On July 26th, 2008 The Stars of Branson will come out to “GIVE BIG!” in a special Benefit Event for the Midwest Flood Victims.

The day begins with Redknecker’s Good Morning Ozarks Show; the outdoor event begins at 11AM with a Family Festival on the theatre’s huge patio and the Benefit Show begins at 3PM. Some of Branson’s biggest Stars and finest performers will come together for this one-time special event. The star studded line-up includes: Jim Stafford, The Lennon Sisters, Jim Barber, The Hughes, Doug Gabriel, Dave and Denise Hamner, the cast of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do; a musical featuring the songs of Neil Sedaka, Delena Ditto, David Lomascola, Gail Lennon and the Buzz Boyz, Redkneckers, and The Branson Divas. Tickets are $20.00 plus tax and can be purchased by calling Branson Star Theatre at 471-334-7131 or at Ticketmaster.com. Proceeds from the benefit show will go to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

The full day of activities will conclude with the two regular 8PM shows in Branson Star Theatre’s two performance halls; “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do;” a musical featuring the songs of Neil Sedaka and The David Lomascola Show. In addition to being a part of the 3PM Benefit Show, all three of the theatre’s regular shows will contribute a portion of that day’s proceeds to the fund raising effort.

Branson locals and visitors are all invited to join in the fund raising effort and the fun at the “Branson Gives Big” outdoor Family Festival from 11AM to 3PM. Fun Family activities will include free outside-stage entertainment; a variety of food, including “Dollar Dogs” and Golden Corral’s famous sandwich lunches; vendors; inflatables; kid friendly games and prizes. “We are very excited about the outpouring from the Branson community and we are looking forward to a very fun event that is so much more special because all the vendors are donating a portion of their proceeds to the relief effort,” states one event coordinator, Angela Walker.

One of the most exciting aspects of the “BRANSON GIVES BIG” project is that we are bringing several families directly affected by the weather disasters to Branson that weekend for an all-expense-paid family vacation. “The community has given rooms, meals, show and attraction tickets; all free for these families. We are so grateful, however, we do still need to pay for the travel expenses of these families and are actively looking for donations to accomplish this,” comments Linda Buckles event co-coordinator. “We are asking for help from the community to raise the funds for the travel expenses and any amount will be appreciated.” Please contact Linda at 417-593-6060 or Angela at 417-336-2442 to donate to the cause.

Vendor space is still available. For this unique opportunity there is FREE vendor space for seven more vendors on a “first come” basis. Contact Angela Walker at 417-336-2442 for details.

Angela Walker, spokesperson for “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do” and one of the event organizers comments, “Let’s face it, the people affected by these floods in the Midwest are our neighbors and our customers. I have lived in Branson for over 20 years and have not seen such devastation as I have seen I the last few weeks. As a community, Branson is always will to help in a crisis and our neighbors need us now. I challenge every in Branson to show our neighbors what all of is here already know: “Branson Gives Big!”

For more information please call 417-334-7131, toll free 877-976-2442, or 417-593-6060.

From now through Aug. 1, Ozark Mountain Bank is collecting new school supplies. Supplies such as pencils, glue and paper can be dropped off at any Ozark Mountain Bank location during normal business hours.

If someone prefers to make a cash donation, there is the opportunity for that as well. The monetary donations will be used to purchase backpack kits. The kits will give each child the basic supplies they need all with one backpack which they often need as well.

In the past, new school supplies have had a very meaningful impact.
“Every child deserves to start the school year with new school supplies,” said Kandy Loehr, Taney County OACAC Supervisor. “It sets each child up for a successful year and we appreciate everyone who takes the time to contribute to this very worthwhile event.”

The supplies will be given to Ozarks Area Community Action Corporation (OACAC), Christian Action Ministries and the Salvation Army for distribution at their upcoming School Readiness Fair on Aug. 6.

“Going back to school can be a stressful time for some families and I’m sure there will be an even greater need this year,” Ozark Mountain Bank President and CEO C. Craig Richards said. “We are glad that we can help out by collecting school supplies but the real credit goes to the three organizations that are working together to assist area families.”

Ozark Mountain Bank lobby locations include the Main Bank in downtown Branson, Cedar Ridge located next to Country Mart on Hwy. 248, Branson West which is inside the Wal-Mart Supercenter and the Hollister facility at the corner of the Highway 65 interchange.
Anyone who has questions can call the OACAC Neighborhood Center at 239-1882.

In the past couple years he has been asked to join Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones on stage in front of sold out stadium crowds. Merle brings that legendary voice and equally legendary catalog of hit songs to Branson at The Tri-Lakes Center, 2527 State Highway 248, on Monday, August 4 at 7:30 p.m.

This is a rare stop for Merle who generally plays to huge outdoor festivals or large casino audiences. Bob Cannella with Up Close Concerts, who is presenting the event, says a lot of work on both sides went into making this event happen.

“Merle wanted to perform in this area because so many fans have requested it, and we wanted to bring him here,” Cannella said. “Fortunately, we were able to make the scheduling work and are looking forward to an incredible night of music on August 4.”

The Tri-Lakes Center is an ideal venue to see Merle Haggard. At just 2500 seats it’s large enough to support a major star like Merle, yet small enough for amazing sound and a clear view of this country music legend.

“Tickets for the Branson show range from $30 -$50 so there is something to fit everyone’s budget,” Cannella said. “This is an incredible opportunity to see a country music legend at a great price in a small venue. There’s nothing like seeing Merle up-close.”

