All I am doing today is providing a link to the Branson Tourism Center"s new Up Close and Personal site which will periodically publish interviews with the different Branson stars. This first interview is with Tim Haygood. It just so happens that my blog post from yesterday was partly about the Haygoods so be sure and scroll on down and read that, too. I think you will enjoy learning more about this talented family.
Here's the link http://news.branson.com/2010/02/26/branson-up-close-and-personal-with-timothy-haygood/
Showing posts with label The Haygoods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Haygoods. Show all posts
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Loaves and Fishes, Hope on the Road, and the Haygoods
Three times a week, I run into the Hollister Spirits Shop convenience store to grab a free Branson Daily Independent newspaper. This particular newspaper has a little national news and a little state news along with some classified ads, but it primarily focuses on what is going on in the Branson area—in the entertainment industry, but also in the community. What caught my eye one day was an article about how the Haygood family treated the clients of Loaves and Fishes to a free show.
Loaves and Fishes is a local program that provides a free evening meal to needy area residents at seven different Branson churches. The meals themselves are donated by a variety of groups—the churches, boy scouts, area restaurants, social clubs, etc. In 2009, Loaves and Fishes spanned 10 weeks and served over 8,000 meals. This year’s program is 12 weeks long lasting from January 4 through March 13. Feeding the hungry is certainly a worthy endeavor, but it occurred to Bransonite, Abby Lewis, that there were many people needing meals that had no transportation and, therefore, could not take advantage of these free meals. As a result of this revelation, Hope on the Road was born. The Hollister YMCA has donated the use of its bus to run a set route every night picking up people at designated spots, delivering them to the appropriate location and then returning them to their pick up point. My husband and I saw this full size school bus go by one evening, and it was totally packed with men, women, and children. In fact, so many people are needing transportation that there has been talk of possibly putting a second YMCA bus into operation.
Now back to the headline from the Branson Daily Independent that first caught my eye: Haygoods provide free show to ‘Loaves & Fishes’ recipients. In addition to the free performance, the 7 brothers and 1 sister handed out Haygood teddy bears to each of the 150 people who attended. While it is essential that people’s basic needs be met, it is also important that the human spirit be occasionally lifted. When we attend to a person’s morale, we better enable them to face the challenges of everyday life, so kudos to the Haygoods for giving this group of people an evening of fun!
This is just one example of the generosity of Branson’s entertainment industry. My husband and I have split our time between Branson and OKC for one year now, but I’ve already noticed many instances of performers donating their time, their talent, their theater space, or their money to better the community that has been so good to them. I am glad these entertainers realize that, while their paychecks may be provided by the tourists, Branson could not have become The Live Entertainment Capital of the World without the support and hard work of its local citizenry, and that, like it or not, some of these citizens sometimes need a helping hand.
Helping those who are less fortunate is the right thing for each and every one of us to do. Loaves and Fishes and Hope on the Road are two local programs run by and funded by volunteers. The 2010 season is almost over, but if you would like to assist them by helping at one of the churches, by driving a bus (if you have the proper certification), by being a greeter on the bus, or by donating money to help pay for the bus’s gas, you can contact Abby Lewis at healingnaturally@suddenlink.net.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Top Ten Rock and Roll Revue is a Great Show!
Last Saturday night, my husband, Byron, and I decided to go to one of the few shows playing in January, The Top Ten Rock and Roll Revue. I have one word for this show that featured hits from the 50s, 60s, and 70s
--FUN, Fun, Fun! It was voted the best new show of 2009, and I can see why.
What an exciting combination of superb talent and terrific song choices! One proof that this is a "must see" show was that my husband was smiling and clapping throughout the whole show. Byron is NOT a show person and he loved this show so much that we decided to take my niece and her fiance when they come for a visit on Friday. It is hard to get him to go once to a show, and for him to suggest that we go again in less than a week is amazing. The only other shows he has agreed to see more than once was The Haygoods and Liverpool Legends.
We were originally attracted by the crazy hair of Marvelous Marvin Short.
We had seen him around town on occasion, and we decided to see if he can do anything besides walk around drawing attention to himself with hair that is truly beyond belief. I mean who would actually want to be seen looking like that outside of the theater? You would guess that he is wearing a wig, but no, that is his actual hair and apparently that is the primary way he wears it. Only in Branson! Crazy hair aside, Marvin is an accomplished saxophone player, an excellent singer, an all around nice guy, and he is obviously good at advertising himself and his show.
You could tell from his performance that this is a person you would really enjoy getting to know, the kind of guy you want at your next party--maybe not a sit-down dinner (although that could prove to be interesting, too), but a surprise birthday party, a New Year's party, or even better, a Halloween party!
Marvin was not the only interesting and talented performer in this production. Darrel Croy's Jerry Lee Lewis set the theater rocking. There were only about 40 of us on this night, but I think everyone there was clapping along with the music. Darrel did a great imitation of Jerry Lee right down to shaking his head, playing the piano with his foot, tossing aside the piano bench, and all of Jerry Lee's other memorable antics.
