BRANSON, Mo., December 12, 2013 – “The only major complaint we get about our show is that our seats are too small,” said Branson entertainer Clay Cooper of “Clay Cooper’s Music Express.” “These seats were installed 15 to 20 years ago and let’s just say, ‘The world has gotten a lot larger since then.'”
He explained that, as part of a complete auditorium renovation, they are removing all of their existing theatre seats, about 1058 of them, and installing newer four inch wider seats with more leg room between each of the rows of seats. In addition the aisles will be widened to about six feet from their current size. The theatre will lose about 108 seats reducing its capacity from 1058 to 950 and have a different seating arrangement when the project is done, but Cooper said that it is worth it in terms of audience’s total enjoyment of the show.
When they first bought the theatre four years ago, they spent over $2.8 million remodeling the front, lobby, gift shop, signage and portico; the back with a multi-story facility containing dressing rooms, administrative facilities and “green room” and included the installation of state of the art sound and other audio visual systems in the auditorium. Clay said that the current project is a complete remodel and renovation of the “middle” of the theatre, its “auditorium” and, except for the sound and other systems installed earlier, that the seats and expanded aisles are just the beginning.
In addition to the seats and larger aisles, the renovation will include a new fiber optic back curtain, a new front curtain and new carpeting as well as a new stage surface. The size of the stage will also be enlarged slightly on each side to better tie in with the theatres other two wrap around side stages. In addition, the little cement step up slope in the back of the theatre will be taken out to eliminate the step up and provide a single surface auditorium floor.
While interviewing Clay at the theatre he explained that they started within two days of ending their 2013 season and plan to have done in time to have their first 2014 show on Valentines with the Haygoods, who are performing at his theatre starting in 2014, opening the night after Clay’s opening.
He said, “It will be an involved intense process, but it’s needed. When it’s done it will be very nice and will enhance the overall experience that audience’s attending not only our show, but all the shows at our theatre, will have.”
Clay said it will be an intense process, but plans to have it done by the opening of his 2014 season on Valentine’s Day. The Haygoods, who will be performing at the Clay Cooper Theatre, starting in 2014, open the next night.