Tickets go on sale Monday, July 7 at the Tri-Lakes Center box office, or by calling 417-336-0219. More information about the show may be found at www.upcloseconcerts.com.

For “An Evening With John Tesh” Tesh will bring his all star cast of singers, choreographer and dancer Breeze Lee, an exciting dance troupe, and outstanding musicians. Adding to the multi-talented troupe of young dancers combining the beauty of hip hop, ballet, lyrical dance and movement is the uplifting original music of Tesh who has written, composed and arranged most of the shows orchestrations.

Executive producers Tesh and Connie Sellecca produced this celebration of music and dance “to inspire kids and adults to find their passion.”
Now a successful daily radio talk show host as well as a national recording artist, Tesh has won six Emmys, two Grammy nominations, sold seven million albums, has three gold records and done six PBS specials.

“This is going to be a great event and an amazing evening of entertainment,” said Branson’s Midwest Concerts CEO and President Gary Bartlett.

Bartlett has set this concert to provide funds for Branson’s Christmas Assistance Program. “We are really proud to promote something that’s important to the good people of Branson, they take great pride in looking after the needs of children threatened by circumstance,” he said. “These people are changing lives. In addition to being a great showman, John and his family have a personal passion for helping people in America and the world. We’re honored to have him here to make this night shine.”

The 10-year old Branson’s Christmas Assistance Program serves parents and children who have special needs especially during the holiday season. In addition to gifts, children are given backpacks, school supplies, two outfits, shoes, underwear, socks, jackets as well as dental and medical assistance for children in kindergarten through 12th grade. In some cases, fuel money, rent and utility assistance are provided.

Although the program is called Christmas Assistance, the program is operated year-round and is supported in part by local sponsors that include Wal-Mart, VFW, The Rotary and individuals. Annually more than 500 children and more than 200 families are helped.

“We are looking forward to having John Tesh perform in Branson. It is truly wonderful that the evening will be benefiting the Christmas Assistance Program for children in the Branson School District,” said Ross Summers, President/ CEO, Branson/ Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tickets are range from $25 to $80 and are available at Tesh.com, Ticketmaster in Springfield 877-BRANSON (272-6766), or www.Ticketmaster.com.

Visitors to Branson will soon have another interesting thing to do while they are in town. Well, at least on the first Saturday of every month because that’s when the “First Saturday Night Stroll,” an art walk in historic downtown Branson, will be held.

Starting August 2, the art stroll, patterned after art walks in other communities and sponsored by various independent businesses in the historic downtown district, will run from 4 to 9 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month. Peter Tsahiridis, one of the sponsors and organizers of the stroll, said there is growing interest in different forms of art among tourists coming to Branson and the stroll is designed to meet that interest.

Karla Daniels, who has owned the Premier Gallery in downtown Branson for the past year, another of the event’s sponsors and organizers, stated one of the primary purposes of the art stroll is to promote and feature Branson’s historic district as it adds yet another exciting event to the list of things visitors can do when they visit Branson. She said the stroll will educate visitors and residents alike about art in general as it increases their awareness about the different types of art and artists available in the Branson area.

Daniels pointed out in the downtown area alone there is a variety of art available from paintings of all types to etchings, sculptures, and stained glass. The art forms available in the historic downtown district run the gamut of contemporary to naturalistic outdoor and just about everything else in between.

The well known artist Tom Crain, of Crain Creations, who is noted for his wildlife oil paintings and has a studio and retail establishment downtown, said he is excited about the concept stroll. He believes the art stroll will grow into a great attraction for Branson in general and add yet another unique dimension to the historic downtown district that is consistent with the image the businesses within the district want to develop.

Crain expounded to say one of the really exciting things about the stroll is businesses can sponsor visiting artists inside their own business. He feels this will expand the number of artists and types of art available on the stroll and enhance the total art experience its participants.
Daniels said any business can sponsor an artist for the art stroll, not just those actively involved in producing or selling art. All they have to do is be willing to sponsor an artist and give them room in their establishment to display their art and talk with the art strollers who come in.
She also stated First Saturday Night Stroll art stroll maps, showing the location of each of the locations participating in the stroll, will be available at Euro Café & Creamery, Premier Gallery, and other participating locations throughout the historic downtown district. She said any business located in the historic downtown district can contact her by phone at 417-335-5088 for information on the art stroll or on how to become a sponsor.

Sometimes, if you are Deana Martin, people hold on to you, and they won’t let go. Women old enough to be your mother wrap their hands around your arm in a death grip, and they won’t release you until they’ve had their say. They want to tell you stories about the man who they fell in love with decades ago—your iconic father, Dean Martin. The man who you resemble. Maybe they won’t let go because they see him in your face.

But other times, if you are Deana Martin, the world reacts to you in a different way. Not with doting fandom, but with celebrity pampering. Photographers come into your home and pose you underneath pictures of your father. Restaurants make last-minute room for you, have food waiting on the table when you arrive and seat you beneath pictures of your father’s contemporaries: Andy Williams, Sammy Davis Jr., Mama Cass, Judy Garland. The people in charge of being in charge at Branson shows sneak you into a packed house (through the back door) and corral you backstage afterward to meet the star of the show… an aging “Moon River” singer you’ve known for decades. All on a whim. All last-minute.

Celebrity Daughter
Today, Deana Martin lives in Branson but travels with her husband, John Griffeth, singing the classic songs of her Rat Pack crooner father, Dean Martin, in front of big bands such as Les Brown Jr.’s crew at the Mickey Gilley Theatre. She plays those songs on her two radio shows and provides an outlet for Dean Martin fans who have stories to share. She’s a grandma to two little boys—Jagger and Hunter, the children of her son, Mickey Guerin, and his wife, Paola—all of whom she talks about with warm affection. And on top of all that, she’s planning a movie about her dad. “We’re trying to figure out who the heck could play Dean Martin,” she says. She thinks Johnny Depp could study Dean’s movements and pull it off. “He’s such a good actor, and he’s got the hairline,” she says.

