Center Stage: Midwest Concerts & Events LLC

“There are a lot of fly-by-night people that come through here. If you are the newcomer coming in, Branson is tough,” says Bartlett, who launched Midwest Concerts and Events in January 2004. “For two years, I couldn’t get a job.”

Copperfield’s guinea pig

Bartlett’s entertainment interests began in magic. “When I was 8, there was a magician who came to our church, and I thought I wanted to be a magician,” he recalls.

He practiced magic tricks throughout his childhood in Florida. Bartlett’s professional chance came in 1989 while he was studying theater at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.

“I applied for a job with David Copperfield and traveled the world,” Bartlett recalls. “I became the guinea pig whenever David Copperfield wanted to do a new trick.”

Bartlett left Copperfield’s team in Las Vegas after four years as an illusion technician and stagehand. “I knew I could make as much behind the scenes as (I could) in front of the scenes,” he says.

He remained in Vegas working in technical production, including a five-year stint as technical director for Caesar’s Magical Empire.

He also began booking entertainment for corporate events for businesses such as NEC Computers, Nabisco and McDonald’s. “I really had found my passion,” he says.

In 2001, Bartlett was hit by a car and was off for two years. “I took it as a turning point,” he says. “Vegas was becoming cutthroat, and the crime had gotten really bad.” Because his wife, Sharon, grew up in the Springfield area, the Bartlett family moved back to the Midwest.

Lucky Landing

Bartlett’s lucky business break in Branson came two years ago when he met Bill Lennon, owner of Bill Lennon Productions LLC and the producer of the Lennon brothers’ show for 11 years.

“I was asked to produce a telethon for the Katrina victims and I needed key people to help me out,” Lennon recalls. “Gary showed up at one of our meetings. The next time I needed help, I had Gary to help me out.”

Bartlett joined Lennon and Joe Sullivan of Branson’s Joe Sullivan Productions to hire the street performers and plan special events for Branson Landing. The trio will provide entertainment for Branson Landing again in 2007. Lennon says they will hire about 30 entertainers, the same number as last year, and will hold new auditions in March.

Bartlett says they also will bring back the popular Saturday night concert series. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra, which had not performed in Branson for several years, played in conjunction with singer Andy Williams in the concert series in October.

Ron Spigelman, music director for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, says the symphony has talked with Bartlett about returning for the 2007 season. “We are waiting (for him) to secure another one of Branson’s best-loved artists to perform (with us),” he says. “We are really excited about a future relationship with the Branson Landing.”

Show time

Bartlett also manages the Motown Experience, located at the Bart Rockett Theatre in Branson, and has worked with Branson magician Kirby VanBurch, who he first met through Copperfield in Las Vegas.

Bartlett is also seeking a network to pick up a show he has produced called “Cookin’ with Grandma.” He describes the show, featuring local comedian Terry Sanders as “Grandma,” as “Rachael Ray meets Mrs. Doubtfire.”

Bartlett says his marketing strategy to succeed in the Branson entertainment industry is similar to that of his colleague Sullivan.

“I think Joe has the pulse of what is going on in town,” Bartlett says, adding that he wants to work with the baby boomer market and that he is glad to see new acts, such as Neil Sedaka, Debbie Reynolds, Brenda Lee and Mannheim Steamroller, in Branson. “Branson had eyesight, but no vision. Now they’re stepping up to the plate. You need to appeal to the baby boomers as well (as the retirees).”

Midwest Concerts & Events LLC

Owner: Gary E. Bartlett

Founded: January 2004

Address: 140 Tyler St., Branson, MO 65616

Phone: (417) 336-0757

Fax: (800) 506-6003

Web site: www.midwestconcerts.com

E-mail: gary@midwestconcerts.com

Services/Products: Event and entertainment planning, production, product launches and consulting

Employees: 3