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Good Food, Good Shows: America's Dinner Theaters
| Article
# : |
20046 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1992 |
2,504 Words |
| Author
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Eloise Paananen
Eloise Paananen is a food and travel writer based in
Washington, D.C. |
There was a time when Americans wanting a night out would go to a restaurant for dinner, then travel across town for a show, a time-consuming, costly way to enjoy live theater. Often, the commute from jobs downtown to suburbia to freshen up, change clothes, and then to drive more miles through traffic discouraged even the most ardent theatergoers. That has all changed now, with posh dinner theaters popping up in shopping malls and other easily accessible places. Usually, parking is free, and hubcaps likely will be in place after the show.
Dinner theater used to be referred to as the paradigm of middlebrow entertainment for middle-aged suburbanites, but this is no longer so. True, the cost of an evening at some of the dozen dinner theaters in the Baltimore-Washington area averages a mere thirty-six dollars per person for one drink, a meal, and the show. All establishments except the West End Theatre in Alexandria, Virginia, and Fells Point in Annapolis, Maryland, serve brunch and dinner buffet style. Any wait usually is short, and drinks often are served by cast members. The buffets are well stocked and clean, with several salads, a few hot vegetables, four or five entrees, and three or four desserts. About twenty to thirty minutes before curtain time, servers take drink orders for intermission. Usually, settling up for the tip and for drinks, not included in the base price, is done during intermission.
It's okay to come alone. Tables may seat six, eight, or even ten people, and usually, there is a congenial crowd to sit with.
Some of the performers are considered minor league, but others are superb. Talented young aspirants most likely will wind up on Broadway or in Hollywood. As for the play itself, dinner theaters are unlike the Kennedy Center or the National, where you cannot be sure if you will like the show. Dinner theater productions all are certified hits: Carousel, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, and the tried-and-true Sound of Music are among those playing across the country. Even the critics have changed their tune and come off their high horse. After all, besides providing enjoyable, risk-free entertainment, this is a good way to introduce live theater to novices.
Food Service
Remember "Food, Glorious food," that plaintive song from Oliver? Bob Stone, director of food services at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville, Florida, says, "It's important that a food service director look carefully at the market
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