Deana is 59 and a petite little woman: fit, smart, sweet and energetic with a bursting performer’s voice and wide, bright eyes. She’s a compact bundle of talent, wrapped in nostalgia and tied with a ribbon of tribute to her dad’s impressive life. But growing up the daughter of the legendary Dean Martin—like the growing up the daughter of anybody—had its ups and its downs.

In 2004, nine years after her father died, Deana wrote Memories are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter’s Eyes. It chronicles her life with touching honesty and the most insider of insider stories. It’s the book she wants to use as the base for that movie, and it’s not a tale of Hollywood glamour told through rose-colored glasses. “I wanted people to see that families can go through these things and survive,” she says. “These things” are families split and reunited, the twice-dealt-with effects of divorce, death and loss, an absent father, a mother who left. What’s apparent is that despite everything, there was never a shortage of love or fun. Families persevere.

In her book, Deana talks about the nomadic lifestyle she and her older siblings had with their mother, Betty MacDonald, especially after Dean cut off Betty’s alimony after an article in the now-defunct Confidential magazine said in no uncertain terms that Betty’s lifestyle dangerous for her kids. Deana writes that the story was overly cruel and sensationalized, but it resulted in a serious lack of money for the family, and they wound up moving from house to house and school to school. The family played cards together no matter what their situation. Even today, Deana has a card room in her home, right around the corner from a space that’s dedicated to her father’s and her music. His gold and platinum albums line one wall. Deana’s album sits on another. Photos of Dean and Marilyn Monroe share space with snapshots of the family playing poolside when Deana was just a girl. She seems to have gathered all the best in these spaces: the best pastimes, the best memories, the best examples of talent and accomplishment in a life that was peppered with a sort of poignant pain.

Keeping Notorious Company
When she was a little girl, Deana didn’t know her father very well. Soon after her birth, he left her mother to marry Jeanne Biegger. “In the very beginning when I wasn’t living with my father, it was strange,” she says. “I knew I was Deana Martin. I knew there was Dean Martin. And our dad wasn’t at our house. I remember the kids were saying, ‘Well, if you’re Dean Martin’s daughter, why are you going to this school?’ Kids can be cruel, and they didn’t understand.”

During her years with Betty, Deana and her sister, who were friends with Liza Minnelli, put on a play in the yard for Liza’s mom, Judy Garland. Deana says she played a tree, and after the performance, Judy told her, “You were the best tree I ever saw.” For the aspiring actress Deana was, hearing those words was a proud moment.

When Betty would throw big parties any night of the week, Deana and her older siblings would be right there with the partiers amid company that would make the most world-weary swoon with star-struck awe. Her mom sometimes woke the kids up and loaded them into limos to shuttle off to the beach and catch spawning grunion fish under the moonlight. Deana says she cherishes these moments of spontaneous adventure with her mom before they went to live with Dean. She was 9 when she and her two older sisters were dropped off to stay for good at his home with Jeanne and their three children.

“When we moved into the house with Dad and started going to Beverly Hills Catholic School, there were a lot of celebrities’ children going there, and everybody was on equal footing: Ricardo Montalban’s daughter, Danny Thomas’s son, George Montgomery and Dinah Shore’s kids,” Deana says. “It was a level playing field. But we knew our parents were special. We really did because everyone was talking about it, and they were cool. Dad was the coolest guy ever. I remember meeting Elvis Presley at Paramount Studios. He came riding up on his bicycle. That’s how they would ride around at the studio. And Dad introduced me to him, and Elvis said to me, ‘You know they call me the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, but your dad’s the King of Cool.’”

Deana has a lot of treasured memories of interactions with celebrities who appeared throughout her life. She can drop names like bombs on a conversation. There were the people who came to her stepmother’s Christmas parties: Elton John and Gregory Peck. Boom! Boom! There was Rosemary Clooney, who sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” with Deana one year. Boom! There were Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis. Boom! Boom! Boom! She even referred to Sinatra as “Uncle Frank.” He was her favorite, a man who would talk and listen, who was concerned and comforting. Deana says being surrounded by Hollywood stars never seemed odd to her; she had not known anything else, so how could it be unusual?

But at one point in Deana’s life, the Hollyood-bright circles in which she ran intercepted a darker one, and she encountered a more sinister sort of celebrity. Charles Manson and Deana met at a house party before he gained notoriety as the creepily charismatic leader of the murderous Manson Family. Back then, he was an aspiring musician, writing songs and courting a deal with Terry Melcher, an Apple Records producer whom Deana was dating. In her book, she writes that Manson played guitar at the party while she and a group of friends watched. She didn’t know Manson, but he recognized her. Giving her a silver ring off his own finger, he asked, “You’re Dean Martin’s daughter, aren’t you?” The story at its most chilling is best read from the pages of her book, but by the time the ordeal ended, Deana had learned that her brother, Dean Paul, was on the Manson Family’s hit list, and Deana might have been there as well. The police didn’t comment when she asked. She writes: “While Manson had given me the creeps, I’d never for one minute suspected that he could be guilty of such a heinous crime. It shook me to the core, to think that I could have been one of his targets.” The first of the Manson Family murders took place at the home where Deana had initially encountered Manson.

