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Ray Stevens Show

Steven Matthew K
Overland Park/Kansas
Ray Stevens
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 3 of 5
July 24, 2005
07:57 AM

One of country music's biggest comedians has always been Ray Stevens. His original brand of hilarity has brought smiles and laughs from people sense 1962, and today he is still kicking, and kicking quite hard. We arrived at the Ray Stevens Theater in Branson, Missouri @ about 7 o'clock P.M. His theater is very nice, and very "Ray". Decorated with camels and palm trees from his 1962 hit "Ahab the Arab". We found our seats around 7:15 and before to long the screens in the auditorium began to play old Ray Stevens music videos to keep everyone entertained. It was fun stuff.

When the show started he came out on Clyde and started in on the show. It was great. He played all of his hits from "The Streak", "Guitarzan", "It's Me Again, Margret" to his more serious songs like "Turn Your Radio On" and "Everyone is Beautiful." It was an excellent show, and I laughed a lot. I wouldn't probably ever go back and watch it again, because it's one of those "one time only" things. Seeing Ray live was a blast. This is his last season in Branson before he heads out to tour and record more.

His musical performance was above par, for an older guy, Ray has a great voice, and can still make people laugh. There was one thing that really hurt my experience during the show. Ray told some crude jokes. They weren't horrible, but definitely had some significant sexual innuendo. Some people might think it's funny, but I wouldn't want to take my children there to hear those jokes, if I had children.

Go for the funny antics, go to hear his hits sung live, but you might want to tune out during some of the "semi-dirty" jokes.

Don W
Ray Stevens
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 3 of 5
July 10, 2005
09:59 AM

I'm a 47 year old man, my wife is 51. This was our 1st Branson visit. We ended up attending 10 shows and this show was near the middle of the pack in quality and enjoyment for both of us. THIS SHOW IS INAPPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN. Many of his jokes included implied sex. I kept seeing children asking parents for explanations of jokes that parents probably did not want to answer.

The jokes were not distasteful for adults, just inappropriate for children. For the 1st 45 minutes (intermission is at 45 minutes.) You barely see Ray. Probably 2 minutes total. He does very quick stunts and then the rest of the group "cover for him". You see performances by a lady from Texas who is probably the BEST fiddle player on earth, Ray's backup singers and a lady solo singer and his TOP NOTCH live band. This group of backup players are EXTREMELY TALENTED and completely underutilized for the second half of the show. The second part was Ray. The did many of his comedy hits, including 2 versions of The Streak, a "classy" version and the one everyone knows and loves.

He sings and tells jokes for a little more than an hour after intermission. Nothing new, but it's the stuff you like from Ray. FYI: According to something that I read, Ray is not expected to have shows regularly next year.

Jolene H
Rogersville, MO.
Branson Show: Ray Stevens
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 5 of 5
April 10, 2005
06:39 PM

My husband and I saw Ray Stevens in Oct. 2004 and we absolutely loved the show. We saw him the last year that he was here and couldn't wait to see
him when he came back. We are in out 60's and have been coming to Branson for years and just moved down here 5 years ago.

We have seen so many shows down there and he has always been our favorite. I was amazed at how he moved around on stage because he has to be close to 70. We just laughed and laughed. His jokes are so funny without being off colored at all. His whole show is just wonderful.

I especially love Janice Copeland. I have 2 of her CD's and she is just the best. If I had to say one thing bad about his show, it would be that Janice didn't sang enough songs. We are planning on taking our daughter and her husband in August when they come down for a visit. I tell everybody to go see Ray. He is wonderful.

T. N.
Clinton, AR
Branson Show: Ray Stevens
Recommendation: No
Ratings: 2 of 5
Date: August 24, 2004
Time: 9:05 AM

We went to the Ray Steven's show with some friends. No problem getting parked and into the theater. We were told we had seats on the 3rd row and when we got there had seats much further back. We still don't know how that happened. We did go through our hotel to get the vouchers to turn in for tickets.

We had been looking forward to seeing Ray Stevens this time around and we were very disappointed to say the least. Ray did not come out until almost halfway through the first half. He only sang about 3 songs and then it was over. The songs he did perform all the way through were good. The second half he did a few more songs, but many of those he didn't sing all the way through either.

I think the biggest disappointment was he told several off-colored jokes. They were in very bad taste. We had our two teenage daughters with us and they were upset about the jokes also. Branson is known for it’s "family-oriented" shows and that’s why we go to Branson so often. You can still go to the shows and have good, clean fun. I hope it always stays that way!

We did enjoy Janice Copeland very much. She has a very beautiful voice. I would have loved for her to have more songs. Very talented! We remembered her from the Jim Stafford show.

S. L.
Verona, MO
Branson Show: Ray Stevens
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 4 of 5
Date: June 19, 2004
Time: 12:53 PM

Ray Stevens has a very good show. It was very crowded even a $30 a ticket. The parking lot also very crowed and it is a nightmare to exit. They have all these parking attendants when you enter, showing you exactly where to park. But after the show is over there is nary a person with a flashlight to be found to control the traffic. S...l...o...w...is the word. Standstill is a better word.

The pre-show was showing a video of Ray's latest DVD on the large screen to the sides of the stage.

Ray only sings 3 songs in the first half. Luckily, we were warned ahead of time about this or we would have been just as disappointed with the fill-ins by The Brazen Hussies, his back-up singers, and The 9 Piece Band and Janice Copeland as the rest of the audience seemed to be.

One thing you can say about Andy Williams...he knows he's not going to entertain for the whole 2-hour show, so he makes sure that you get your money's worth with Glen Campbell and now Ann-Margret.

But Ray is a real cool guy and his part of the show didn't disappoint. He has a few gimmicks and effects that I won't spoil by telling you about. He has lots of personality and a unique mind to come up with all those funny songs. The sound effects he can do with just his own voice is astounding.

Hint: There are two Men’s and two Women's restrooms available, one in the lobby and one in the balcony. The Lobby one had a huge line and the Balcony one was almost empty.

I am so wishing that we had purchased a DVD. We will make sure to do that on our next trip to Branson. And we are very glad to have finally seen Ray Stevens in person.

G. G.
Oklahoma City, OK
Branson Show: Ray Stevens
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 4 of 5
Date: August 18, 2004
Time: 6:35 PM

Definitely a must see show for Ray Stevens fans. Ray is truly an unique talent and he sang many of his best hits. But Ray seemed like he had to push himself a bit, as though the fast pace of a show might be a bit demanding for him. I was a little disappointed he didn't do more costume changes and use more props. Seemed like the program needs an overhaul, to integrate his back up singers more into providing more variety in the songs instead of spotlighting them for half of the first half. I thought Janice Copeland was not showcased as it could have been with the awesome voice she has. The theater's sound system needs updating. The sounds were good, but not great. I noticed the kids in the audience were entertained, so this would be a good family show.