Acclaimed country artist Mickey Guyton, in her first performance ever in Milwaukee, sang a stirring rendition of the National Anthem ahead of Game 1 of the World Series at American Family Field - while sporting a Brewers jersey.
As Guyton's voice soared to rising cheers, fans in the stadium waved a massive American flag, with members of the Milwaukee Police Department standing in salute, and Valkyrie, a 15-year-old bald eagle from Milwaukee's Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, also on the field.
Guyton was part of the pregame festivities that included people on the field coordinating card flips to map out key dates and logos for the postseason runs for the Milwaukee Brewers and their opponent the Tampa Bay Rays.
BDEntertainment, known for staging large-scale performances at major sporting and corporate events, including last year's World Series pregame in Toronto, was behind the Game 1 pregame show at American Family Field Oct. 23. The cast included about 350 people, largely Milwaukee-area residents, including 20 members of the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, and current and former marching band members at nearby universities, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"It's one of those incredible, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities," Dancing Grannies member Jan Kwiatkowski told the Journal Sentinel before the pregame show. "Life is short, and for us to be part of this bigger event and something that's this amazing for Milwaukee is an honor. Us old ladies can still do a lot of stuff and get out there and have fun and be involved."
In addition to the televised pregame performance at American Family Field, one of Milwaukee's most accomplished bands, Violent Femmes, performed a half-hour set for ticketholders about 45 minutes after the stadium opened Oct. 23.
Kayla Huynh contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mickey Guyton, in Brewers jersey, sings national anthem for Game 1 of World Series