Deana For a Reason
In the couple’s basement studio, surrounded by big computer monitors and giant microphones, Deana and her husband, John, settle in under headphones. John puts on Deana’s recording of “Silver Bells.” He cranks up the volume to shout-over level. His tall, lanky frame stands in the middle of the studio bopping to the beat with his pointed forefingers tapping the air in front of his handsome, white-haired head while he listens to his wife singing through the speakers. “Is this the hottest Christmas song you’ve ever heard?” John asks, raising his voice to hit listening ears over the music. “I’m cool, John,” Deana yells back, with a laugh. “I’m the Princess of Cool.”

In 2006, Deana put out an album (produced by John) titled Memories are Made of This with bright, lively, jazzy covers of her dad’s music and that of other singers from his era. Five of the songs spent 40 weeks on iTunes top 10 lists. The album tour took her all over the world, including to perform in front of an audience of 12,000-plus on the royal polo field in Dubai. The album features “Time After Time,” a duet with Jerry Lewis that was performed on his MDA telethon. But Deana’s history with the fundraising comedian dates back decades, to when Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were the exceedingly popular 1950s comedy duo, Martin and Lewis. While Dean would play the suave and cool crooner on stage, Jerry would be the bumbling waiter interrupting his shows. The club act blossomed into a 10-year partnership and 17 movies, but it all ended in a famously bad way, ending the duo’s friendship. Deana explains it diplomatically: They both got famous and wanted things to go their way.

Deana says she knew when she was writing her book that the story of her dad wouldn’t be complete without Jerry’s take on everything. He agreed to meet her at his yacht. She says: “I’m walking down onto the pier, and there are all the boats, and all of a sudden I hear, ‘Lady!’ I looked, and I really didn’t recognize him, but I knew it was Jerry because of the voice. He put his arms around me, and he put his hands on my face, and he said, ‘Oh, I see my partner.’ And he started to cry, and I started to cry. And we talked for hours and hours.” That day, the pair decided to sing a duet: Martin and Lewis together again, Deana says.

It was one encounter of hundreds that Deana sought out in trying to piece together her and her father’s lives. She says that the years of research were therapeutic; they helped her come to terms with the death of her father. The book has sold more than 100,000 copies. John brings up the movie plans, and (like Deana) he asks, “Who should play Dean?” He tosses out a vote of confidence for George Clooney.

“I know that this is what I was meant to do,” Deana says of her schedule packed with projects and tours. “I’m sure that’s why I was named Deana Martin.” Her name was lifelong foreshadowing of what she says she is called to do: Keep Dean Martin’s legacy alive.

He died very early on Christmas day in 1995. In his honor, the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were shut off; he’d performed there for more than 30 years. It was a gesture that’s not done for just anybody, and Dean Martin wasn’t just anybody. It wasn’t long after his death that Deana says she realized the extent of the impact he’d had on so many people. She began to hear stories from fans about chance encounters with him that put a stamp on their memories forever. She tells of one man whose child was asking for change to play games. A man’s hand filled with coins reached out, and the man told the child to take as much as she wanted. Later, the little girl asked her father if he knew that man, if he was a friend. The father responded, “That’s Dean Martin. He’s everyone’s friend.”

Today, Deana and John have a segment on their morning radio show where they ask fans to send in their favorite Rat Pack memories. The have a 1,000-page document filled with letters from fans who have stories to share about Dean Martin, something they both find gratifying. “He was real, down to earth,” Deana says. “He had a very special charm and charisma. Men wanted to be like him, and women wanted to be with him.” One thing Dean particularly liked to do, Deana says, was go to a Las Vegas blackjack table and covertly take the dealer’s place. When he was dealing, the women never busted, and back then the casinos let him do it because the guests got such a kick out of it. It brought in business. Deana and John have gotten a letter from a woman who played at one of those blackjack tables. She says she looked up, and there was Dean Martin. Fans have sent pictures of Dean and Deana that they had shot while the father-daughter pair passed by on the street when she was just a kid. It’s not strange to her. “A long time ago, I realized I was Dean Martin’s daughter, but he was everyone’s Dean Martin, and I had to share him,” Deana says.

Fatherly Instincts
“Dad always told me, ‘Wear turtlenecks and long sleeves,’” Deana says. It’s the age-old keep-it-to-the-imagination lesson handed down from doting dads to teenage girls who have reached the age when other, younger men begin doting as well. When Deana was a freshman in high school and about to go on a date with senior Michael Nader (who would later star in Dynasty), she asked her dad not to embarrass her. “The next night, Michael comes over,” Deana says. “We are having our Cokes, and Michael is very nervous because it’s Dean Martin, for heaven’s sake. And all of a sudden I look up, and there’s Dad standing on the stairs in the doorway in his pajamas. And he walks towards us down the stairs and over to Michael, and he says, ‘I’m Deana’s dad.’ So then Dad comes over and kisses me on the cheek. He walks down behind the bar, pours a beer. Then he says, ‘Well, good night, Deana,’ and he walks back up. And then we see that he had an entire roll of toilet paper stuck to him, and there’s a trail of toilet paper coming all the way down the stairs and around, and he never stopped. He just went back up to his room.”

Sometimes his humorous shows of fatherly authority were done on the sly. Deana says her father was charming, but he only liked the interaction in small doses. Shirley McLaine once put it this way, Deana says: “Dean is nice to everyone. He just doesn’t want nice to go on too long.” When he’d had enough socializing, she says, he’d duck off to bed. Once, when Deana was a teenager, she had a big birthday party at the family home. There was a band (Buffalo Springfield), there was a pool, and “everybody who was anybody was there,” she says. But when Dean Martin was ready to go to bed at about 11 p.m., he decided it was time for the party to quiet down, too. Deana says he called the Beverly Hills police department to report that those Martins were making too much noise. Before she knew it, the police showed up, and the party was over.

