Barn Dinner Theatre
Greensboro, North Carolina
Started by the “father of dinner theaters,” Howard Douglass Wolfe, the Barn Dinner Theatre was originally part of a chain of 27 theaters stretching around the eastern United States. Today, the Greensboro theater, the oldest continuously operating dinner theater in the country and the third built by Wolfe, still follows the old model, sourcing all productions from New York.
Housed in a converted barn, the buffet appears at first under the stage area; it is changed over once everyone is served. With seating in-the-round at tables of two to four, dining and the show are both intimate experiences.
“We can get the whole group together 99 times out of 100,” said general manager Ric Gutierrez. “But we do whatever we need to do to make groups happy. If someone has 100 people or more, we can add shows. We try to cater to groups.”
The 50th anniversary season features musical greats from the theater’s early days, such as the ’60s and ’70s revue “Groovin,” “Showtime in Harlem” and “Soul Sistas.” The 2015 season, which was announced late last month, has just opened for group bookings before opening to the public.
Laffing Matterz
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Although it’s not uncommon for a dinner theater to grow out of a restaurant, Laffing Matterz was created by a husband-and-wife hospitality management team that oversees 32 different restaurant concepts and was drawn to the idea of creating a place where high-quality food and top-notch entertainment go hand in hand.
In yet another step away from the typical dinner theater experience, Laffing Matterz not only eschews classic plays and musicals but also creates a unique show each evening that is somewhere between a late-night comedy show and a musical revue. Each show incorporates current events, like recent spoofs on the Olympics in Russia and Pope Francis’ overly adoring fans, though much like “Saturday Night Live,” favorite characters such as Paula Deen often reappear.
Ideal for groups looking for an intimate and unique dinner theater experience, the Abdo New River Room, where Laffing Matterz performs, seats just under 150 at 10 eight-person tables and 17 four-person tables.
Though its venue is now under renovation, Laffing Matterz will reopen in October, with tickets available in advance through the Broward Center box office in late summer.
