Final curtain

Dinner theaters are closing at a rapid rate in Northern Colorado, but that doesn’t mean the combined meal-performance model is on the decline.

“Colorado 15, 20 years ago had an abundance of dinner theaters, and I think it skewed the vision a little bit, because it’s more than most states,” said Scott Moore, co-owner and co-director of the Jesters Dinner Theatre in Longmont with his wife, Mary Lou.

The Moores put the building housing Jesters Dinner Theatre up for sale in April 2022 but don’t yet have a buyer, so they’ll continue offering shows at least through the summer. BDT Stage Boulder’s Dinner Theatre already sold its building and will close with its 45th and final season in August, while the Carousel Dinner Theater in Fort Collins, renamed the Midtown Arts Center, closed in 2019 when the owners decided to relocate to Florida. That leaves the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown.

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“We are back in business because we need to pay the bills,” Moore said.

The Moores founded Jesters Dinner Theatre in 1987, operating it out of Dickens Opera House for five years and other locations before relocating it to 224 Main Street in 1999. They thought they could sell the building by October 2022, but when it didn’t sell, they held fall classes and the annual production of “Scrooge,” opened the spring season in February and have a summer schedule not yet solidified. 

“We are confident about it selling,” Moore said. “Originally we hoped it would be six months when we put it up … but our thought now is hopefully in the next nine months.”

The city of Longmont owns the parking lot on the south end and sent out a request for interested developers, plus a nearby property owner has expressed interest in being the buyer or seller of the building. 

The Moores made the decision to sell when they didn’t want to take on renovating the building, though ticket sales and class attendance had been profitable.

“We didn’t stop because things weren’t good. Things have been great,” Moore said. “We put out a pretty sweet deal for the people involved with us over the years. (They said) it was too expensive to take on with the building renovations.”

In hindsight, Moore considered closing the theater several times during economic downturns, such as in 2005, 2008-09 and even in 2013 during the Big Thompson Flood, when people were using their discretionary funds to donate. By 2015, business turned around and has been on a steady growth path since, Moore said. Part of that growth has been helped by an online ticketing system replacing phone calls and allowing for seat selection, installed in 2012 to 2013, he said.

“It took a long time for people to know we’re here,” Moore said. “We’ve got the right mix of people working and performing here.”

Dinner theaters like Moore’s find success because they combine a meal and show, something people usually do together when they want to see a performance, Moore said.

“Why not make it one trip and have actors waiting on you, so you can get to know them,” Moore said.

A dinner theater, though, does take commitment — dinner theaters own the space, unlike most theater companies that access community facilities, Moore said. The owners need to be able to invest in both a kitchen and a performance venue and hire instructors, cooks and bartenders.

“We have made it profitable, because we run it as a community theater that happens to serve dinner,” Moore said, adding that the actors earn tips from serving.

Dinner theaters can bring in revenue if the owners can consider their investment long-term, Moore said.

“If you got a leadership team with deep pockets … you don’t necessarily have to be awesome right away. You can make mistakes and have a bad show or two and learn your lessons,” Moore said. “Having a strong core of people, whether the performers or staff or both, makes a huge difference. Sometimes it takes a while to create that.” 

The owners of BDT Stage, Gene and Judy Bolles, decided to sell their building and land and retire;  a developer purchased the property in May 2022 with plans to bulldoze the building to make room for affordable apartments and a retail area. The Bolles scheduled their last show for Aug. 19, 46 years to the exact day of when the theater opened. If new ownership decides to purchase the theater, they would have to move it into another space. 

“Part of it is that our owners are getting older. They want to retire and cash out on the land,” said Seamus McDonough, producing art director of BDT Stage. “It’s a lot of work to keep a theater going post-pandemic. It’s very expensive to run a dinner theater, especially in this day and age.”

Operating an entertainment venue in Boulder County is made more difficult due to property taxes and the city’s admissions tax, McDonough said. Rising food and labor costs and the cost to license a show makes it even more expensive to produce, he said.

To handle those increases, BDT Stage, which doesn’t have the capacity to expand in size, raised ticket prices in small increments over the years to “stay true to the patronage,” while profit margins continued to remain thin, he said.

“There is only so much people can afford to come see a show,” McDonough said. “Realistically, we should charge more than what we’re charging right now.”

Part of BDT Stage’s success comes from the talent of the various performers, McDonough said.

“The biggest thing that has made it special is the core group of actors that have been there for many, many years,” McDonough said. “The audience has been there to support us. … We make them feel like they’re part of the family.”

During dinner theaters’ heyday in the 1970s, there were a couple hundred across the nation, and now there are about 35, McDonough said. And since the pandemic, most dinner theaters are seeing a 50% to 60% capacity of what they had before the shutdowns. 

“The ones that are still around, a lot of them struggle, and some are doing very well like the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse,” McDonough said, explaining that profit margins can be minimal and in some cases shows break even. 

Dave Clark founded and built the building housing Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown in 2008, taking over as executive producer in 2010.

“We are definitely odd. We sold out for nearly every performance over the years,” said Jalyn Courtenay Webb, director of sales and marketing for Candlelight Dinner Playhouse and one of the actors who participates in about one show a year.

Recently, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse sold out every show of “White Christmas,” which had an eight-week run of eight shows a week through Jan. 8. 

Each year, the theater presents five shows during its annual season that starts in September. During the pandemic, the theater took out tables and had a smaller cast to keep the theater operating.

“We’re a thriving member of the National Dinner Theatre Association,” Webb said. “It’s definitely smaller than it was in the past. There is a small, mighty group of us who are still doing well.”

Candlelight Dinner Theater has found success because of its “internal community” of the owner, performers, crew and staff and the “external community” of patrons — the chef even tailors the menu to the theme of the show, Webb said.