For all the reputation that the Rat Pack may have had for being men about town, Deana says her father was a homebody. He would come back from a day of golf and cozy up in front of the TV with his daily butter-and-Wonder-Bread sandwich. He’d join the whole family around the dinner table or to play Scrabble. He’d splash in the pool, where Deana says he could pull off a perfectly gorgeous swan dive. It was a fairly normal home life. But Deana talks about the times he spent on the road, when there wasn’t a dad at home. Her affection for him (and his for his kids) is obvious, but Deana will openly say that although Dean Martin was a very good man, he was not a very good father. “I would have liked more of his time,” she says. “He didn’t have time to be able to do that, but he was a great provider.” It’s something she is comfortable with, it seems, as if she understands the choice he made to have a life of fame and life of family. Balancing it all must have been a very precarious act.

After his rise to national fame in the ’70s beginning with his songs “Spiders and Snakes” and “Swamp Witch,” Jim Stafford made 24 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. In fact, he had an open invitation. Today, he speaks about Carson admiringly: “His job was to make that thing work. His gift, which was part gift and part hard work, was to make sure he was on it all the time. He was better at that than anybody, and he was more relaxed about it.”

It’s evident that the same words can be said of Stafford. He has a certain comfortable intensity about him. He can be both in a particular moment and formulating ideas to improve his show at the same time. Although he has achieved the oft-elusive Branson stability, he is still continually adding to his crafted blend of music and comedy.

In 1989, Stafford did a stint as an actor/writer for a one-shot Smothers Brothers comedy special that aired that May. A few months later, he made the all-or-nothing move from Los Angeles to Branson. “I felt like it’s the kind of thing that you say, ‘This is it,’ and you commit to it, period,” he says. “That’s what I did. That’s kind of scary.”

His sustained success for 17 years in Branson is tied to enjoyment of perfecting and performing his show. “I really like it every single time,” he says. “If I go on vacation, I get antsy to do it.” In addition, Stafford has an endless supply of creativity, and with his own theatre, those ideas can be manifested how he wants. “In Branson, it’s nice because I get to try all the stuff I’m into: special effects, music, comedy, 3D, laser shows,” he explains. “The technology is so sensational. This next year we’re going to experiment with face screen projection.”

It is Stafford’s face that lights up when he talks about his new ideas for the show. But is the polished Jim Stafford onstage the same guy that you meet in person? “Onstage, it’s just me in a real good mood,” he says.

When Dr. Rich Makuch decided to move to Branson in 2003 to take a staff radiologist job at Skaggs Community Health Center, he was charged with the challenge of finding a home for his wife, Angie Ann, and their large family. The Georgia transplants were looking for a large home. Rich had looked at many houses before he found their current colonial. “It took three seconds to know I wanted it,” Rich says. “Classic style homes are beautiful because the style has stood the test of time. The house reminded me of one of the houses overlooking the Hudson or Potomac rivers.”

“He said it was my dream home,” Angie Ann adds. “I said ‘Send me a picture.’” The 6,000-square-foot home turned out to be perfect for the family of eight. The expansive colonial has five bedrooms and four and a half baths. “Initially it was a little bit of a change for us from the big city,” Angie Ann says.

“It is very dark and quiet out here, but now that we’ve gotten used to it, we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The Makuch Family
“When we got the call that our house was being profiled, I was in the doctor’s office getting stitches for Andrew,” Angie Ann says with a laugh. “It always seems like we have something going on.” And with six children, it’s no wonder.

As Angie Ann begins the tour of the family’s home, Angelica, the oldest of the six children, comes skating (yes, skating!) through the hardwood floor entryway. “Let’s not roller skate in the house,” Angie Ann kindly directs her 13-year-old daughter. “I usually don’t, but I had to come get you,” Angelica says in defense. The powerwashers had just shown up to continue the family’s spring-cleaning routine. Like Angie Ann said, there is always something going on.

But Angie Ann has found a way to keep the large family organized and living functionally in its Branson home. The original coat closet has been changed into a locker system in which the kids keep shoes and other items that would usually be dumped inside the door. Chore charts can be found throughout the dining room and kitchen. One even urges the kids to be the next “Allowance Idol.”

The Makuches’ six children—Angelica, 13; Gabriela, 11; Christian, 9; Katerina, 7; Francesca, 4; and Andrew, 3—could easily overrun the house, but the design of the home pairs function and luxury together. Even the garage has a lofted space above it for the kids to play with their toys for hours without taking over the house.

Unexpected Details
The Makuches’ home is full of Rich’s bold design choices and the addition of unexpected details, chosen with an eye he honed almost from birth. Rich’s parents immigrated to New York from Poland after World War II. His mother was a high-fashion courtier. “He grew up on fine foods and played with fabric swatches as a child in his mother’s Fifth Avenue shop,” Angie Ann says.

“It’s odd. I grew up in a rough Queens neighborhood,” Rich says. “But I was different. I started cooking when I was 10 and collecting wine when I was 13.“
Now Rich’s passions can be seen throughout the family’s home. Angie Ann is quick to point out that the kitchen is all his. “He loves design and beautiful things,” she says. “It’s a great combination. He can cook, and I love to eat.”

