Polynesian Cultural Center to do Branson shows
Associated Press
One of Hawaii's most popular attractions will be staging a seven-week production this summer in the resort community of Branson, Mo.
The Polynesian Cultural Center announced yesterday that "Fire -- The Hawaiian Experience" will run from Thursday through Aug. 12 at the Grand Palace in the town which has become a major entertainment tourist attraction.
Described as a 90-minute multimedia spectacular, the show is said to contain the best elements from the Polynesian Cultural Center. Among other things, there will be flaming torches, Hawaiian and Tahitian dancers, fireknife dancers from Samoa and Tongan drummers.
There will be new musical orchestrations for the show segments and the use of a 320-square-foot video screen, the center said.
The production will mark the center's first long-running show off Oahu In Branson, it will compete with such local attractions as the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum and dozens of musical shows, including Elvis Presley impersonators, comedians, country-western groups, and long-performing crooners such as Andy Williams and Bobby Vinton, who have their own theaters.
An hour before the show begins in the 3,000-seat theater, visitors can interact with the indigenous cast members on the grounds of the Grand Palace. They can get a tattoo just like a Maori warrior, learn to twirl poi balls and dance the hula, take Tahitian dance lessons and play Tongan drums.
The center said it has entertained more than 32 million visitors since it was founded in 1963 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.