After 29 Years in Branson, the Duttons Face a New Year One — A New Season Without Dean Dutton

By Jason Wert

BRANSON, Mo. — May 2026 — When the curtain came up for the first time on the Duttons' new show in Branson for the 2026 season, it closed the book on a 29-year legacy and started a new tome with an unknown script.

The reason for the sea change in the show wasn't because of new music, or new grandchildren joining the fray, or upgrades to The Dutton Family Theater. It had everything to do with one voice, one guitar, one smile that was no longer on stage left for the opening and closing numbers.

It was the first time they took the stage for a full season when Dean Dutton wouldn't be there.

Remembering Dean Dutton

The family patriarch passed away on Good Friday, April 3, at the age of 87. He transitioned his life from being a college economics professor to a full-time musician and led his family into becoming a worldwide entertainment phenomenon.

Abby and Amy Dutton talked to the Branson Tri-Lakes News about the transition into a new season without the beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather as part of the show.

Opening Night

"It was pretty hard," Abby said about opening night. "I was surprised at how emotional I got, especially when it was time for mom to walk out by herself, when she would normally walk out holding hands with dad. That was very emotional. And then to sing Amazing Grace, which we sang at his funeral. It was really hard to do that song without crying for me."

Amy, who is the person in charge of the actual show itself, said she wasn't sure what to do when Dean passed just days before the scheduled opening night.

"I just wasn't sure what to do," she said. "And as far as 'Okay, when do we mention it? How do we mention it?'"

She went on to say because they opened the show just four days after Dean's burial in Utah it was even harder on the family.

"We were all just really exhausted," Amy said. "We didn't realize how tired we would be from all the emotions. And it's not like we were all crying all the time or anything. We had our moments of weepiness. I think all of us experienced this feeling of love because we knew dad was happier, he wasn't in physical pain anymore. We all miss him, but I think going through losing somebody, even if it's in a way that wasn't super sad, because we were all grateful that he went quickly, but we didn't realize the toll it would take on how exhausted we would feel."

Carrying On Together

Amy said because there were two public services for her father along with the funeral service for the family created a lot of work.

"When he passed, it happened so quickly," she said. "We had just barely gotten back from Arizona. All of us had just barely gotten into town when dad passed, and then we were kind of hitting the ground running as far as planning a funeral and all this stuff. We've got all these very capable people. How does one person do it? How do families navigate all this when it's just one person putting it all together, and then I think, 'Well, they have to pay the funeral home and everybody.' We were able to pretty much do everything ourselves, but it was a lot of work, even for all seven of us and our spouses, to all help out. It was crazy. And then two funerals, driving across the country again, we just had gotten back from Arizona. It was crazy."

Abby agreed it was a lot for the family to carry on their shoulders but they could lean on their shared faith.

"Even though it was a lot, we're so blessed to have each other in our family," she said. "We're very unified in everything that we do. For the most part, we're normal where we might disagree on certain things, on how to do things, but overall, we are able to really come together, especially in times of need and crisis. We really come together and make the best of it. And I would say that doing the show was actually very healing, even though it was also difficult at first, it was also very healing. And it has helped that we all have really strong testimonies, that we will see him again, that this isn't the end. We know we will see him."

Love from the Community

Both women said the outpouring of love and support from the community has been something which humbled all of the family.

"It has been overwhelming, like the stories that people have told us about how my dad would just go out of his way to call them or whatever things we had no idea about," Amy said. "There was one gentleman that said, 'after my son passed, and this was like, probably eight years ago, your dad called me every month for three years just to check on me, to see how I was doing.' I had no idea. And he would do things like that and just he loved going out after the show every day to meet audience members. And he just really took the time to sit and visit with them. He loved it. He loved going out afterward."

2026 Show Details

The 2026 show for the Duttons is an all-new show and they perform at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Wednesdays. Details and tickets are available at theduttons.com.

Read this article and more at Branson Tri-Lakes News.

Dean Dutton Memorial