The kitchen, with its bright green ceiling, has a table big enough for the whole family that was made in France. Its chairs were originally castle chairs that were hundreds of years old.
The kitchen is painted an eye-catching red with white Alpine cabinets and moldings. The ceiling is lime green. “When the painters came, and I showed them the swatch, they were like ‘Are you sure?’” Angie says. Rich also had the idea to showcase the couple’s collection of French antiques that had mostly been acquired at auction. Rich is an experienced bidder. “I look around at a lot of places, especially Christie’s New York,” he says. “Of course, I have to do absentee biding, but now I know what I am looking for.” Rich focuses on big, high-end pieces that can stand the test of being used by a large family. “You wait and find your pieces,” Rich says.

The kitchen table, made in France, was commissioned by the couple to be built large enough for their family. The chairs have their own story. They were castle chairs that were hundreds of years old and had been essentially destroyed. The Makuches explain that they wanted a table top that was pretty but a seat that was high-quality vinyl that looks like leather but can be wiped off.

Other pieces Rich has acquired through auction are scattered throughout the home. In the living room, the bold harvest gold color is complemented by the Asian accessories. A “Goddess of Mercy” statue sits on a sofa table. “I think in a home with a lot of kids, we need mercy,” Angie Ann says. The unique military chairs, Chinese military cabinet, and Indonesian shadow puppets blend easily with the comfy, kid-friendly furniture.

Stairs and Art
The formal living and dining rooms are quite a different space from the two main living areas. The slate blue walls of the formal living room complement the Louis XV style. The Italian silk-covered furniture is a family antiquity. This room is where the children take their violin lessons.

Across the foyer is the formal dining room. The bold sunset medallion wallpaper and Spanish mosaic of Jesus Christ set an elaborate background for the couple’s antique sideboard and Betermier dining room set. The current wine cabinet was originally a china cabinet. Rich had it reworked to showcase their extensive wine collection. “This is only part of it,” Angie Ann adds.

While Rich has done all of the design in the home, there is one area that Angie Ann is proud to call her favorite. The staircase, which she refers to as “the bridal staircase” (because it looks like the staircase she was standing on in her bridal portrait), complements the home’s traditional style. But it is the functionality of it that appeals most to Angie Ann. “I love that I can stand on the staircase and see where everyone is,” she says.

Another feature of the foyer and staircase is its ability to showcase the couple’s local art collection. Oil painter Doug Hall, whose paintings are represented by Altermann Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was first discovered by the couple at Hawthorn Galleries in Springfield. Rich and Angie Ann were drawn to Hall’s paintings depicting scenes from the French and Indian wars. They believed the scenes to be an interesting juxtaposition to the home’s traditional colonial architecture. “The artist is phenomenal with his use of color and depth and how he captures the moment,” Angie Ann says.

Among Rich and Angie Ann’s collection of Hall paintings includes the first one they purchased, “At a Glance,” which tells the story of a sniper found after battle. The couple has added at least one Hall piece a year to their collection. “It’s important to support a local artist,” Rich says.

Rooms for Two
The staircase leads to an upstairs landing that the family has turned into usable space. The main focal wall showcases a collection of black and white photographs of their children and the Branson landscape, taken by photographer Stephanie Phillips.

The upstairs contains all of the family bedrooms. Each child shares a room with a sibling. Katerina and Francesca’s room has a whimsical mural painted on the walls by local artist Casey Murlock. It continues into the sunny yellow in-suite bathroom. Angie Ann proudly opens one of the drawers to pull out one of the monogrammed towels she had made. The whole family has towels with their names on them. “It helps me see who left their towel on the floor,” she says.

Angelica and Gabriela’s room has bright lime green, lavender, hot pink and light blue walls. “It’s really cool,” Angelica points out. With its built-in desk and in-suite bathroom and large closet, it is ideal for the sisters. Both girls have extensive doll collections, a passion they received from their mother. Angie Ann proudly shares her original Swiss chalet dollhouse, built by her father, with her daughters.

The master bedroom is a true testament to the simplicity of colonial design. With its expansive view of the lake and relaxing sage green walls, it truly is an escape for the couple. “It’s a nice, peaceful space at the end of the day,” Angie Ann says.

As Angie Ann continues the tour of the master suite she gets a huge smile on her face and asks, “Do you want to see my Angelina purse?” As mentioned previously, Rich is a master at auctions. A recent bid at this year’s American Heart Association ball and fundraiser won his wife a handbag donated by Angelina Jolie. The white Corto Moltedo bag, with the name “Anjelina” branded onto it, was guarded all night and even earned Rich and Angie Ann a special escort to their car after they won the auction. Angie Ann admits, “I have taken it out to dinner a couple of times.”

In the formal living room , the kids take violin lessons among antique Italian silk-covered furniture.
Establishing Priority.

To date, the couple’s decision to buy this Branson home has worked well for their large family because of the dedication of Rich and Angie Ann. The attention to detail and the desire to create an organized, family-friendly space has left daughter Gabriela with a sense of what is important. “I love this house because it’s big enough that we can all be in one room together,” she says. “I like that.”

Pursuing the Purse
It’s not every time Angie Ann Makuch attends a charity event that she and her husband, Rich, are escorted out by a security guard. But when they won a custom-designed purse donated by Angelina Jolie at a recent silent auction, that’s what happened. At the American Heart Association’s Heart Ball was an ivory goat-skin purse by Italian designer Conto Maltese (see the opening photo on Angie Ann’s shoulder). The purse is individualized for Angelina Jolie, with her name spelled “Anjelina.”

