Gaslight Dinner Theatre celebrates rousing first year

Release Date: 8/29/2001. Expired: 10/1/2001

Success of venue means more in store for new season

The success of the Gaslight Dinner Theatre at The Renaissance Center came as quite a surprise for its founders. Having sold out for more than 50 percent of its seven productions so far and a waiting list for its current production of Nunsense, the Gaslight is proof that visitors don’t have to go far to find an evening of quality entertainment at a reasonable price. It’s in their own back yard!

Since the Gaslight Dinner Theatre opened last September, more than 3,200 guests have attended the public performances while 839 guests have enjoyed private parties.

Pacer Harp, director of the Gaslight, said the overwhelming acceptance and attendance at the theatre since the very first Friday in September last year came as a welcome surprise.

“We started the first Friday night in September of 2000. Nunsense is the seventh full-scale production we’ve done this year, which is good. We sell out frequently. It’s a big surprise. We probably wouldn’t have started it if we didn’t think that people would come and enjoy it. But we were doing it also for ourselves just to have an outlet to sing and dance. I have to admit it’s a surprise that it is as big a success as it is. We never thought that we’d have 100 people and we certainly never thought that we’d be selling out weekends in a row and over half of the performances of each show have sold out on a weekly basis. I never thought we’d have to turn people away, but we have.”

Productions for the Gaslight Dinner Theatre have covered several genres and even more are planned for the upcoming season, Harp said.

“We’ve done original scripts, we’ve done romantic comedies, we’ve done musicals of course, and we’ve done drama,” he said. “The musicals have ranged from country music to Christmas music to 1950s music. I would say the only thing we haven’t done is a mystery. We’ve got some on the books for next year, including Blithe Spirit, which is a mystery but it’s also a comedy.”

Located in the lower level of The Renaissance Center, the Gaslight Dinner Theatre has been enhanced with new, tiered seating featuring three levels instead of one, which makes viewing the plays much easier for audiences.

New tables and chairs were also brought in for audience comfort.

“We can fit 100 people in there,” Harp said. “It’s not unusual to sell out.”

With the Nunsense production came an added attraction: Senior Day Lunch Theatre. While the cost of dinner and a show is normally $25, seniors can see the show and have a box lunch for just $15. The addition has brought even further success to the Gaslight.

“We have a waiting list,” Harp said. “We have 100 seniors coming and there’s a waiting list for between 50 and 70 people for Nunsense.”

Senior Lunch Theatres are also scheduled Oct. 15 for The Boys Next Door and Dec. 4 for Christmas Seasonings II, the return of last year’s highly successful holiday show.

Harp said the casts of the various productions really enjoy the atmosphere since the audience is closer than with a traditional stage production.

“It’s so intimate. It is a blast because the audience is so close to you. You can see the people laughing and almost feel them enjoying the show,” he said.

The main core of actors for the Gaslight comes from the Renaissance Center Repertory Company and the center’s staff members.

“On occasion, when we find the right role for the right person, we invite them to come in and play a part,” Harp said.

Last year the Gaslight used two outside caterers and used in-house catering for the other five shows. The buffet menu is planned according to the theme of the production.

“This year we’ve used only in-house catering but that doesn’t mean that we always will,” Harp said. “It just depends on the show and what we are searching for.”

Currently in rehearsals is The Boys Next Door, a poignant and enlightening Tom Griffin production depicting the hardships and often very funny events that occur in the lives of four mentally challenged men who are mainstreaming into an intolerant society. The production opens Sept. 21 and runs through Nov. 9 in the Gaslight Dinner Theatre.

Of course, the holiday season brings Christmas Seasonings II after recording such a rousing success last year. The popular production opens Nov. 16 and runs through Dec. 22 with the addition of Saturday night shows.

Tickets to attend the Friday evening performances are $25 per person and include a buffet dinner and dessert and the performance. Reservations must be made no later than noon the Friday of the show.

Special bookings for other nights can be reserved for groups of 25 or more for $25 per person plus a 15 percent special performance fee by calling LeAnn Polk, director of events, at (615)740-5503.

“People can book their Christmas parties here right now,” Harp said. “Last year we had doctors’ offices, dentists’ offices, attorneys, architect firms, teachers, you name it, they had their Christmas parties here. They came for dinner and a show and that was their Christmas party.”

For more information or to make reservations for the Gaslight Dinner Theatre’s production of Nunsense, call The Renaissance Center at (615)740-5600. The show runs each Friday evening through Sept. 14. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. with dinner served at 6:30 p.m. followed by the show at 7:30 p.m.

The Renaissance Center is located at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just 35 minutes west of Nashville.

Visit the Gaslight Dinner Theatre page for more about dinner theatre.

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