The cast also sang some wonderful renditions of Doo Wop that took us right back to the 50s
and Steve Ragsdale and the rest of the band did an awesome job performing the hits of one of my personal favorites, Eric Clapton.
The women were featured singing hits from the 50s & Motown. Their voices, dancing, and numerous costume changes really added to the show!
If you are planning a trip to Branson, be sure to include this show in your "to do" list. You won't be sorry.
Oh, and by the way, the show is located in the Branson Mall of all places.
Be sure to take time to see the displays located right outside of the theater. They are some decade by decade highlights of the development of Branson into the Live Music Capital of the World.
I am providing you a link if you'd like to go to The Top Ten Rock and Roll Revue's website. They have a great video you might enjoy plus their show schedule and more pictures.
http://www.top10rockandrollrevue.com/
--FUN, Fun, Fun! It was voted the best new show of 2009, and I can see why.
What an exciting combination of superb talent and terrific song choices! One proof that this is a "must see" show was that my husband was smiling and clapping throughout the whole show. Byron is NOT a show person and he loved this show so much that we decided to take my niece and her fiance when they come for a visit on Friday. It is hard to get him to go once to a show, and for him to suggest that we go again in less than a week is amazing. The only other shows he has agreed to see more than once was The Haygoods and Liverpool Legends.
We were originally attracted by the crazy hair of Marvelous Marvin Short.
We had seen him around town on occasion, and we decided to see if he can do anything besides walk around drawing attention to himself with hair that is truly beyond belief. I mean who would actually want to be seen looking like that outside of the theater? You would guess that he is wearing a wig, but no, that is his actual hair and apparently that is the primary way he wears it. Only in Branson! Crazy hair aside, Marvin is an accomplished saxophone player, an excellent singer, an all around nice guy, and he is obviously good at advertising himself and his show.
You could tell from his performance that this is a person you would really enjoy getting to know, the kind of guy you want at your next party--maybe not a sit-down dinner (although that could prove to be interesting, too), but a surprise birthday party, a New Year's party, or even better, a Halloween party!
Marvin was not the only interesting and talented performer in this production. Darrel Croy's Jerry Lee Lewis set the theater rocking. There were only about 40 of us on this night, but I think everyone there was clapping along with the music. Darrel did a great imitation of Jerry Lee right down to shaking his head, playing the piano with his foot, tossing aside the piano bench, and all of Jerry Lee's other memorable antics.
The cast also sang some wonderful renditions of Doo Wop that took us right back to the 50s
and Steve Ragsdale and the rest of the band did an awesome job performing the hits of one of my personal favorites, Eric Clapton.
The women were featured singing hits from the 50s & Motown. Their voices, dancing, and numerous costume changes really added to the show!
If you are planning a trip to Branson, be sure to include this show in your "to do" list. You won't be sorry.
Oh, and by the way, the show is located in the Branson Mall of all places.
Be sure to take time to see the displays located right outside of the theater. They are some decade by decade highlights of the development of Branson into the Live Music Capital of the World.
I am providing you a link if you'd like to go to The Top Ten Rock and Roll Revue's website. They have a great video you might enjoy plus their show schedule and more pictures.
http://www.top10rockandrollrevue.com/
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
More About a Branson Ozark Christmas
I want to make an amendment to my previous observations about a Branson Ozark Christmas. Yes, Branson does exhibit a LOT of Christmas spirit, but you’d better take advantage of it early. The Christmas season around here is Nov. 1- Dec. 6 and then it starts tapering off. Some of the shows shut down about then: Tony Orlando and the Lennon Sisters—done. Andy Williams—done. A few more shows ended the next week—Dino’s Christmas Spectacular, Shoji Tabuchi, just to name a couple. You could have experienced the Ride the Ducks Land and Light Tour until Dec. 13th, but you can ride the Showboat Branson Belle until Dec. 31st.
Silver Dollar City shut down last week but opened back up from Dec. 26 through the 30th. In my opinion, SDC, is a must see during Christmas in Branson. They have 4 million lights, an enormous Christmas tree whose lights react to the accompanying music, great Christmas shows like Dicken’s Christmas, Frosty, and The Living Nativity, the best hot chocolate and wassail, great food, rides, craftsmen, and a contagious “Merry Christmas” atmosphere. It is a place where whole families come to experience Christmas, and by my observations, they have a GREAT time together. I saw multigenerational families laughing, singing, skipping, hugging, eating and shopping together. Now who can resist that?
Some great shows will still be going on until Dec. 30 and some even up until Jan. 2nd. There are a number of shows putting on special New Year's Eve performances, and many of those will be providing special food and party hats. Some examples are Legends, Jim Stafford, The New Shanghai Circus, Dixie Stampede, and The Haygoods.