The purse is said to have sold for more than $1,000, although Angie Ann would not confirm its price. Will Angie Ann hang on to the bag? “It all went for a really great cause, and I don’t plan on selling it,” she says. —Holly Bass

Something’s different about Yakov Smirnoff today. At a Saturday morning show in his eponymous theater, he’s not telling jokes about Russia or using catchphrases or really doing anything that you expect to see at a Yakov “What a Country!” Smirnoff show. In the second half of the variety act, Yakov, clad in a white lab coat, gives the mostly seniors crowd relationship advice, using a magnet to demonstrate the rules of attraction and repulsion.

It turns out that Yakov had recently gone through a rough divorce, and while there are a few cursory jabs at the differences between men and women, Yakov is being incredibly earnest in his lecture… Wait, Yakov is giving a lecture? Here’s a comedian, changing the figurative horse midstream and giving advice on making relationships work. Yakov asks long-married couples in the audience what their secret is and what young people can learn from them. He is probing with somber questions and ideals. He wants to know “what did I do wrong, and why do relationships go wrong for so many people? Why weren’t jokes enough to make it work? And what can we do to fix this great problem?” It’s a strange new show, one that reveals a more intimate, odder side of the man. He seems so alien when juxtaposed with the smiling, grateful immigrant we know so well, this man who wears his heart on his sleeve when talking about his love of America. In a lot of ways, he is still doing the same thing: trying to make people understand.

Yakov has been operating a steadily growing theatre in Branson since 1991, and while the Russian jokes are still his bread and butter, including a few recycled straight from his early stand-up, the show has taken on a much more solemn tone. In the schmaltz of Branson, it sticks out as an honest attempt to use the forum to delve deeper. The first half of the Yakov show is pretty typical: dance numbers, songs, topical jokes about Hillary Clinton and Paris Hilton. But after intermission, it gets serious.

Yakov is incredibly candid about his divorce, as he is about several facets of his life: his unwavering, unabashed patriotism, his political attitudes and his belief in positivity. While comedians are often fond of using themselves as jumping off points in their routines, Yakov’s discussions about the breakup of his marriage dominate his attempts to understand who he is and what he’s become.

The show concludes with a pilot that Yakov is working on, with its first episode taking place on Missouri State’s campus. Yakov has a theory that relationships work best when one person is the “performer” and one person is the “audience;” ergo, if one person likes to drive the car, the other person should be supportive of that and ride in the passenger seat. We are introduced to a couple put together because they match up on every front except that neither one of them can cook. So a date is set up where they learn to cook together. The pilot is rough but has some promise. The focus is largely on practical skills. Laughter can keep us together, but there’s more to it than just that.

In talking to Yakov, it becomes clear as to why he is so unsure about how his message is perceived. This is a comedian who has gotten some rough treatment from the press, notably during his departure from Hollywood in the early ’90s, around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. But Yakov does have a message, and he knows how that message can get garbled in translation. He’s a comedian, but he is also a businessman who is very sure about what he wants to say and how he wants to be perceived. The pilot is merely a larger vehicle for that.

When I meet Yakov backstage immediately following the show, he shakes hands and smiles a tired smile, one of a man who does 200 shows a year, paints and still finds time to get a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. I assume he’s got an awful lot of things on his mind, like possibly a nap. Turns out there’s no time: They’ll be editing the pilot from now until the night gig. He turns to an assistant and discusses the pilot he is working on. This particular show concluded with a rough cut of the pilot, and utilizing a free test audience, he is putting the responses to work. “It’s good, but everything that wasn’t funny? Cut it,” he says. The funny business is still business, after all. He loosens his tie and looks resigned. “How do you want to do this, Jacob? Do you want funny? Do you want deep?” he asks. It’s an odd way to start an interview, but then again, Yakov is an idiosyncratic subject.

In his office, Yakov kicks off his shoes and curls up on the couch. We discuss his work leading up to his show right now: his rise, fall and rise.

In the long annals of typecast one-joke wonders, Yakov has often been thrown in, a little unfairly, with the likes of Pauly Shore and Carrot Top: one joke comedians whose fleeting fancy had long lost favor with America at large. In Yakov’s case, his original claim to fame is the Russian Reversal: for example, “In America, you catch a cold, but in Russia, cold catches you!” It’s what made him a moderate star in the ’80s, and it is how a lot of people liked to think he was still operating.

“My comedy normally reflects what I’m going through in my normal life,” Yakov says. “At first, I talked about moving to America, then getting married, then having kids. A logical part of the American dream. Then two people who had no major vices just kind of drifted apart. It was very disturbing to me because I believed that once I had committed to marriage it would be forever.” (Yakov told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2006 that he’s on good terms with his ex-wife, Linda, and their two children, Natasha and Alexander.)

Yakov has performed a one-man show on Broadway similar to the new direction he’s taking. Called As Long as We Both Shall Laugh, the show tackled Yakov’s divorce and his bewilderment as to what went wrong. He has expanded it greatly in light of his growth from that.

“It’s not just ‘why did this happen to me;’ it is ‘why does this happen to so many people?’ I feel like I did everything by-the-book, and the book said you would live happily ever after, the end. But then I said, where’s the next page?”

It’s a question that he never fully answers, but perhaps that’s the point. “I like to be an entertainer, but I’m also a messenger,” he says. “So those things are difficult to face, but they have to be a part of the show. But not all the time—not at the Skinny Improv.” He’s referring to the Springfield improv comedy club where he went on stage that night. “I try to be balanced, and I think that’s what separates me from a lot of people here [in Branson],” he says. “I also try to bring a message in.”

