Nobody should see a good show on an empty stomach. Combining pleasure with pleasure, dinner theaters provide a one-stop opportunity to satisfy two appetites-for a hot meal and for, one hopes, an even hotter show.
It`s an idea that started more than 30 years ago at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, which in 1959 became the first restaurant to directly combine theater with food. Although that theater was in Washington, D.C., its sequel has succeeded in Summit ever since.
You only live once-so why park twice?
Usually the meal and the play are kept separate, even if they take place in the same banquet hall. (The concept dinner theaters, like the Royal Manor, Dry Gulch and Medieval Times, are big exceptions.) For several seasons, the Set Gourmet Theater pursued a more interactive style; it created ”theatrical dinners” that integrated the play directly with the meal. The Set, however, tried a bit too hard to fuse the two: The shows increasingly seemed contrived, while the task of keeping both a theater and a fully functioning kitchen operating for so many hours at a stretch proved too much.
The Set closed forever in 1991. But most local dinner theaters have lasted a very long time. They must be doing something right.
Dinner theaters come in two formats: The meal comes with the show or before it. Bear that distinction in mind as you savor this baker`s dozen of noted Chicago area dinner theaters. Reservations are required for all theaters.
Bismarck Cabaret Theatre, Bismarck Hotel, 171 W. Randolph St.;
312-341-1333: Phoenix Entertainment Productions offers the ”Mystery Games,” an audience-participation murder mystery at the hotel`s new 120-seat cabaret- style theater. Two whodunits will be presented per show. The show succeeds the Cafe Mystery Dinner Theatre, whose long-running production ”Bingo in the First Degree” finally closed this year. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets are $15 with a choice-of-entree dinner of $15 (plus tax and tips) also available.
Candlelight Dinner Playhouse, 5620 S. Harlem Ave., Summit; 312-496-3000:
As professional a production as you can find in the room where you eat. The varied menu ranges from $31.95 to $43.95. Running through July 12 is
”Phantom,” the well-received Maury Yeston-Arthur Kopit version of the relentlessly popular Gaston Leroux thriller. Lunch or dinner precedes each performance by two hours. Performances are 2 and 8:15 p.m. on Wednesdays, 8:15 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, 4:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2:15 and 7:30 p.m. on Sundays.
Drury Lane Dinner Theater, 2500 W. 95th St., Evergreen Park;
708-422-0404: First famed as the Martinique, the dinner theater continues to offer crowd-pleasing fare and food. Currently playing is ”Nunsense,” Dan Goggin`s musical salute to a very strange sisterhood from Hoboken.
Performances are 2 and 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, 2 p.m. on Thursdays, 8:30 p.m. on Fridays, 6 and 9 p.m. on Saturdays, and 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Sundays. Lunch and dinner-show packages range from $26.50 to $32.50.
Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, Roosevelt and Butterfield Roads, Oakbrook Terrace; 708-530-8300: A full-course meal is available before the performance (”Show Boat” until May 10, then ”Annie Warbucks,” the sequel to
”Annie”). Lunch and dinner are available two hours before showtime. Times are 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays, 2 and 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays, 6 and 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays, 2:30 and 7 p.m. on Sundays. Show tickets are $15 to $25 and lunch-dinner prices range from $25.50 to $37.75.
Dry Gulch Dinner Theater, 9351 W. Irving Park Rd., Schiller Park;
708-671-6644: Now in its 14th year of providing theme dining, Dry Gulch continues to offer its popular ”Wild West” revue, a raunchy accompaniment to dinner. It comes complete with a cast that stars Sheriff Bob, Slipper Sam the Magic Man, Miss Kitty and her singing dance-hall girls, even a visiting Elvis. Also twice a month is a participatory murder mystery that answers the burning question, ”Who Shot the Sheriff?” Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays, and 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Suggested arrival is a half-hour before curtain. $25.50 to $28.50 per person.
