The Bay Area, with banjos

SHRINK Las Vegas by 85% and move it from the desert to Missouri. Swap the showgirls for modestly clad matrons, the raunchy comics for bluegrass bands and the casinos for churches. There you have Branson, Missouri: No-Sin City.

It calls itself the live-music capital of the world. To match its theatre-to-resident ratio, New York would need 41,000 theatres. Avant-gardists will find little to applaud, but if you have ever wanted to board a 700-seat showboat to see a violinist in a sequined leotard hang upside down to play “Stairway to Heaven” and then right herself to thank America's troops while belting out “My Country 'Tis of Thee”, then Branson is for you.