The idea, naturally, is that of a young man, Bill Pullinsi, 21.”īarzel, noting that “The comedy bounces along as gayly as ever,” explained that “The play, understandably, is the thing, but the dinner is good. Ann Barzel, reviewing the maiden effort for Chicago’s American, wrote “The adventuresome spirit that has characterized Chicago in business, art, and living manifests itself in a new kind of cabaret. For the first few years, the Candlelight seasons consisted mostly of lightweight comedies including “The Moon is Blue,” “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter,” “Born Yesterday,” “Tunnel of Love,” “Champagne Complex” and “Two for the Seasaw,” among others. It boasted 50 tables for two around a square center stage. On July 7, 1961, the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse opened in Chicago in a converted roadside tavern at 5508 S. Tony D’Angelo, a fellow student, designed and built most of the sets, and Pullinsi’s mother June assisted with the direction. The operation was financed by Pullinsi’s grandfather Bill Altier. The first two seasons featured a mix of imported touring shows and original productions using stars and New York directors. At the time, Pullinsi was still a freshman at Catholic University. and introduced the idea of dinner and theatre in one convenient and economical package. In 1959, William Pullinsi booked a 550 seat room at the Presidential Arms in downtown Washington, D.C. (Right) The new Candlelight Dinner Playhouse opens in 1964. Lambert congratulates William Pullinsi on the original Candlelight opening. Meals were always optional, the dining areas were seperate from the theatre space, and it would be hard to imagine “Antigone,” “Equus,” “The Boys in the Band,” “The Crucible” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” being performed in a conventional dinner theatre. I had the good fortune of knowing three of the original founders of Barksdale, which never considered itself a “dinner theatre”. ![]() As early as the mid 1950’s, the fledgling Barksdale Theatre discovered that it could lure hungry theatre-goers to their rustic and historic Hanover Tavern just outside Richmond, Virginia, for an extremely diverse range of plays.
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