Forum Theatre, 5620 S. Harlem Ave., Summit; 708-496-3000: Now offering special dinner-show packages for its hit show, Neil Simon`s ”Rumors.” On Tuesday evenings a four-course pasta dinner at Mama Luigi`s restaurant, 7500 S. Harlem Ave., is included in the ticket price of $22.50. On Sunday evenings a chicken dinner at Sharko`s Restaurant, 6301 W. 63rd St., comes with the ticket price (also $22.50). Other dinner-show packages are available. Free parking.
In mid-June, coinciding with the opening of the comedy ”Out of Order,”
the Forum Theatre Restaurant will make its debut, offering a menu that`s a mirror image of that offered by next-door Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. Once the Forum Theatre Restaurant opens, other dinner-theater packages will be discontinued.
King`s Manor Medieval Dinner Theater, 2122 W. Lawrence Ave.;
312-275-8400: The long-running ”Romancing the Throne” revue features the Royal Singing Wenches and much feudal intrigue, as well as a twice-a-month mystery ”Murder at the Manor.” Same times, prices and format as the Dry Gulch Dinner Theater.
Marriott`s Lincolnshire Theatre, Illinois Highway 21 at Milwaukee Avenue, Lincolnshire; 708-634-0200: A theater renowned for its polished, professional, Jeff-winning musical productions. Running through June 14 is Howard Ashman and Alan Menken`s botanical musical, ”Little Shop of Horrors,” based on the 1960 Roger Corman movie about a florist clerk and the greedy plant he must feed. Showtimes are 2 and 8 p.m. on Wednesdays, 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, 5:30 and 9 p.m. on Saturdays, and 2:30 and 7 p.m. on Sundays. (Most Thursday performances include a free steak dinner.) Show prices are $30. Two restaurants, the Fairfield and the King`s Wharf, cater to the preshow crowd;
meal prices are $23 at the King`s Wharf and $16 at the more casual Fairfield restaurant.
Medieval Times, 2001 N. Roselle Rd., Schaumburg; 708-843-3900: A real blast from the past, this is perhaps the most unusual theatrical dinner. Based on the five-day festivals that royal families enjoyed in the 10th Century, Medieval Times combines dinner with a medieval tournament and joust. It`s performed in a huge indoor arena with tiered seats that surround a large, sand-filled jousting pit; audience members sit at long tables in color-coded theater seats and cheer for the knight who wears the table`s color. Performances are 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays, 6:15 and 8:45 p.m. on Saturdays, and 4 and 6:30 p.m. on Sundays. Package prices are $29 to $35 (including taxes but not tip). Suggested arrival is two hours before the show.
Pheasant Run Theatre, Illinois Highway 64, St. Charles: 708-584-6342: A long history of sturdy musical fare. The current offering, the holy-rocking Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ”Jesus Christ, Superstar,” closes June 20. Performances are 8:45 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, 6 and 10:15 p.m. on Saturdays, and 4:15 and 8:15 p.m. on Sundays. Dinners are served 75 minutes before curtain. Prices are $35 to $44, $22 for children (includes dinner, tax and tip).
The Rehearsal Room, Goodman Theatre, 200 S. Columbus Drive; 312-443-3820: Dinners are served across from the Goodman Mainstage. Prix fixe at $19.95 for Goodman non-subscribers. Serving at 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday throughout the Goodman Theatre season. Buffet meal changes for each play; 48-hour notice preferred. Now playing: Bertolt Brecht`s powerful parable play, ”The Good Person of Setzuan,” in a staging by noted director Frank Galati.
Royal Castle Medieval Dinner Theatre, 8557 S. Cicero Ave.; 312-582-0021:
Now in its 11th year, the Castle features a changing revue. (The current show is salaciously titled ”Once a Knight Is Enough.”) Performances are 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays, 6 and 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and 5 p.m. on Sundays. Prices are $26 to $29 (including taxes but not tips). Doors open a half-hour before showtime. The event lasts two to three hours.
