University of Virginia Library

Dinner Theatre Planned

Central Virginia's first theatre-in-the-round
will open early next
month three miles west of
Charlottesville on U.S. Route250.

The Dinner Theatre of
Charlottesville, as the playhouse
will be named, is rapidly nearing
completion with the second week
in November as its target date for
the grand-opening.

To be open six nights a week,
all year long the theatre will offer
light comedies, an occasional
serious play, and possibly a musical,
each play being scheduled for
a one month run.

The buffet, featuring Southern-American
fare, and continental
dishes, will be served at 7 p.m.
At 8:30 the stage will come down,
the buffet will disappear, and Act
I, Scene I will begin the night's
performance, said the manager.
The theatre plans to have wine
and beer with dinner for those
patrons who wish to order it.

"We want to stress the importance
of arriving at the theatre
as close to 7 as possible," the
theatre's general manager James
E. Abbe III emphasized, "to ensure
that all persons have finished
dining when the curtain goes up.
"We are hiring professional artists
to direct and act our plays and we
feel we must extend every possible
courtesy to them while they are
performing."

Seats will be sold on a reserved
basis, Abbe said. The theatre's
box office will take reservations
over the telephone up till 7 p.m.
for each performance. "Since we
are a theatre-in-the-round operation,"
Abbe said, "there is little
difference among the 298 seats in
the theatre. Every seat will be
priced the same and will be virtually
front row."

The exterior of the $150,000
structure, begun in August, is nearing
completion. Most of the work
being done now is in the interior
of the building. Mrs. Elizabeth
Z. Coty, an owner and officer of
Dinner Theatres of America Inc.,
is supervising the decoration of the
theatre. Mrs. Coty, a former interior
designer in Washington
specializing in commercial decoration,
is using a stable motif as
the main theme of the theatre's
decor. Emerald green, chrome
yellow, black and white will be
the primary colors used in the
decoration, with russet red and
gold as a secondary color combination.

The lobby, which will also serve
as an art gallery, will have pewter
beige carpeting. The walls will be
paneled in cherry with the window
trim and beams also done in
cherry. A special lighting system
has been designed to highlight the
displayed paintings, with wrought
iron sconces with amber globes
providing additional illumination.

The dining room-auditorium will
have green-black walls and ceiling
with cherry stained beams. The
dining tables will be covered with
an off white fabric and set with
white china, pewter finished ebony
handled flatware and yellow coffee
service. Green lanterns will be on
each table. The chairs are made of
a specially supple "living" plastic
which moulds itself to the occupant's
form.

Buffet tables, which will be
located on the elevated stage, will
be covered with damask cloths and
feature copper and brass chafing
dishes, a brazier for cooking at
the serving table and centerpieces
which will change with the seasons.

Mrs. Coty has also spent considerable
time planning the coronation
of the theatre's second floor
which will house the actors and
director. The rooms are furnished
with Spanish Viva el sol yellow
furniture and patriotic red carpeting.
Each room has a full-length
mirror & dressing table. The director's
apartment has a kitchenette
and conference table. The second
floor also houses the general
manager's and assistant general
manager's offices.

Mrs. Coty said the grounds and
parking lot will be landscaped to
give a paddock effect. Trees, gravel
and vines will be used to achieve
this look.

Dinner Theatre Of Charlottesville Will Open Nov. 2

Theatre In Round Will Be First Of Type In Central Virginia