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| The Divas Showcase their Talents |
Viva La Diva is the vision of Branson’s undisputed Diva. Janice Copeland made her first appearance in Branson with Roy Clark in 1989. She has performed with some of the biggest names in town including Mickey Gilley, Andy Williams, Jim Stafford, and Pierce Arrow. But most will remember her from time with the hilarious Ray Stevens. At least that is where I remember her. When she would step out on the stage, you knew something special was about to happen. She has one of those voices that commands your full attention.
The other performers in the show include Cindi Barr, Michele Sevryn, Dee Dee Hamilton and the ever-funny Harley Worthit. All are worthy Divas with impressive performance histories.
Cindi has performed with Buck Trent and with the 70 Music Show, Arron Patrick Elvis Show, also at Thunderbird Theater, now the Moe Bandy Theater, and was part of the late 1980’s TV show You Can Be A Star. Besides Viva La Divas, she is also currently performing in Elvis and the Superstars at the Owens Theatre in Downtown Branson.
Michele Sevryn has been in Branson form many years. One of the first big shows was a USO type show called The Golden Girls. She has also preformed with Magic of The Top Dogs, Peter Lemonjello and Larry Musgrave: The Great Pretender.
Dee Dee Hamilton was a member of the World Famous Platters for many years. This year she finds herself a very busy woman. She lends her vocal talents to three different Branson shows. Two of those shows, Viva La Divas and a vaudeville style variety show called Blast, are part of the Showcase Theatre lineup. At noon, she is a headliner in The Ladies of Motown at the Owens Theatre.
Finally, Harley Worthit (Perry Edenburg), the diva wanta be has been in Branson for as long as I can remember. He got started in Branson with the Plummer Show. He also pent 20 years with Presley’s. His other credits include a run with Pierce Arrow, the Splinter Middleton Show, Delene Show, and Pam Tillis. Currently, he is also doing the Keeping it Country Show at the Imax and occasionally filling in for Homer Lee at the Branson Brothers.
You will feel like you really get to know the stars. Each presents a musical scrapbook. As the pictures of their life and family appear on the screen, they share from their heart where they are coming from. I have not seen this type of montage in a Branson show before, but it just seemed right for this production.
In this show five Branson Divas get to showcase the talent that they have not been able to share in other venues around town. Though the show title might suggest that these ladies think themselves something special, this is not really the case. All of them seem completely grounded. They are all grateful for the opportunity to share their amazing talents with the audience.
I do not want to mislead anyone to thinking that this is a huge multimillion-dollar production. You will not find high-tech special effects and frills. Not only did the ladies write the show, but they are also producing it using their own money. There is not a huge production company with tons of money making the endeavor. The budget is tight for this brand new show and the ladies never take things too serious. They even make reference to the low budget sets and props throughout the evening. The focus is always the talented performers.
PLAN YOUR TRIP