YAKOV SMIRNOFF
MARCH 30-31 If you’ve been wondering What Ever Happened To Yakov Smirnoff--come on, ‘fess up, there have been a few times when you have wondered--we’re happy to answer that question: He’s alive and well and living in Branson. That’s right, Branson, Missouri, the so-called “Live Music Show Capitol Of The World,” the enclave of musicians and entertainers who’ve at least partially left behind the showrooms of Las Vegas, Atlantic City and a zillion tour stops on the road to relocate to Branson, open their own theaters and then perform there nightly, often to packed houses. So alongside The Osmonds, Kenny Rogers, and such productions as “Tony Roi--The Elvis Experience” and something called “Branson Idol,” Yakov Smirnoff, too, has a theater and holds forth many evenings a week, much of the year. And if you think the notion of Russian immigrant Smirnoff--he of the “What a country” signature slogan and bemused-outsider observations--operating in an environment like Branson sounds like an improbable, poor fit and an entertainment enterprise doomed to fail, think again, my friend. He’s been in Branson since 1992, he performs in his own 1300-seat theater, he’s been named “Comedian Of The Year” there twice, and he’s in fact been so successful in the highly competitive show burg of Branson that, in 2004, he’s moving to a much larger theater--2200 seats. Really, though, his popularity and success shouldn’t be all that surprising: He’s been performing comedy and making fans now for twenty years, and boasts such film credits as “Moscow On The Hudson,” “Brewster’s Millions,” “The Money Pit” and “Heartburn,” not to mention his own 1986 syndicated television series, “What A Country.” More recently, in 2003 he appeared on Broadway in his highly-acclaimed one-man show “As Long As We Both Shall Laugh,” which not only yielded a rave review from no less a publication than The New York Times (“splendidly funny, sometimes poignant, and always entertaining”), but also a PBS special, DVD and video. So while Yakov Smirnoff might not have been on your radar screen lately, he’s still flying high, and when he touches down at Cap City, you sure don’t want to miss him. Two nights only--please call the club for show times and other details. |
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