Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Musics . . . what can I say more?

Somehow we managed to get by on a meager portion of sleep (refer to Tim's theorum of nocturnal relativity) and amazingly, everyone was ready to go at 10:30. Our first stop was for brunch at Mel's Hard Luck Diner. This place is incredible. When you first walk in, you are hearing some pretty good vocals being sung in the background. As with most places, it is canned music for ambiance. However, as you are being seated, you realize that the wonderful music is canned but the vocals are live. Not only are they live, they are being sung by the waiters and waitresses who take turns about every 5 minutes (they were very good and one of them had actually been a finalist on American Idol). This made for some real entertainment. They even let Aaron sing to the diners "Save The Last Dance For Me". Throw in the HUGE portions we were served and we had the makings of first class meal. Afterwards, we shopped the mall area for a bit and then headed to the local LDS chapel and had a much needed rehearsal.


After a bin check, we headed back to the cabins to freshen up and then rode over to the Hughes American Family Theatre and enjoyed a meal (kinda like a dinner theater) before the main crowd of showgoers arrived. The kids scrambled to the stage with their bins and prepped for the show opener for the musical group "Six". They came out with the energy you'd expect from LIGHT and put on a spirited 20 minute show for a large audience of mature citizens (retirees and the like). Unfortunately, the lighting system wasn't working so all we had was a single spot to showcase our kids. The audience loved them anyway. Then Six came out and started their show. They are all brothers (6 out of 10) whose roots are from the Mesa area (Knudsen's). They're an a cappella group and do their own sounds and vocal backgrounds. They were sensational. They did a musical tour of music styles across the country, did some 50's numbers and many other styles and themes. I might add, they were very funny as well. A must see if you ever come to Branson. During the show, I kept hearing the shrieks and screams of what sounded like a very rabid fan. As I looked among our girls to see who it was, I discovered that it was our very own Vickey Whiting. Her positive energy gave the show an added bonus. After the show and after all the crowd had left, we were treated to an hour long clinic with the brothers and learned more about what it takes to perform at a professional level and how to improve overall. It was a real neat experience as these guys are all LDS and share our values. As we left the theater, it was pouring rain and only a few umbrellas to be had (Arizona mentality: it never rains and it never gets cold), so we formed a bridge to the bus with 3 umbrellas and most everyone kept dry. We retired late again but it was worth it to see the smiles on everyone's face.

2 comments:

Diana said...

Bro Allred...we haven't met yet but I am Michael Thurbers mom. I just want to thank you for doing this for all of us back in AZ. It is wonderful to be able to see a little of what our kids are doing and catch a glimpse of the fun an excitement. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
Diana Thurber

Mom Ripley said...

Great job! Thank you!