Hamners' Unbelievable Variety Show - Branson, MO — Attraction in Branson

I don't leave very many poor reviews but I feel I need to be honest. Because of previous great reviews I chose Hamners Unbelievable New Years Fiesta and mainly because it was family friendly and good for the kids. It was $69 for adults and $29 for kids and included a "Taco Bar". We arrived and their was a disorganized mess trying to get into the theater because they were trying to take pictures as yiu entered and had multiple lines for drinks at the concession stand and a line where they were serving food all crammed together. When reading the description I had pictured a Taco Bar being more like a buffet style of Taco ingredients that you can make your tacos to your liking. But this was servers placing food in styrofoam containers and everyone got the same thing rather you wanted that or not. They had rice and refined beans in the bottom and one chicken and one hamburger taco laid on top almost and then you could add lettuce, tomatoes and cheese if you asked for it. The refried beans were something I've never seen before, they were almost gray in color and very soupy. My entire family was disappointed in the food and most of it was thrown away. We had avoided eating Mexican food that day and day before because we knew we were going to have the Taco Bar on New Years Eve. We also went hungry expecting to eat a good dinner for the $69 fee. I hate to say it but the food was absolutely disgusting. So now we're scheduled to be here from 7:30 till midnight and hungry. The theater is old and outdated and the seating makes it hard to see what's happening on the stage unless you are front and center. My main reason for going here for New Years was for the kids. We had a group of 5 with ages 51, 24, 21, 12, and 6. We all enjoyed the birds because they were absolutely beautiful but from there it just kept going down hill. Once the singing started my grandson went to sleep. The songs were for people in the 50's, 60's or 70's. People 25 and under aren't familiar with the rat pack songs or Kenny Rodgers or any other songs they sang. So anyone under 50 lose enthusiasm for the show. Intermission came around 10 pm and no one in our group wanted to stay another 2 hours. One kid was asleep and one was bored and asking to leave and the 21 and 24 year old were not enjoying the show either so we decided to leave at Intermission. Plus everyone was hungry now because the food was so bad we threw it away. The day before we went to The Dixie Stampede which is like $280 for 3 adults and 2 kids but for that price you get non stop quality entertainment and a 4 course delicious meal served to you. Where at Hamners New Years Eve was $270 for bland, horrible Mexican food with no flavor and literally we were afraid to eat the gray beans or the hamburger in the taco. It was served in a styrofoam to go container and the gray beans were on your tacos shells from the tacos being laid on the beans. The show needs to be updated to have a variety to include all age groups. So it overall was a disappointment for our New Years Celebration and we were home by 10:30 wishing we had chose a different event. Hopefully things improve in...

I attended the New Years Eve show, which I think was a bit different than the show they may typically do. The tix included dinner and the show. When we showed up, there was a mob of people outside the building waiting to get in. It seemed rather unorganized but eventually a line formed. Problem was it was very cold outside and turned out the line was for the dinner, which was being served in the front lobby. The line was REALLY slow, so sat outside at least 30 minutes in line, and it was COLD. So if you're going at night in the winter, dress warm. The dinner was catered from a local restaurant. It was passable but not fantastic. There weren't really options other than beef or chicken on your taco, but they did offer anybody who wanted more at intermission could have all they wanted. Eating the dinner was a bit tricky since you're doing it in your auditorium seat just eating out of a take-home container--no tables or drink holders. After about 30 minutes dinner time, the show started. Not really sure how to describe the show other than to say it was one of the most random performances I've ever seen. They had everything from lasso-spinning to story-telling, to Frank Sinatra impersonation, to magic, to giant Macaws flying around. The performers were definitely talented, but the connection / flow between acts just wasn't there. I just kept thinking "What am I going to see next?" Mr. Hamner is actually a very talented magician, and I thought some of his magic tricks were fantastic, but the audience didn't seem very taken in with them. Maybe some of that is just people watching too much TV and thinking they were going to see America's Got Talent or something. They also had a gentleman do some acrobatic stuff while holding a giant ring, which I thought was very entertaining. There were several musical numbers in between things, which the singers had great voices but the song selections just seemed really random. All in all I would say it was worth the $40 I paid, and if you're looking for something entertaining to do in an evening I would give it some...

I give the show five stars. Why? Because it’s a great show. In fact, I have seen it three or four times now on multiple trips to Branson. We were very reluctant to go this time due to the pandemic but were reassured that there would be adequate social distancing in the theatre. Indeed, there was. Full disclosure, we went off season on a Tuesday evening so the show was nowhere close to sold out. Still, we enjoyed it as we always do. The magic is stunning as were the other acts. If I had one criticism, though, it would be the singers -both the guy and the blonde lady. The guy was an impressionist (at least he tried to be) and, without the pictures on the screens to guide me (and him actually saying who he was trying to impersonate), I wouldn’t have guessed any one of them. If the guy is reading this, I am not trying to be mean, he has a good voice, but doing impressions aren’t his forte. Now, for the blonde lady... She does have a good voice. However, it drives me nuts watching a singer pull the microphone away from their face either for dramatic effect or some other reason. The sound gets very distorted and it is annoying. I enjoy good singing but I didn’t really enjoy her for the reasons mentioned above. Again, not trying to be mean, but if she is reading this, stop the microphone thing! Just sing with the microphone where it should be. As Shania Twain said: “that don’t impress me much.” Actually, unlike Shania’s quote, it doesn’t impress me at all and I was eagerly waiting for her segment to end. Sorry. My Mom, being very honest and blatant in her assessment, said she was afraid the lady’s dress was going to explode and you could see the outline of her belly button because the dress was too tight. That all said, there is plenty of other things I enjoy very much in the show which is why I have seen it multiple times and I will see it again next time I am in Branson. I may put on headphones to get through the blonde lady next...