Soup, salad, suspense: Dinner theater lets diners in on the action

Kimberley McGee

Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 | 8:18 a.m.

On a recent evening Ken and Marianne Murphy drove 75 miles from their home in Pahrump for dinner and a show at the Mt. Charleston Hotel.

They passed the glitz of the Strip and shows they'd seen or refused to see.

They wanted entertainment, interaction and a good meal.

They wanted dinner theater.

"We did this a lot in the '80s," Ken Murphy said. "It wasn't popular for a while, but now it's back." "Like fondue," Marianne Murphy said.

At the "Murder Mystery Weekend" show, the Murphys shared memories of dinner theater experiences before the festivities began.

"It's more of an evening, a memory," Ken Murphy said.

They break bread with strangers who become friends by evening's end, and join the cast of characters for a few hours in a trend that seems to be booming in restaurants around the valley.

Dinner theater is making a comeback amid the large production shows and magic acts that vie for tourist dollars in Las Vegas.

In the past few months four shows have opened to tourists and locals who want an interactive show along with a choice of chicken, steak or fish.

The idea behind dinner theater is to get the audience out of their seats, out of their shells and into the show, said Jerry Brodsky, owner of A Party to Murder and producer of "Murder Mystery Weekend."

More than a meal

Dinner is not just a prop, but a catalyst.

"If people are eating, it breaks down their inhibitions," Post said. "We create a place where it's safe to play."

He recently opened "Ba-Da-Bing" at Alexis Park on East Harmon Avenue. The show strays from the traditional mystery theater genre of hijinks and humor, but plays on the typical mobster stereotype.

Steve Rossi, of Allen and Rossi fame, was added to the cast to flavor the evening with a dash of Las Vegas dinner theater as it was originally performed in the '70s.

In a crisp, black tuxedo, Rossi banters with the crowd and throws out a few one-liners as the actors prepare and the guests finish their entrees.

"It's a cute idea," Rossi said. "... people really go for this."

Guests are drawn into a party for Mr. Big, the Godfather of Las Vegas, complete with streamers, champagne, guns, murdering molls and a timid stripper. The only problem is, no one seems to know who Mr. Big may be -- and they don't seem to care.

"This is great," Dan Iannacito said. "This has the flavor of old Vegas."

His wife, Nina, interjected, "He was going through (HBO's) 'Sopranos' withdrawals."

The Denver couple were married last year in Las Vegas. They'd seen "O" at Bellagio as well as a few other Strip productions.

They said they were impressed, but slightly bored.

"The new stuff in Vegas is great, but it has no soul," Dan Iannacito said. "I love the glitz and the glamour, but this (dinner theater) has everything."

Moments later he was pulled onstage by a torch singer in a tight purple dress. His wife clapped her hands in delight and he gazed at the songstress from his perch onstage.

After some hair tousling and a risky maneuver with his shirt by the singer, Iannacito reluctantly returned to his table. Guests around him clapped and joked with him as he fixed his mussed hair and straightened his shirt.

"This is much more intimate than a regular show," Nina Iannacito said. "We got to know people. We leave here like we know that guy and had a good evening with friends."

Vegas throwback

The intimate atmosphere is what Dean Martin impressionist Randy Urgola was counting on when he opened his cabaret show at Phillips Supper House, also on West Sahara Avenue, last month.

"Return to the Sands" is a tribute to Frank Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop's famous shows, circa 1960, set in the now-defunct hotel.

Urgola's show is based on the traditional dinner theater that Las Vegas was famous for in its heyday.

"There was nothing but dinner shows," Urgola said. "Celebrities would jump onstage. There would be a jam session and the next thing you know they have a party onstage."

Songs such as "Fly Me to the Moon," "World on a String" and "Over the Rainbow," are belted out by the cast, which includes a Johnny Mathis/Jerry Lewis impersonator, a Frank Sinatra impersonator and an appearance by local songstress Christy Coffey.

"We still have some tweaking to do," Urgola said. "But it's an intimate evening with Dean and Frank as hosts. The intimacy of it makes it easy to interact with the audience and to touch people."

On a recent weekend evening couples held hands across candlelit tables and were served large plates of pasta, salad and Italian dishes as Urgola and his crew bantered onstage.

After the show the impersonators mingled with the guests over coffee and the restaurant's homemade White Chocolate Bread Pudding.

Before John and Shanna Sissel headed home, they shook hands with Urgola and said goodbye to the couple they had met at the next table.

"We like the family shows," John Sissel said, holding a doggie bag and his wife's hand. "We wanted to make an evening of it and we'd seen the other shows in town."

"This was different," Shanna Sissel said. "It was less interactive than we have seen, but it was still more than just a meal. It was fun."