Ronnie Prophet Show - Branson

What do you say about a man who has done nearly everything he set out to do? Well, Ronnie Prophet has pretty well done what he set out to do in life. He has literally been there, done that and more. Much more. Ronnie has fulfilled more ambitions in his lifetime, than most people would have ever thought about and he has done it ten times over.

Let me put it a simpler way. Ronnie can do imitations, and pretty darned good ones, of many famous stars of the musical stage. None of these many stars that he imitates, can imitate Ronnie Prophet. That is an unwritten law. The reason being, Ronnie is not just a guitar player, nor is he simply a singer, he is a complete one-man show. For example, Ronnie can do a tribute to the late, legendary Johnny Cash but Johnny could never do a takeoff on Ronnie. It would be impossible for another person, no matter whom, or how talented they are, to imitate Ronnie Prophet.

Now, before my mailbox gets jammed with letters, I want to say that, in no way, am I saying Johnny Cash was not a good performer. Johnny, with his trademarked “Man in Black” and gravelly, narrow-ranged voice, was a super-star turned legend, now going onward to myth status. I am not taking a thing away from Johnny. I have been and am still one, solid-as-a-rock, complete Johnny Cash fan. Now that said, let’s go back to Ronnie.

I looked Ronnie up in McCloud’s Definitive Country, a publication that lists everybody who was and is active in country music. The super-duper-star legends get a couple three pages for their bios, the lesser known a paragraph or a quarter page and Ronnie, a page. The book, published in 95, tells that Ronnie was born in Canada, moved to the United States, sang and was a big success. That pretty much sums up the career of Ronnie Prophet in a nutshell. Not quite. Ronnie has won awards throughout his lifetime. He has had a Canadian, coast to coast TV show with about every big name in the business as his guest and in the mid-eighties, he married the very beautiful and multi-talented Glory Anne Carriere. Together they have been nominated for “Duo of the Year.” Glory Anne also had her own national TV show and is a very smart lady in the world of show business.

I am proud to claim Ronnie and Glory Anne Prophet as personal friends. I am not so much proud of my friendship with Ronnie Prophet the entertainer as I am with Ronnie Prophet the person. The personal side of Ronnie is that of a down-to-earth person with a complete unabridged set of personal values. He has morals and values and that is a rare coupling in the world of entertainment. He also has his ego in check. Everyone in show business has to have a certain amount of ego to survive, but must know how to maintain their self-esteem at the proper level. Ronnie, who has been in show business since the age of seventeen, has no problem with his sense of self. He is completely comfortable in his own skin, therefore others are comfortable around him.

A good example would be; one day I was in Donovan’s Hillbilly Café in the Branson Mall when someone grabbed me by the arm. I turned to find a person dressed in fishing clothes and an old hat, who I did not immediately recognize. Ronnie had been wetting a line and had stopped by to see his old friend, Ray Wix. Ronnie invited me to join Ray and himself at a table, where they spent the better part of a lazy summer afternoon telling backstage tales, fables and stories of the “Grand Ole Opry.” What hilarity-what a feeling of history. Adding up those two’s musical history comes to about a hundred years, give or take a couple of decades. That was one day that I did not have my recorder with me and have kicked myself ever since. Maybe, one day I will have a second chance with Ronnie and Ray and their tales of the Opry.

Incidentally Ray and Ronnie are nearing completion of an album of their guitar music. I have already spoken for one of the first copies. They are two of the finest players and pickers in the world. Both can play ”Chet Atkins” licks, or any other licks, till the cows come home. Most guitarists would die to be able to play half as well as these two. At the very least, they would commit acts of grievous bodily harm to themselves.

I was covering a benefit last year where Ronnie was going to perform. I found him backstage, in a hallway, sitting on a trunk, shadow boxing with his guitar, just before his time to go onstage. I sat on the trunk next to him and watched as he silently practiced his “Licks,” and was amazed that I could not follow his fingers. He was very fast. Ronnie’s fingers were in essence, out dragging a 57 Chevy on a downhill run. Ronnie has a practically all-new show this year at the Branson Mall Music Theater. Last year Ronnie, his wife Glory Anne and the entire troupe went on the road and did not perform regularly in Branson. It is quite a treat to see the cast assembled again and performing on a Branson stage.

There are new members to the cast this year. The Warnocks, a singing family from Lowell, Wyoming, are a special addition to the “Ronnie Prophet Show.” Dotty Booth, a former personal secretary to the late Elvis Presley, is a regular as Bessie Bugg, a righteous citizen of Pond Scum, Ark. This is Dotty’s sixth year with the Ronnie Prophet Show and she has won numerous awards for her original comedy routines. Of course, there is also Glory Anne Prophet, Ronnie’s wife. Without Glory Anne, there would be no Ronnie Prophet Show. At least, not the Ronnie Prophet Show that I know. Glory Anne adds beauty, glamour and a sense of organization to the production. You will see her perform “Cowboys and Clowns,” from the Eastwood movie “Bronco Billy,” as her nostalgic clown character dons makeup and costume. Glory Anne is a richly talented lady who adds much to the over-all effect of the show.

Ronnie does everything from “The Auctioneer’s Song,” to “Phantom of the Opry,” an original take-off, Prophet style, of the original Broadway hit. He moves like a kid onstage, admittedly an older kid, and keeps everyone guessing what he will do next. Even the other players on the show admit he is hard to keep up with. They too, much to their collective chagrin, sometimes have to guess what he will do next. Ronnie doesn’t always stick religiously with the script.

Ronnie is so multi-talented that he has been described, in national publications, as the ‘performer’s performer.’ I feel that is a good and very accurate characterization of him. That is certainly what he is. Ronnie’s show is based on three letters, F-U-N. I will guarantee that you will have fun with him and his entire cast and crew as you watch his show. Even the ushers suffer from Prophetitis and have a load of fun with the people in the audience. Fortunately, Prophetitis is contagious and you will probably come out of the theater with a pretty good case of it.

You’ve been properly warned.

Branson Critic™

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