As I begun my research process, it became obvious that live dinner theatres were a niche market and, for the states that had such an organization,  there would only be one or two. Digging deeper, many of these venues turned out to be in Pennsylvania. Initially, I’d only found 5, but then I found this article:

http://www.whereandwhen.com/Articles/PA+Dinner+Theaters/

The list provided here included all the organizations I’d already found and the ones I had not found yet were still found to be active after some searching. With my curiosity building, I did a little more research and even found a couple of more companies to end up with an impressive list of 10 dinner theatres in Pennsylvania:

• Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre (Lancaster, PA)*
• The Station Dinner Theatre (Erie, PA)
• Allenberry Playhouse (Boiling Springs, PA)*
• Rainbow Dinner Theatre (Paradise, PA)*
• Pines Dinner Theatre (Allentown, PA)
• The Music Box Dinner Playhouse (Kingston, PA)
• Gettysburg Civil War Era Dinner Theatre (Fairfield, PA)
• The Riverside Inn & Dinner Theatre (Cambridge Springs, PA)
• Timbers Restaurant and Dinner Theatre (Mount Gretna, PA)
• Mystery Theatre (Philadelphia, PA)

This begged the question why- why were there so many organizations filling the same niche in one place?

Going through the website of each of these companies, I began to find some pretty significant differences. Dutch Apple and Mystery Theatre are both very high end place with tickets costing around $50 per person. The Riverside Inn & Dinner Theatre is also on the higher end cost wise, and their venue and events are much for formal. However, The Music Box Dinner Playhouse is much more affordable offering a variety of rates including show-only tickets for under $20. The Station Dinner Theatre and Timbers Restaurant and Dinner Theatre are not much more expensive.

It can thus be concluded that each of these companies, being in different parts of the state and at different price points with different ambiance and artistic offerings, fills a particular creative need. Additionally, there is quite a bit of funding available for the arts in Pennsylvania compared with many other states.  Additionally, there is a lot of cultural and socioeconmic diversity Pennsylvania. Though somewhat random, Pennsylvania having so many dinner theatre options is appropriate.

Here are a couple of recent articles about some challenges facing Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre in Goodfield, IL. The theatre had been around for 40 years before a denied insurance claim sent them packing. The loss felt by the community can be seen in the comments. Fortunately, all is not lost as a later article points to a new life for the company in Washington.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150930/NEWS/150939967

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20151022/NEWS/151029760

The organization’s statement on the closure can be found on their website:

http://www.mtco.com/~barn2/

http://whnt.com/2015/10/26/murder-mystery-dinner-theatre/

The performing arts have been used in a variety of ways throughout their history, especially in the context of social issues. In this article, we have a specific example from Thrive Alabama, who will host a Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre event on November 7th to raise money for their cause- AIDS care and prevention. Choosing dinner theatre is an interesting commentary on the accessibility of the art form. While it is obviously elite enough to attract donors, it is also approachable enough to not contradict the organization’s mission and not alienate those they serve. This balance, as demonstrated by the wide range of dinner theatres throughout the US, is easily found in theatre and even more evident in the world of dinner theatre. The play they’ve chosen to produce is also appropriately set in the south.

It is unclear from this article and the Thrive Alabama website whether or not this is in partnership with a particular theatre company, but they do credit the catering and mention two performances.