BRANSON - At the peak of this city’s entertainment season, 95 shows will be running, the majority opening in March and April. When Carla and I visited during the last week of February, 20 shows were on stage. We took in four and then hit three of the IMAX productions.

In our first show, "Legends in Concert," we were impressed by how well the impersonators captured both the voices and looks of the original stars. The lineup changes four times a year. This early in the season the audience was small, so we were seated close to the stage.

Of the five acts, the best were the Reba McEntire and Elvis Presley clones. Clone Reba had the movements and voice down pat. Elvis had the voice but was a little small for the role. Garth Brooks and Stevie Wonder also were good, but I found the Blues Brothers the least interesting, probably because I never saw the original act.

So similar were the impersonators to the real stars that as the audience gathered around the stars at intermission and after the show for autographs and photos, I felt they were responding as if these were really Reba, Elvis and Garth.

I was annoyed at how much time the performers spent trying to milk extra cheers and applause from the audience. I’m not sure the real stars would have done that, and these impersonators’ voices were strong enough that the audience was already responding well.

The next night, we saw a new group in town called SIX, composed of the Knudsen brothers doing an a cappella production. At times it was hard to believe there were no instruments in the background. Even the drum background is one of the brother’s clever use of his microphone. The brothers did a full range of vocals with excellent impressions of famous singers. The amount of energy they showed was remarkable because they often performed complicated dance steps while they were singing.

When they asked for the couple who had been married the longest, despite the number of older people in the audience, our 54 years took the prize, which was a romantic song dedicated to us. During the break, the brother who works as the MC came down to chat with us.

They are all married with 18 kids among them, some of whom were at the theater. They had been on the road and working Las Vegas and hoped they would be a success here so they could settle down, have a family life - and in this more family oriented venue "have an easier time explaining things to their children."

I remember from previous trips to Branson that many entertainers moved here to have a stable relationship with their wives and children. We noticed that sitting directly in front of us was another family act, the Brett Family Singers.

The third show, "Comedy Jamboree," was well practiced and a good show but really quite standard for Branson. With the massive competition for customers, if acts aren’t entertaining, they don’t stay around.

Our final show, the one we enjoyed the most, was "Rocky Mountain High, a Tribute to John Denver." This was not an impersonation show but was based on his songs, plus a few others that were popular at the same time. The 210 person hall, the smallest in Branson, had only 70 or so customers, but it was early in the season. James Garrett was the star and did most of the numbers, but the four supporting musicians each did some specialty numbers, as did two female singers.

As the season continues, most shows will start at 8 p.m., but some are at 10 a.m. and others at 2 and 5 p.m. If you have the stamina, you can spend most of the day in a theater.

The IMAX show we were most impressed with was the "Killer Hurricane, the Story of Katrina." Some photographers had to have risked their lives to get these pictures of the world being blown apart. The "Mystery of the Nile" was also well done.

A side benefit of the IMAX tickets was the excellent free piece of pie, including the Branson traffic jam pie, when you order a regular meal at the restaurant next door.

We ordered tickets from All Access Branson that gave us $2 to $5 off box office prices on each ticket. They also delivered the tickets free to our motel. Their local number in Branson is 332-2121, and their toll free number is (866) 810-3477.

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