentary, they walk out to the front of the dancehall in Gruene, with clear view of some of the town, and drove off together into the horizon.