Month: October 2009

In a recent article entitled “Branson provides a Boo-tacular Halloween for trick-or-treaters” Paul Miller, General Manager for Branson Tourism Center (BTC), one of Branson’s largest and most respected vacation planning services and sellers of Branson show and attraction tickets and lodging said, “A visit to Branson over the Halloween weekend provides plenty of opportunities for children in Branson on Halloween, whether locals or visitors, to dress up in costumes and have a variety of convenient safe ways to “trick-or-treat,” have fun and celebrate a safe Halloween.”

“In fact” he said, “One of the area’s longest running events is Hollister’s “Boo Bash” which will actually be held the night before Halloween.” The Seventh Annual Boo Bash will be held at the Ozark Mountain Family YMCA in Hollister on Friday, October 30 from 6-8 p.m. The event is free, open to the public and will feature a hayride, face painting, Halloween games, a costume contest at 7:00 p.m. and of course candy. The candy will be dispersed through a unique “Trunk-n-Treat” walk featuring decorated cars with candy being dispensed from their trunks and a “Goody Walk” where candy will be dispensed from several booths sponsored by local companies.

Excerpts from the article:

One of the biggest events will be the “BOOnanza” sponsored by the city of Branson at the Branson Rec-Plex in Branson Hills between 4:30-8:00 p.m. on Halloween. BOOnanaza is for children 12 and under and will be held on the…

Branson Landing is promising a “Boo-tacular good time” at its free 3rd Annual Safe Street Trick or Treat event. Costumed children age 12 and under may trick-or-treat up and down the Branson Landing promenade from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. …

In addition, three other Branson malls will be having free safe alternative Halloween trick-or treat events…

Click here for the complete article

The Holiday Light Parade" winds its way through Main Street.

Combining the traditions families treasure at Christmastime and spectacular elements of holiday lights, sounds and activities, Silver Dollar City presents its brightest season and one of the most acclaimed holiday festivals in America — An Old Time Christmas, November 7 – December 30. An Old Time Christmas transforms the 1880s-style theme park into an evening wonderland, featuring the Christmas on Main Street light and sound show throughout the park Square, 1,000 decorated Christmas trees, a Holiday Light Parade, the Broadway-style production A Dickens’ Christmas Carol, festive holiday foods and over four million lights.

The 5-Story Special Effects Christmas Tree is the park centerpiece, a towering visual icon that comes to life at dusk each evening when the Christmas on Main Street shows begin. During the shows, the massive tree blazes in synchronization to the musical movements of Christmas songs — up to 100 light changes per second — while lights on buildings, in hanging canopies over Main Street and on Christmas trees around the Square flash along with it, accompanied by surround-sound, immersing guests in the experience. While technologically incredible, the tree is “green” too, operating with energy-saving LED [Light-Emitting Diode.]

Many guests make it a tradition to see Silver Dollar City’s acclaimed production, A Dickens’ Christmas Carol, an original musical adaptation of the famous classic by Charles Dickens. The show is brought to life with elaborate sets and visual effects, flying spirits, pyrotechnic special effects and a talented cast of 14, accompanied by a live band.

In the two decades of the festival, Silver Dollar City’s An Old Time Christmas has become one of the country’s most recognized events for spectacular lighting and world-class entertainment. Profiled as one of the nation’s top holiday celebrations by USA Today, CNN Travel, The Travel Channel and Good Morning America, the festival features dazzling elements throughout the 100-acre park. The colorful Holiday Light Parade, with musical floats covered in lights, winds through the streets of the City each evening as accompanying costumed characters interact with kids along the parade route. Additional shows include a musical presentation of the Living Nativity and the interactive show Frosty that invites kids to help bring the legendary snowman to life.

Fine craftsmanship is also showcased, as the park’s 100 demonstrating craftsmen create one-of-a-kind handmade holiday items, from blown glass ornaments, angels and snowmen to hand-woven white oak baskets and Scotch-pine scented candles. Guests sing Christmas carols as they ride the Silver Dollar Steam Train and for nighttime thrills, most of the rides and the park’s five roller coasters are open after dark with great views of the lights from above.

During An Old Time Christmas, Silver Dollar City is open Thursdays through Sundays through December 20, plus Wednesday, November 25, and open daily December 26-30. Hours are 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. most days.
Publication of this press release, on this site, sponsored by Branson Tourism Center (BTC) one of Branson’s largest and most respected vacation planning services and sellers of Branson show and attraction tickets and lodging. For additional information on Ozark Mountain Christmas, Old Time Christmas, or Branson shows, attraction or lodging BTC can be reached by calling the toll free number 800- 785-1550 or through its website www.BransonTourismCenter.com.

