A popular entertainment and tourist destination in the Twin Cities, Minnesota is the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. Since 1968 there have been over 193 productions on its various stages, with over 8 million guests in attendance. That number is staggering, but not surprising given the quality shows appearing at Chanhassen.
A married couple, Herbert and Carolyn Bloomberg, looked at a corn field and imagined a 90,000 square foot theatre facility. They had designed a new home for the Old Log Theater. They followed that job by building their own theatre complex about 30 minutes from the town center. They took an extra risk by adding a restaurant. Surely the distance from downtown as well as a restaurant, a business with a high failure rate, combined to doom this dream.
But the theatre opened the curtains for the first time on Oct. 11 1968. "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" was an appropriate choice for the first show. A month later "the Fantasticks" began. Now for a pun. America's largest professional dinner theater had finally taken center stage. It's also the largest privately owned restaurant in the state. Take that, nay sayers.
"I Do! I Do!" began showing in the cozy Playhouse on Feb. 18 1971 . 21 years later the final curtain dropped on the popular show. Even more amazing was that the same cast stayed with the show the whole time. Do you think they were typecast? Chanhassen became known all over America for that show. "I Do! I Do!" ended in 1992, but was back after a few months for a January to December run in 1993. For two years following that "Stevie Ray's Comedy Troupe" entertained audiences. That pretty good too.
In 1995 another room, the Courtyard, hosted both "I Do! I Do!" and "Stevie Ray's Comedy Troupe". Now the Club hosts corporate meetings and weddings. Camelot, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and many other plays have appeared at Chanhassen. There are too many to list here.
A married couple, Herbert and Carolyn Bloomberg, looked at a corn field and imagined a 90,000 square foot theatre facility. They had designed a new home for the Old Log Theater. They followed that job by building their own theatre complex about 30 minutes from the town center. They took an extra risk by adding a restaurant. Surely the distance from downtown as well as a restaurant, a business with a high failure rate, combined to doom this dream.
But the theatre opened the curtains for the first time on Oct. 11 1968. "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" was an appropriate choice for the first show. A month later "the Fantasticks" began. Now for a pun. America's largest professional dinner theater had finally taken center stage. It's also the largest privately owned restaurant in the state. Take that, nay sayers.
"I Do! I Do!" began showing in the cozy Playhouse on Feb. 18 1971 . 21 years later the final curtain dropped on the popular show. Even more amazing was that the same cast stayed with the show the whole time. Do you think they were typecast? Chanhassen became known all over America for that show. "I Do! I Do!" ended in 1992, but was back after a few months for a January to December run in 1993. For two years following that "Stevie Ray's Comedy Troupe" entertained audiences. That pretty good too.
In 1995 another room, the Courtyard, hosted both "I Do! I Do!" and "Stevie Ray's Comedy Troupe". Now the Club hosts corporate meetings and weddings. Camelot, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and many other plays have appeared at Chanhassen. There are too many to list here.
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