That message is how we keep ourselves happy, and how we stay together. Yakov’s master’s degree is in a new branch of the field called positive psychology that focuses on mental well-being. A common criticism of psychology is that it focuses so much on mental illness that there is very little discussion of mental well-being. “When I went into school, I looked to see what studies had been done on the effects of laughter and happiness,” he says. “And there were none.”

This concerned Yakov greatly, and through mediums like his act and his pilot, he is exploring how couples work. When I point out that his test audience was largely composed of people who are old enough to be the grandparents of the pilot’s subjects, he is unfazed. “There is a lot of wisdom that can be gained from them,” he says. “And this is a rough cut. Maybe one day you can say, ‘I saw the pilot for America’s No. 1 show!’”

His optimism is infectious. It reminds me of the ever-positive, fish-out-of-water characters he portrayed in ’80s movies such as Moscow on the Hudson and shows such as Night Court. Except now, Yakov has been an American citizen for 20 years and a resident of the Ozarks for 16. He has new problems to tackle. The new territory is that of the established father and reconciling that nuclear-family optimism with the realities of divorce.

In a roundabout way, this permeates his attitudes towards everything he tackles in life. “We have our blind spots we have to check when we drive; this works the same way in life,” he explains.
He always viewed his relationship with his homeland in a similar matter. Now it is the relationship between men and women, and the family in general. This idea of the mythical family—the one that can work, that can be work—is of great appeal to Yakov. Yakov mentions that he is thinking of getting a dog, and when I bring up that I have two dogs—a brother and sister—he is intrigued. “I never thought about doing that,” he says. “How do they work together? Are boys or girls better?”

There’s still a familiar air to the comedy of Yakov Smirnoff. But even his signature material has become more serious. Yakov is still as patriotic as ever. There is less bashing of his country’s native Communism but more jabs at terrorism. While his comedy used to focus on the differences between the freedoms of America and the repression of the Soviet system, he has grown more and more attuned to the heartland, saying a thank-you to this country through his paintings. Cloying but sincere, his visual art is a saccharine answer to the more serious themes of his lectures. Adorning his theatre are several of his paintings, including a piece that was at Ground Zero for 18 months. When telling a story about how he personally bankrolled the project, Yakov gets teary-eyed. The colors are light and the themes easy and straightforward, but they are still part of Yakov as a whole; nothing here deviates from the message. There is a lightheartedness to the whole thing that is undeniable and unabashed.

His themes are the same, but the business has gotten serious. While on the surface Yakov is gladhanding and smiling, there is something underneath it all, a questioning uncertainty that belies the funny immigrant we all think we know. But Yakov has never apologized for what he has done and what he has become. He is still trying to make sense of how he got to be here today: American citizen, divorcee, father.

When I am being walked out of the theatre, I tell Yakov that I think people will see him for how light and funny he is in this story. “You’ll do what you want with it,” he says. He isn’t malevolent or spiteful, but rather tired and hopeful: He has a message, and he wears it with pride. While it can be mocked, misconstrued or misunderstood, he’s still out there, trying to make people understand him.

It sounds like a trumpet, but it is not a trumpet. It might sound like a beat box, flute or guitar, but it is not any of these things. Whatever the sound, it’s coming from one of the Knudsens who make up the group Six Real Brothers.

“Sitting through our show you forget that we are making all of those sounds,” says member Jak Knudsen. “You feel like you’re listening to a full band play.” True to the group’s name, the Knudsens really are brothers. (There are actually four other siblings, but as Jak jokes, the others have “normal” jobs.) The group performed in Las Vegas for some time before they held a showcase in Branson in August. Both the brothers and The Hughes Brothers Celebrity Theatre knew the show was a test run, and it eventually led to a five-year contract between the two.

Jak says family values also played a big role in their move. “We all have kids and kind of got to thinking,” Jak says. “Vegas is a fun place, but it’s not always kid-friendly. I had an experience driving with my son. We got on the wrong road, and we were not in a great area. I felt my heart broken that my son saw what he saw. That sealed the deal. We thought it was the right thing to do.” Jak has four boys, and between the six brothers there are 18 children.

So, they just up and moved to Branson. Past gigs have had Six performing all over the world. They opened for Trisha Yearwood, The Beach Boys, Diana Ross, Rod Stewart and Huey Lewis and the News.

“It’s been a great career,” Jak says. “After 9/11 we were stuck out of the country, and we couldn’t get home. That was such a traumatic event for everyone.” Six ended up performing regular shows in Vegas, so they weren’t flying all the time. “I loved a lot of things about Vegas, but you don’t have to explain anything to your kids in Branson,” Jak says. “This is the first time any of us have lived in the Midwest, and it’s such a different change of pace.”

If you’ve wondered what the deal is with the caravan of decaled Scion xB’s in the mornings in Branson, it is the Knudsen brothers, who drive to work in train-like fashion as a part of their marketing campaign. Marketing the show has been much less expensive in Branson, where they don’t have to compete and pay for the same advertising space as Celine Dion. Jak says the 417-land marketing bill ends up being about one-20th of what it cost in Vegas.

From a young age their father taught them how to listen to tone and pitch. Tediously, they learned straight-forward singing. They practiced regularly and began performing early. (Jak was 7.) It wasn’t until the early ’90s, when Owen went to San Francisco to study with one of the best voice percussionists in the country, that the brothers became much much more than an a cappella group whose members shared a last name. “He came back, and our jaws just dropped because he’s a total natural,” Jak says. “We all quit our day jobs, and we started singing full-time professionally.”

Six is still establishing itself in Branson. Usually drawing between 100 to 200 people a night, the group feels good about its numbers. They still have time to grow.