All of this is to say that if you ever think you want to come to Branson for Christmas, come early and fight the crowds or come later in the season with the realization that you may not get to see the show you really wanted to see. The nice thing about coming later in the season is that the restaurants, the shops, and the Strip won’t be nearly as crowded, but you may also have to worry about the weather, which can be very unpredictable this time of year. This particular year, though, you actually would have been much better off here than in other parts of the surrounding area. Just ask my daughter, Lisa, who took 6 hours to get home from work on Thursday and whose car was still sitting in the middle of Hefner Parkway in OKC on Saturday, or my niece, Katie, who spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day stuck at the OKC hospital where she is a pharmacist.
The only Christmas show we saw this year was The Haygoods. They put on a spectacular high energy show, and I highly recommend it. They have a tremendous sound system and a light show that may rival those in Vegas. The Haygoods are a very talented family of 7 young men and their one sister. They sing, they dance, they play a multitude of instruments, and they do it all very well. They do their own arrangements and their own choreography. This year they even moved into their own theater. That’s a lot of talent for 7 “kids” between the ages of 29 and 16. Mom and Dad are around, but at this point, I think each of the siblings is gradually taking on responsibility for a different aspect of the business. I was impressed with their abilities when I first saw them about 6 years ago and their talents have grown as they have grown. I do have to add a disclaimer,though—the show we saw also had a particularly talented drummer who made sure the show was high-energy from start to finish. This drummer is our son, Daniel Dossey. While he definitely added to the quality of the show on this night and several other nights during the season, they do just fine with their regular drummer, Dino Phillips. Dino has done a magnificent job of playing for them for at least the last 6 years that I have attended their show. If you want to know more about The Haygoods then here is a video you might be interested in watching.
Branson looks like a ghost town compared to the busy fall and Christmas season, but it REALLY shuts down during January and February. Even so, there are still plenty of things to occupy you if you choose to come during the “off season.” I will write more about this in future blogs, but since I am on the subject of The Haygoods, I wanted to let you know that they, and a handful of other shows, will be performing on a very limited schedule during these “off” months.
Here are a few links you might be interested in if you would like to learn more about Branson.
Branson Tourism Center
Branson Shows.com
Reserve Branson.com
Silver Dollar City shut down last week but opened back up from Dec. 26 through the 30th. In my opinion, SDC, is a must see during Christmas in Branson. They have 4 million lights, an enormous Christmas tree whose lights react to the accompanying music, great Christmas shows like Dicken’s Christmas, Frosty, and The Living Nativity, the best hot chocolate and wassail, great food, rides, craftsmen, and a contagious “Merry Christmas” atmosphere. It is a place where whole families come to experience Christmas, and by my observations, they have a GREAT time together. I saw multigenerational families laughing, singing, skipping, hugging, eating and shopping together. Now who can resist that?
Some great shows will still be going on until Dec. 30 and some even up until Jan. 2nd. There are a number of shows putting on special New Year's Eve performances, and many of those will be providing special food and party hats. Some examples are Legends, Jim Stafford, The New Shanghai Circus, Dixie Stampede, and The Haygoods.
All of this is to say that if you ever think you want to come to Branson for Christmas, come early and fight the crowds or come later in the season with the realization that you may not get to see the show you really wanted to see. The nice thing about coming later in the season is that the restaurants, the shops, and the Strip won’t be nearly as crowded, but you may also have to worry about the weather, which can be very unpredictable this time of year. This particular year, though, you actually would have been much better off here than in other parts of the surrounding area. Just ask my daughter, Lisa, who took 6 hours to get home from work on Thursday and whose car was still sitting in the middle of Hefner Parkway in OKC on Saturday, or my niece, Katie, who spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day stuck at the OKC hospital where she is a pharmacist.
The only Christmas show we saw this year was The Haygoods. They put on a spectacular high energy show, and I highly recommend it. They have a tremendous sound system and a light show that may rival those in Vegas. The Haygoods are a very talented family of 7 young men and their one sister. They sing, they dance, they play a multitude of instruments, and they do it all very well. They do their own arrangements and their own choreography. This year they even moved into their own theater. That’s a lot of talent for 7 “kids” between the ages of 29 and 16. Mom and Dad are around, but at this point, I think each of the siblings is gradually taking on responsibility for a different aspect of the business. I was impressed with their abilities when I first saw them about 6 years ago and their talents have grown as they have grown. I do have to add a disclaimer,though—the show we saw also had a particularly talented drummer who made sure the show was high-energy from start to finish. This drummer is our son, Daniel Dossey. While he definitely added to the quality of the show on this night and several other nights during the season, they do just fine with their regular drummer, Dino Phillips. Dino has done a magnificent job of playing for them for at least the last 6 years that I have attended their show. If you want to know more about The Haygoods then here is a video you might be interested in watching.
Branson looks like a ghost town compared to the busy fall and Christmas season, but it REALLY shuts down during January and February. Even so, there are still plenty of things to occupy you if you choose to come during the “off season.” I will write more about this in future blogs, but since I am on the subject of The Haygoods, I wanted to let you know that they, and a handful of other shows, will be performing on a very limited schedule during these “off” months.
Here are a few links you might be interested in if you would like to learn more about Branson.
Branson Tourism Center
Branson Shows.com
Reserve Branson.com
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