They were hand-picked by Louise Harrison, sister of the late George Harrison of the Beatles, to recreate the famous band and this week the Liverpool Legends are the guests on the “Gene Williams Country Music Television Show” to be telecast Oct. 24 and 25

“The Liverpool Legends return to my show for a chat and announcement that the band will be finishing this season in Branson at the Starlite Theatre and moving to the Manson in 2010. The band has toured the world, playing in historic venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Cavern Club in Liverpool, recording at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London and performing with Denny Laine (co-founder of Wings with Paul McCartney), Pete Best (the original Beatles drummer) and the Boston Pops. They appeared on The Travel Channel’s “Beatlemania Britain” and headlined International Beatles Week in Liverpool where 100,000 Beatles fans jammed Victoria Street to hear them in concert,” said Williams, the star and creator of the “Gene Williams Country TV Show.”

The show is co-hosted by Katie Lynn who has received the Branson Entertainment Awards Best Support Vocalist twice for her work in the "Mickey Gilley Show." She has worked with Gilley for more than 10 years and also worked with Jim Owen for seven years. She is finishing her fifth CD release titled Me and Jesus Laughing. In addition to her singing career, she is a real estate agent.

Publication of this press release, on this site, sponsored by Branson Tourism Center (BTC) one of Branson’s largest and most respected vacation planning services and sellers of Branson show and attraction tickets and lodging. BTC can be reached by calling 800- 785-1550 or through its website www.BransonTourismCenter.com.

In Branson, Missouri, a town filled with exciting shows, shopping and things to do, it is really a tribute when people describe something as “magical,” “spectacular,” or “awesome.” Yet those are the words that the Branson Board used when responding to the question, “What are some of the top shows/attractions at Christmas time. I am particularly interested in hearing what Silver Dollar City and Dixie Stampede are like at Christmas.”

Now the “Board” replying to the question, was not the City of Branson Board of Alderman or the Board of the Chamber of Commerce, it was the members of the “Board,” more formerly known as the Forums on www.1Branson.com. Paul Miller, General Manager, Branson Tourism Center, points out that the Board, and the service it provides to potential Branson visitors by volunteers willing to share their knowledge of Branson, is just one indication of what a special experience a trip to Branson can be.

No exact count has been made of the how many members of the Board there are, but a large number of them have made hundreds of posts answering questions about Branson and trying to help people have a great Branson experience. It is primarily a volunteer effort and it is not unusual to get a response with minutes.

But, back to the Board’s response to the question presented by “motravelerken” (all Board members are anonymous and identified only by screen name). To keep things in context, the whole post read, “I have been to Branson in the summer but hear that Christmas in Branson is awesome. What are some of the top shows/attractions at Christmas time? I am particularly interested in hearing what Silver Dollar City [SDC] and Dixie Stampede are like at Christmas.”

As will become apparent and as wonderful and entertaining as Branson is during the rest of the year, Branson at Christmas is special. “Daytimer,” responds “You will love Branson at Christmas time. SDC is amazing, love to watch the big tree lights blinking to music and sipping on the hot chocolate with whip cream!!! Its just magical.” “Everything in Branson is just beautiful at Christmas. It is truly an old-fashioned Christmas. Just driving down the strip is spectacular,” says "Show Gal."

Show Gal also points out that “SDC is beautiful at Christmas. They have Christmas lights on everything that can possibly hold a strand of lights. My favorite time is just as it is beginning to get dark. You can still get a good view of all the buildings but the lights are bright enough to see. Dixie Stampede is decorated to the max. Shows and costumes are in the Christmas theme, along with their excellent no-hands meal.”

“PatiCake101” responds, “There really aren’t enough words to describe Silver Dollar City during the Christmas Season…it’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. There are millions of lights, and Christmas trees everywhere you look, with Christmas music galore, hot cider and wassail and smores made around a fire. The smells, the lights, the sounds, and the Christmas spirit that you feel as you enter the park..it’s simply magical. Magical!”
PatiCake101 continues, “The Dixie Stampede is also all decked out for Christmas. The meal is the same, but the atmosphere is “Christmassy” .with themed music, a live nativity and beautiful settings.” Branson Tourism Centers Paul Miller adds “Dixie Stampede will be debuting a bright new musical fantasy, for the 2009 Christmas season called “The Magic of Toys.”

In talking about their favorite Christmas shows PatiCake 101 says, “Andy Williams is one of our favorite Christmas shows, he’s kind of known as “Mr. Christmas.” The Dutton’s also have a great Christmas show, along with so many more to choose from. Miller concurs saying, “Branson has so many shows and almost every one of them will be decorated for Christmas and have Christmas as a prominent theme. He agrees wholeheartedly with PatiCake’s conclusion, “You just can’t help getting in the ‘spirit,’ I LOVE Branson at Christmas and it is my favorite time of year there.”

