Monday, October 17, 2011

Had a great time...

We got to Branson about 4:30 Friday afternoon and needed to be at the Sight and Sound Theater by 6:15. Not much time to get unloaded, get something quick to eat, and get over there. Of course, the traffic was wicked busy but my friends knew how to get there a quick way so we were on our way. McDonald's dinner "to go" and we were in the parking lot by 6:00. Great timing.

The outside of the theater is just beautiful.



The inside was really beautiful, too.



Herb, Debbie, Ron, and Wanda
(Herb and Debbie are my friends; Wanda is Herb's mom)

We did not plan to both wear pink shirts; it just worked out that way.


The road between Sprinfield, MO and Branson is very hilly and cut right out of the mountains. As we were driving, I took a couple of pictures of the scenery. The rocks were really interesting looking.



Saturday evening, we went to Yakov's Dinner Theater.



Yakov wrote a book called Little Ballet Slippers & Big Red Nose and he had performers from the Moscow Circus performing the story as he narrated it. The book is loosely based on the story of a circus performer he met 20 years ago in Vegas who told him how much he missed his wife and son back in Russia.

The story follows Andre, a lowly circus clown, and Marina, a beautiful circus ballerina. They share a special friendship and "heart" connection that Marina's sister (Olga) is very jealous of. She is the ringmaster and the owner of this circus and she gives all of the orders. She makes arrangements for the circus to travel to America to perform, but instead of everyone being able to go, she makes sure that Andre goes and Marina is not allowed to go. Love prevails and eventually Andre and Marina are reunited in America.

The true story is that Andre really was the circus performer in Vegas and Marina was his wife back in Russia. Yakov arranged for them to come to America. They both perform in this play, along with their son. It's a very touching story and beautifully done.

Neither of them looked old enough (far away or up close) to have a son old enough to be performing.

Andre and me.
(It's a terrible picture but I wanted to post it anyway.)
Yakov is a very talented performer and artist. The painting in the picture behind us was done by him. The gift shop was full of his artwork.  He's also a professor at Missouri State University.

During the story, the meal is served by the performers and it was very tasty. The food is prepared by a Russian chef and consisted of a potato soup, beef brisket, chicken breast, sauteed vegetables, mashed potatoes, sweet cornbread muffin, and a "twist" on strawberry shortcake - Russian style.

Sunday, we ate at Cracker Barrel and then headed home. On the way home, I snapped a beautiful sunset.

12 comments:

colenic said...

Looks like a fabulous weekend...so glad that you were able to get away...thank you for taking pictures and sharing them with us so we could go along with you!!

Southhamsdarling said...

That theatre certainly does look lovely, and so glad that you had a good time. It must have been a pretty amazing experience. Love the photo of you and Ron together (in your matching pink outfits! Hee Hee!!). Lovely to see all these photos today.

SkippyMom said...

Is it my imagination, or did you take a picture while driving the car?

Anyway - great pics! You and Andre look so cute together. I bet you are wiped out today, but I know how much you like your little road trips/Branson so I know how happy you must be right now. :)

Thanks for sharing the pics!

orchid0324 said...

Dearest Teresa,
Oh,I AM REALLY happy to see you and Ron had such a marvelous time and you two look gorgeous, my friend!!!
"Sight and Sound Theater" I hope to be able to enjoy the performance at the place like that. Wondeful pictures with lot of excitement, thank you for sharing them with us.

Blessing to both of you and happy rest of the week, xoxo Orchid*

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a well-deserved getaway!

BB said...

So happy you and Ron got to get away. And with friends. Great pictures and you have a great smile. Love the sunset picture!!

labbie1 said...

Wow! Sounds like you had a great time with friends! Branson has so much and at this time of year is not nearly as crowded as summer! I am glad you posted the shot of the cutout at that exit. I was amazed that they curved the cuts rather than just making corners. They flowed so pretty. Glad you had a good time! :)

Libbie said...

WOW!!! I have heard of many people's trips to Branson & never really thought, "that sounds fun" until now!!! Seriously! WHat a beautiful trip! That theater looks FABULOUS AND the clown story...beautiful! (not to mention the pretty lady next to the clown ;) Actually I want you to know I really think you are lovely! Outside AND in! It is hard for me to put pics of myself up but I know that I really connect with people when I see their pics up..& tonight...I loved seeing your smile & it made me feel even closer to you! Seriously did! So thank you for sharing your pics with me & next time...I'm coming! Night T!

Pat said...

Sounds like you guys had a great time on a well-deserved weekend away.

Yolanda said...

I have been there before. It is in beautiful part of the country. I also love Eureka Springs ARK> I hop eyou had a good time and are having a good week.

Silver Strands said...

sounds like a perfectly wonderful time Teresa! Thanks for sharing the pictures :)

Kristen said...

So Glad you had fun! You sure deserve it.....