It’s Our 100th Issue! Thanks for reading the Branson Globe. Always FREE! Your source for local news and entertainment INSIDE... June 19-20, 2020 • Vol. 1, Issue 100! Jesus Experience: Opens this evening at Music City Centre. Pg. 2 The Presleys: Opening for another season of fun. Pg. 8 ‘The Ruby Room’ brings R&B venue to Branson The “Dancing in the Street” preview on June 16 includes performances by singers Earl Lee, Derek Ventura, Ditannual ‘Doc’ Hutchinson and Andre Shepard with a medley of Motown hits. (Photo by Marshall Meadows) By David Stoltz Those attending the ‘pre-openTheatre, 2849 Gretna ing’ of The Ruby Room in the Majestic Juneteenth: Celebrating freedom from slavery. Pg. 10 WEATHER...page 13 Highs around 90. Chance of showers and storms for the next five days. Road, on June 17. got a preview of ‘Dancin’ In the Streets - A Motown Revue’ on Wednesday, June 17. It was a blast from the past with Motown memories. Derek Ventura, who was lead singer of “The Drifters” from 197284, felt it was time for “Branson to have a room that was intimate, where everyone can enjoy. R&B (Rhythm and Blues) and jazz.” As the theater’s name suggests, be prepared to ‘see red’ from the curtains and walls to the stunning ruby red floor. The 2,700 square foot theater seats 80 in an intimate setting. The Ruby Room is a venue that offers a stage, seating with tables or a place to host a party. It offers four shows weekly – a 1950s show, “Doo-Wop and the Drifters” Wednesday and Thursday nights and a 1960s show, “Dancing in the Streets – a Motown Revue” on Friday and Saturday nights. While many Branson Gospel or country shows cater to morning or after-lunch crowds, The Ruby Room’s shows are more matinee to-evening type shows, Ventura said. They will also offer table service with appetizers, flatbreads, desserts and a bar service. “We have built this to be a showplace for rhythm and blues in Branson,” said Ventura. Originally the show was set to open April 1, but the coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold. Now, full occupancy is allowed where families and groups can be accommodated, although social distancing guidelines will still be observed. Ventura, a New York native who has been in the music business since the age of 13, was a 19-year-old lounge and wedding singer with a nine-piece band when he learned the Drifters were looking to replace a member who had gone solo. He was among approximately 50 auditioning for that role and, to his advantage, “I knew all of their hits” and had already performed many of them with his band. Ventura toured with The Drifters until 1984 when he left to pursue a solo career. All these years later, he and his wife and business partner Kay, were looking for a final destination “that spoke to both of us in our retirement, not mySEE RUBY ROOM, PAGE 3
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