Anyone know the scene in Branson Mo. ?

[bluzeyone]

Hello! I've spent my music career so far gigging with road bands, local bands, solo, and studio production. I may be moving to Branson to be in a theatre show. Does anyone do, or know that type of work? Its something new to me. Pros/cons? Any insight will be helpful. Thank you for your time.

[Threadslayer]

I'd be interested in hearing about this too. I have nothing to base my opinion on but sheer knee-jerk prejudice, but whenever I hear the name Branson and the word Entertainment in the same sentence, my lame meter starts going off.

 

Of course you might get lucky and get a gig with these guys:

http://www.baldknobbers.com/

 

[e-keys]

There are alot of gigs there. Some small, some big. I went with a group a few years ago. We ate at a Golden Coral restaurant. (informal family buffet dining). Before I knew it, there was a guy who put on a show right there next to the buffet line. He was the regular entertainment there. He had a small stage, portable projector and small pa system. He did a good job. I just did not expect to have entertainment there. Also, alot of the smaller hotels have shows too. And of coarse there are the larger gigs also. A lot of musicians are there. But if there is a will, there is a way

[Bridog6996]

From what I understand, Branson is like Vegas for old country bumpkins. Never been there personally though.

 

And I say bumpkins lovingly, because I grew up in the middle of nowhere as well.

[ksoper]

There are, indeed, gigs in Branson. If you want to make a living wage, plan to take several gigs. Many theaters have breakfast, lunch, and dinner shows, so it's not impossible to play three times a day. You'll have to. None of those places pay anything.

 

K.

[Cygnus64]

I had two friends working there. They were string players playing for the Lawrence Welk Show at the Welk Theatre. This was about 12 years ago at least. They liked it and did OK $-wise. At that time they had a long running show, AKA steady employment doing the same show with the same people for years. One of them got a job in Europe and the other lives in Springfield, like an hour north. She still does some gigging in Branson when it comes through. The long-running shows aren't as abundant any more, it's more like someone comes in for a 3-4 week run.

 

I've been there. It's kinda like Las Vegas meets the Waltons meets Deliverance. It would be a nice place for an outdoorsman to be, with lotsa lakes, Ozark National park, Eureka Springs etc nearby. In that respect it's actually a very lovely area. The downside is that it's a very small city, with no big cities nearby. The biggest are Springfield and Fort Smith Ark. Therefore, if you aren't giggin in Branson, there won't be a lot of places nearby to pick up work.

[Chris Link]

OT, but back when telemarketers had fewer restriction, my wife kept getting a pitch for a free trip to Branson. You just had to sit through their timeshare pitch.

 

After the second one, she started telling them things like "I'd love to, but my husband is on a home ventilator, although I'm sure he'd enjoy it," and then try to get them to set up all the medical needs for the visit. Or, "I never want to go to Branson ever again. I really don't want to talk about it."

 

The best was when she told them it sounded wonderful, but her husband would have to check with his parole officer to get permission to leave the state first.

[Bill H.]

It seems to me that I remember reading an article awhile back about how Branson has really been hit hard by the current recession, but for the life of me I can't find it with a search.

 

I don't don't know anyone currently working there, but like many had a keyboard playing acquaintance go down there way back before 9/11 with little more than a few nebulous contacts and the gear in his trunk, and he had no trouble finding work.

 

I'm sure it's a different scene now. The last 10 years have produced a completely different scene everywhere.

 

At that time they had a long running show, AKA steady employment doing the same show with the same people for years.

To me this would be the gig from hell, like I was stuck in an endless time loop, but there must be some who would dig it.

[Cygnus64]

To me this would be the gig from hell, like I was stuck in an endless time loop, but there must be some who would dig it.

 

I'm not sure how I would do with it. I think my record is 65 shows in a row. I've done the Nutcracker over 300 times, but it's one month a year. I think I would be okay with it overall. If one had other musical interests like composing etc, there could be musical satisfaction while paying the rent with your axe.