THE DUTTONS

We have what I consider lifelong (31 years) friends named Mickey and James.  Our kids grew up together and they are more life family than just friends.  They now live in Tennessee and we see them very seldom.  However, Branson is one of the places that we do see them. 

So, we (me, Mr. W, Mickey, James, and another couple) are at one of the shopping centers last Friday.  The girls come out of one of the stores and all the guys are at one of those booths where they offer "free" tickets if you take a tour of something.  We can't believe it!  If one of us girls had approached one of these booths and wanted the guys to go on the tour, well........you know what would have happened!  But, we go on the sales tour and end up with free tickets to The Duttons, The Million Dollar Quartet, and Pierce Arrow.  I'm talking all 6 of us end up with free tickets.  We also end up getting tickets to The Haygoods and Paul Harris for very cheap.  AND we got a free Branson Discount Card ($25 value).  Wow!

The funny thing was, Mickey was the most vocal about not wanting to do this.  She put quite a few demands on the "booth guy" that she wanted passed along to the salesman that we would be talking to.  She kept telling James the entire way to the sales office that we were just going to listen and get out of there as soon as possible.  The "booth guy" told us that the presentation lasted anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 hour.  She set her watch.  Guess who ended up buying?  You got it, Mickey.

So, the other night, we went to see The Duttons.  What a great show!  The Duttons are a family of Mom and Dad and 7 children (3 girls; 4 boys) and 24 grandchildren.  One daughter, who is single, and one son, who use to be in the group and is married with children, are the 2 children that are not in the show.  Everyone else, grandchildren included, are in the show.

The children are unbelievable musicians.  They can play classical music, pop music, country music, bluegrass music.....you name it, they can play it.  Momma Dutton came out at one point and told some information about the family.  She started all of her children playing classical violin between the ages of 3 and 5.  One of the sons said that Momma Dutton use to wake him up early every morning before school and she would sit with him while he practiced his violin.  He said that he did not have to practice everyday, just the days he wanted to eat!  Of course, the grandchildren are all learning to play all those instruments too and some did play during the performance.  They all sing and dance too.  One of the sons is the star comedian of the show.  He appears as "Julio."  He was VERY funny.  He was worth seeing by himself! 

The Duttons appeared on America's Got Talent, season 2.  They made it to the top 10 but were eliminated before the top 4.  They now perform in Branson mid-April thru mid-December and go to Arizona to perform mid-December thru mid-April.  They tour in short stints to other US cities and have performed internationally.

So, if and when you come to Branson, The Duttons are well worth your time and money to see.  Thanks Mickey for the free tickets!

3 of the children playing

Routine that some of the grandchildren did

"Julio" with the all the horns strapped to him, along with one of the other sons.

One of their dance routines

This was like the Irish dancers

A Mary Poppins routine that featured some of the grandchildren.

All the children and grandchildren that perform.

The 5 Dutton children that perform.

One of "Julio's" appearances in the show.  He really did crack me up.