Miller reminds potential Branson visitors that Branson’s “Ozark Mountain Christmas” celebration, starting November 1 and running through December 31, particularly through December 15, is one of the busiest times of year the in Branson. He recommends advance reservations to insure getting the type of accommodations and show seating desired. In that regard Miller points out the Branson Tourism Center (BTC) is one of Branson’s largest and most respected vacation planning services and sellers of Branson show and

The “good news” is that Branson, Missouri, often referred to as the “Live music show capital of the world,” has dozens of shows of every type and variety to pick from every day. The “bad news,” in terms of deciding which show to see and when, is that Branson has dozens of shows of every type and variety to pick from every day. How to pick the type of show one wants to see, a particular show or performer and a specific time can seem daunting, but help is available.

Just about every organization involved in tourism and selling Branson show tickets publishes a list of Branson shows. An excellent example of this type of list is the Branson Show Schedule published by the Branson Tourism Center (BTC), one of Branson’s largest and most respected vacation planning services and sellers of Branson show and attraction tickets and lodging, on its website www.BransonTourismCenter.com.

Like most Branson showschedules the BTC scheduloe is sorted alphabetically and contains a link to other information for the shows listed such as prices, an indication of whether or not the performance is a limited engagement and if the tickets are discounted all on the main page. In addition, the link from the main show entry for each show contains additional information such as the description of the show, schedules, pricing, pictures and, in a lot of cases, videos.

Although these types of schedules provide a lot of information, in most cases it will take additonal time and effort to research show times, types, prices and other information on a particular show. However, another feature of the Branson Tourism Center Show Schedule is the inclusion of an 800 telephone number, 1-800-785-1550, which will provide the assistance of a trained BTC Travel Specialist who will provide personal help in answering questions and getting Branson show information. There is no charge or obligation incurred for this assistance.

Another tool that can make it easy to get the information needed to make Branson show decisions and selections is provided by the search engines on web sites such as www.BransonOnTheWeb.com. This site enables the search of the dozens of Branson shows available in Branson on any given day to quickly and conveniently narrow the choices down to those meeting the needs of a specific visitor.

If a person was interested in comedy during the evening of October 15, finding just the right show is only a few clicks away. On the home page of www.BransonOnTheWeb.com, they would select the starting date of October 15, comedy, and a starting time of 6:00 p.m. from the appropriate drop down menus. From the 70 plus shows available in Branson on October 15 the search result will be a list of nine shows that are either comedy shows or feature comedy such as Jim Stafford, Presleys’ Country Jubilee, Pierce Arrow and Hamner and Barber to name a few. From that point finding the ideal comedy show to meet your needs will hopefully be a simpler process.

Paul Miller, General Manager for the Branson Tourism Center says, “With more people using the internet to get information and make travel decisions, we realize, with all the choices available in Branson, that many people will still want to talk with a real person. That’s why we provide the free no obligation assistance of a trained BTC Travel/Reservation Specialist through 800 numbers, 1-800-785-1550 for www.BransonTourismCenter.com and 1-800-785-1665 for www.BransonOnTheWeb.com.”

Cassandre’ performing one of her stunning vocals.

A recent article published on line at Branson.com entitled “Cassandre’ and orchestra – continue Branson’s live music tradition in ‘angelic’ fashion,” noted that one of Branson’s newest shows, “Cassandre’ The Voice of An Angel,” is rich in the 50 year live music tradition that Branson is celebrating this year. The show features a nine person orchestra, the amazing vocals and stage personality of Cassandre’ Faimon-Haygood, and the comedy furnished by Cassandre’s alter ego, the voluptuous and very funny, “Aunt Erma.”

While acknowledging that the term “choreography” is normally used regarding dancing, the article explains why its use is appropriate to describe the arranging and creativity involved with this show. In an interesting twist, different elements of the orchestra are choreographed into Cassandre’s vocal performances to create a unique, beautiful and memorable musical entertainment experience unlike anything else in Branson.

Excerpts from the article:

The result is a personable, beautiful, funny and entertaining show that truly exemplifies the very heart beat of live music through its rich orchestrations and powerful vocals.
It is obvious that a lot of thought has gone into the presentation of each number and how to best combine the vocal talents of Casssandre’ with the musicianship of the orchestra into a wonderful musical entertainment gem.

Cassandre’ is a top-notch vocalist …with a voice so flawless and a performance so effortless and compelling it is no wonder that watching her sing makes for a surreal theatrical experience! She is truly an enchanting soprano whose angelic voice can scale operatic heights, belt out Broadway hits, touch you with gospel inspiration, and rework pop classics in just the right balance!

If you love beautiful singing accompanied by a wonderful orchestra and want to have a laugh or two along the way you don’t want to miss this show.

Click here for the entire article.