Branson theaters realize box-office returns

Theater ticket sales are up. Jim Stafford is back performing on the strip. The owners of the Hollywood Wax Museum have Branson plans in the works.

It must be the 1990s.

Well, not exactly. There is a “new normal” at play, according to those in the know.

Tourism is trending up in 2015, and Branson’s theaters are part of an improving picture, but live shows haven’t kept pace with other tourism categories, according to the most recent sales tax receipts.

Through July, Branson theaters generated nearly $350,000 in tourism tax receipts, up 2 percent compared to the same period last year.

However, the hotel-motel tax is up more than 6 percent, and all tourism taxes in the city tally $1.5 million through July, which is on pace for a 5.5 percent annual increase.

“We are seeing the economy coming back on, representing a new normal,” said Lynn Berry, the Branson/Lakes Area Convention and Visitors Bureau communications director.

“Gas prices are down. Consumer confidence is up.”

With weak consumer confidence, theater tax receipts slid 17 percent from $3.88 million in 2008 to $3.21 million in 2012. Since then, theater taxes have moved up 5.6 percent to $3.39 million last year.

And Branson has changed.

Berry’s new normal zeroes in on visitors with more money to spend, and they’re generally spending more at restaurants and retailers.

“The average $50,000-a-year income is now approaching a $75,000,” Berry said of CVB survey data collected over the past four years.

The average number of shows per trip and the average number of nights stayed has remained steady at around four each during that time period, she said.

By year’s end, Berry expects nearly 7.5 million visitors to Branson, a roughly 2 percent increase from 2014.

“We just think the dining and lodging opportunities that have developed over the past seven or eight years have begun to draw a different crowd,” she said, pointing to renovations at Chateau on the Lake and the Grand Oaks Hotel and restoration of Branson Hotel, a boutique property on Main Street.

Restaurants that have opened since the recession include Florentina’s Ristorante Italiano and Pasghetti’s Restaurant & Attraction.

Last year, Branson Landing officials hired Chicago-based consultant Hunden Strategic Partners to determine the $420 million entertainment and retail project’s economic impact on the area. Hunden’s report, released in March 2014, pegged Branson Landing’s economic impact at $3.3 billion based on tax revenues and jobs supported.

The impetus behind the public-private district was to inject new life into the theater-centric lakeside tourist destination. According to the commissioned report, the number of theater seats in Branson hit a record high in 2001, with nearly 62,000, before gradually dropping to under 43,000 available seats in 2012.

Renee Johnson, director of the League of Branson Theatre Owners and Show Producers, said the organization represents about 20 theater owners and 78 shows in Branson. Not counting Silver Dollar City theme park, she said Branson is home to over 30 theaters – around 20 fewer than before the recession.

“I think there might have been more physical buildings at one time. Some of those have become churches. Some of those have become event venues or mixed venues, but there is still an amazing number for a town with a population of 10,000,” Johnson said.

Given Stafford’s reappearance and the Americana Theatre reopening after a year closed, Johnson said she’s not surprised by the 2015 tax figures.

“I think what you are actually seeing is stronger shows rolling in. We just opened the Million Dollar Quartet, and it’s phenomenal. It’s absolutely a Broadway presentation. You’ve got great national artists like Billy Dean and the Texas Tenors coming in. You’ve got international shows: the Acrobats of China just premiered a brand new show. You’ve got this super-solid mix,” she said.

Frank Blacketer, director of administration for Branson’s Nantucket resort who handles marketing for Jim Stafford Theatre, said Stafford is in his 25th year of performing on Country 76 Boulevard after a year off in Branson. Stafford’s theater was bought out of foreclosure in December by Maria’s Theater Group II, which reopened the property in April after convincing Stafford to return from his Florida home, Blacketer said. The theater was closed in 2014 while owners Jim and Ann Stafford addressed marital and financial problems that led to a pair of lawsuits.

Maria’s Theater Group – which is owned by Branson’s Nantucket – has invested an undisclosed sum in the property to boost attendance next year, Blacketer said.

“Everything on the inside is new – and on the outside, we’ve done some things we are very proud of,” he said, pointing to high-definition signage. “You drive by now, and you’ll see this 30-foot-wide TV screen looking at you.”

While Blacketer declined to disclose theater revenue, he said ticket sales vary from 200 to 500 per night, and Stafford performs five shows a week.

“We are seeing increases on a weekly basis as more and more people find out he’s here,” Blacketer said. “We were really late to the dance this year. We didn’t purchase the theater until the end of December, and we didn’t have an entertainer until the end of February where most people are booking their buses and stuff in August and September the year before.”

According to Springfield Business Journal’s online poll last week, 36 percent of respondents have seen a Branson show this year, but 21 percent said it hasn’t been since the 1990s.

While the theaters may not have the influence on tourism they had during the booming ’90s or early 2000s, Johnson said they still represent an important part of the local tourism industry.  

“I think Branson has always been a bit of a mix,” Johnson said.

“If there is one thing that makes us different from our destination counterparts, it is our live-show content. We have beautiful lakes, but many of them do. We have beautiful golf courses, but many of them do. We have shopping. A lot of them have shopping. What makes us unique is that.”