BRANSON MO NEWS: Steven Baldridge, middle son of a trio of brothers said, “We would go all over — New York, Florida, Minnesota, California — we were doing about 250 concert dates all in a year’s time.”
The three brothers and their families moved from Oklahoma to Branson in 1991, but rarely performed there.
“When we got the phone call to do this job here, we were ecstatic. Gave us a chance to get off the road,” Baldridge said.
Dixie Stampede, in its 23rd season, is a dinner theater with front-facing tables in U-shaped elevated stands that surround a sand covered “stage.” Performers sing, dance, ride and — in the case of young Lezlie Young (she also has Oklahoma connections) — “fly” around the spacious arena. She is an aerial artist who floats from the ceiling in a gossamer costume as a Thunderbird and is propelled to flight by a horse and rider.
The cast and the show’s 32 horses display historic scenes with buffalo, long-horned steers and covered wagons and offer competitions between a strategically divided audience pitting the cast’s equestrian skills, speed and agility in a “north versus south” battle. This year “Canine Capers” featuring trained rescue dogs has been added to the mix.
The family-friendly show is performed up to five times a day.
White River Wranglers serve as a 45-minute warm-up for the arena show and perform in the round (actually a square stage) just outside the main entry. The high-energy, always-moving musicians play, sing and joke with tunes old and new, and occasionally invite audience members to join them on stage.
Upright bass player, Shawn, sings subsonic notes, roams the stage, and dances with his instrument up and down stairs without missing a note.
“He does a train whistle like Box Car Wiley that the audience always likes more than anything,” Paul said.
“His train …
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