December 5, 2021 - Branson Day 7 - Heading Home

 Like I said - "all good things must end..."  It was sad to be leaving Branson but a few more days of this schedule would probably have killed us.  Seriously this was a wonderful adventure.  Not just for the shows as such but also because of the feelings that were left for us - feelings of patriotism and all-American values that all of the productions supported.  Branson is a time capsul of what America used to be like. You can't help but feel more patriotic after all the tributes to Veterans.  The suttle lessons about the values we should espouse made us all have encreased gratitude for living in this fine land.

So with one last treat from our host George Dyer and his son, Garrett, we were off for home.  Two days and three flights later were were back to home sweet home.

December 4, 2021 - Branson Day 6 - Our Final Three Fantastic Shows

 Show 14 - The day started out with A Brett Family Christmas.  The multi-talented famly of Mom, Dad, and their son and daughter spent a musical 2 hours entertaining us.

This multi-tallented family did a beautiful tribute to our Veterans (as all shows did - but theirs was really good.)

The daughter played the piano beautifully along with singing.

Her brother was great a both song and dance:

Overall this was an excellent program - a great one for all to see.

After the show we were left downtown for about two hours so we could pick a place to eat and do a little shopping.

Show 15 - Jesus at the Sights and Sounds Theater - This is the story of the Savior's life and death but it is far more than that.  It does tell his story with a lot of theactrial license - making the story more alive and personal than the Bibical version.  My only complaint really is the story was heavy on theater and humor while it seemed to lack the reverence and spirit of the story.

Here is the venue.  It is a huge building on the top of a hill.

But the main reason you can't miss this is for the sets and visual effects.  It is totally over the top.  Words can't begin to really describe this and unfortunately photos during the program are not permitted so all I can do is pull some pictures off the web site.

This picture doesn't really do it justice as you can't really tell the size of the set.  The buildings are two stories tall - and I mean in real size.  This is a some-what U shaped stage that if put in our local Save Mart Center where Fresno State plays basketball would fill in one whole side of the arena - just the stage.

Beyond the staging there were animals (horses, sheep, goats) and people going up and down the isles through the audience and birds that would fly overhead.

Then there were the visual effects.  I wondered from the beginning how they could make Jesus walking on water look realistic but they did an outstanding job of visual effects especially with water and sky to where things looked very realistic.

This is a picture of Peter casting his net in the sea and catching a net full of fish.

One last thought on this production:  There was a lot of side dialogue that at first seemed to take you away from the story as told in the Gospels, but as I look back I am glad it was there as it helped personalize the stories and helped to bring the stories to life by adding a little meat to the stories we have read all our lives.  In conclusion the staging and effects alone make this a show worth watching.

Following the show we had one last, very short dinner at our favorite diner before we hit the final production of our tour:

Show 16 - Illusionist Rick Thomas - It was fun to be down front and center for a magic show - we were so close we could see the sweat run down his face.  Rick is a true world class performer having spent much of his career in Las Vegas.  His assistant is his wife.

He is really good a playing the audience.  One of the best parts of the show was his getting a six year old boy up on stage and levitating a table with the boy's help.  The looks of wonder on the boy's face were priceless.

He made many things appear including two huge white dogs and a full sized motercycle but the best was the helicopter:

He ended the show by levitating his wife and then making her and himself disappear.  Great show.

This was a great way to end our trip.  It was sad to come to an end of this adventure but as they say "all good things must end some day..."

December 3, 2021 - Branson Day 5 - A Change of Pace and Great Ending

 We got to have a restful morning (and boy did we need it) because we were headed to Silver Dollar City amusement park today and it didn't open until noon or so.  The goal was to see two shows, have time to tour around the park some - catch at least dinner there along with watching two performances.  Unfortunately we got snarled in a terrible traffic jam and ended up almost an hour behind schedule.  George, our leader, was able to pull some strings and got the first of our shows held up so we could see it even though they didn't start until they were seriously late.

Show 11 - A Christmas Show - It was OK - nothing special but it was well done.

Show 12 - We had to trek completely across the park to get to the other venue where they had Dicken's A Christmas Carol.  This production was really well done, the costumes and sets were excellent.  We really enjoyed this show.

Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Past:

And then the Ghost of Christmas Present - she was a real kick:

She takes Scrooge to see Tiny Tim and his family:

Lastly the Ghost of Christmas future:

Scrooge sees people dancing on his coffin:

Following the show we had to literally grab a dinner and dash for the main gate to get on our bus to our late show which we were late for but again they held it for us.  Along the way we did get to see lots of Christmas lights:

Show 13 - The Hughes Brother's Christmas - Another must see show.  A huge family - 45 in the production.  It is fantastic how even the youngest children have such stage presence.   This Christmas program includes singing, dancing, holiday humor and a special visit from Santa - all backed up by a live band.

Here are the brothers and wives:

No one is too young to perform:

Again another great day came to an end.

December 2, 2021 - Branson Day 4 - Three More Great Shows

 Show 8 - All Hands on Deck - Strange but for some reason I have no photos of this show.  In any case it was a high-energy WWII USO Big Band Roadshow and Radio Broadcast reinactment.  The music was from the early 40's and wound through the story of a group of Hollywood Stars doing a tour to sell War Bonds.  Two of the leads are from Broadway - Judy Madaras and Valerie Hill.

The 9-piece band provided background for the songs and dance, which included a lot of Broadway style tap dancing.

So in spite of being a little before my time, many of the songs were familiar and the show was very well done.

After All Hands on Deck we were taken down to the Imax Theater where they have a little indoor shopping area and restaurant.  The lunch wasn't the best but it was OK.  Mom made out like a bandit by purchasing a beautiful patriotic quilt for our bed.  (Sorry - forgot to take a picture of it.) The big blue Christmas tree graced the center of the court.

Show 9 - The Petersens - This was actually my favorite show.  They play traditional bluegrass music and it was absolutely phenominal - and I am not a bluegrass fan.  They play gospel, Christmas, yodeling, etc. to put together a complete show.  They have their own Youtube channel and have millions of hits.  The stock photo below shows the whole group.

The young man with the acustic guitar isn't really a Petersen.  When we saw them they had Mom with two daughters and their son.

If you want to hear some great music go to their Youtube channel.  This production was in a small Imax theater with seats in a half circle around the stage.  We were over on the right side so it was hard to get everyone in the picture.

Dinner - Back to the Grand Country Buffet.

Show 10 - Haygoods Christmas Show - The Haygoods are 5 brothers and a sister.  They have been performing since 1993 in Branson - literally growing up on the stage.  This is a must see show - the lights, pyrotechics, and outstanding music make this a great entertainment.  All counted they use over 20 instruments in their numbers.

Lighting was spectactular!

You never knew what was going to happen next:

Why do normal tap dancing - they said they can last up to two minutes upsidedown like this tap dancing.

This was a show you hoped wouldn't end.

December 1, 2021 - Branson Day 3 - Four show day

 Day 3 in Branson was a fully packed day - 4 shows (one was just a short along with diner.  

Show 4 - The day started off with Cassandre - Voice of an Angel - and she does sing beautifully.

She is a sophrano and sings all types of music.  The first half of her show was the best of her regular program and the second half was her Christmas Show.

She did some comedy skits as her aunt and had one of the band players team up with her.

Lunch was back at the Grand Country Buffet - which was fine by most of us. Good food and fast service.

Show 5 - After lunch we were off to The Dutton's Experience.  This is an LDS family 

They perform bluegrass to classical music and everything in between.  They play all kinds of instruments - violin, guitar, bass, viola, banjo mandolin, keyboard, harmonica, and drums among others.

How good were they?  Let's just say we bought their DVD.

Show 6 - A Shephard's Christmas Carol Dinner Show - This was unfortunately the one dud of the entire trip.  To me the food was gross and the program was fair at best.  Probably less said the better in my opinion.

The young lady (second from right) was yoddeling and also played a good violin.

Show 7 - Clay Cooper Christmas Show -  Excellent show - We really enjoyed this one.  This show was filled with lots of singing, dancing, comedy, 24 entertainers on stage, great visuaal effects, and a variety of music - old and new country, rock, currrent hits, gospel, and patriotic!  This is s must see show.

The above stock picture does them much better justice than any of my poor pictures.

The thing about Clay is he isn't just an entainer but also loves to connect with the audience. He made Margaret's day that was for sure.  This was a great way to end the day.