Founded in the late 1960s, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres (CDT) is the United States’ largest professional dinner theatre company. It is also the main tourist attraction for Carver County and a gem for musical theater enthusiasts. Home to many national and world premiere performances, CDT focuses on musical theatre and comedy shows as its mainstays.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres was the dream of Minnesota natives Herbert and Carolyn Bloomberg. The Bloombergs became fans of Broadway shows on their yearly trips to New York. Herbert, who was in the architecture and construction trade as designer, lumber supplier and builder, had built the Old Log Theater in Excelsior in 1965. Inspired by this, the couple began dreaming of bringing a bit of Broadway to Carver County. Using Herbert’s building and design experience, and Carolyn’s interior design skills, they started construction in the middle of a cornfield. Originally named “The Frontier”, the complex opened on October 11, 1968. The first production was How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres has grown since then into a sprawling 90,000 square-foot entertainment complex with four stages. The Main Dinner Thearre, the only one for CDT’s first two years, seats 560 guests. The 130-seat Playhouse Theatre opened in 1970 and features comedies. In 1973, The Clerestory started as a restaurant and banquet space. It evolved into the third theater space known as The Courtyard or The Club. It seats 180 guests. The fourth space, opened in the 1970s as The Bronco. A bar, it featured local and national musicians, including Jimmy Buffet. In 1978, it became the Bronco Opera House. Later, its name was changed to the Fireside Theatre. It seats 236 guests.
From opening night in 1968 to 2012, the Main Dinner Theatre presented more than 235 shows, mostly musicals. CDT overall can seat up to 1600 guests. With nearly 300 staff, it produces all shows completely in-house, including set-design, props, and costuming.
Rather than hire big-name actors, the Bloombergs put money toward creating better overall quality productions. Most actors were local professionals and members of Actors Equity. Many well-known names got their start at CDT. Among them were Ron Perlman, Loni Anderson, Linda Kelsey, Don Amendolia, Grant Norman and Amy Adams.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is known for having the longest-running musical production featuring the original cast. Originally scheduled for only six weeks, I Do! I Do! opened in 1971. It closed twenty-two and a half years later on June 20, 1993, after 7,645 performances. Lead actors David Anders and Susan Goeppinger married in real life after the five-hundredth performance. Their lives mimicked the show, including having one son and one daughter as their characters did. The show and its actors were featured in a May 1989 People magazine article.
Locally, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres often has first rights to produce international shows, such as Les Miserables. CDT has also presented world premieres. Dan Goggin’s Nunsense series had many premieres at CDT, among them Sister Amnesia’s Country Western Nunsense Jamboree (1995), Nuncrackers (1998), Meshuggah-Nuns (2002) and Nunset Boulevard (2009). Longtime CDT actor and artistic director Michael Brindisi has a strong working relationship with the Rogers & Hammerstein Organization in New York. That resulted in another world premiere in February, 2007: Irving Berlin’s Easter Parade , based on the classic film.
In 1989, the Bloombergs sold CDT to local entrepreneur Thomas Scallen, manager of groups like the Harlem Globetrotters and the Ice Capades. In 2010, Scallen sold the complex to a group of local investors. Among them Michael Brindisi and his artistic partner, Tamara Kangas Erickson.
Turning Point: In 1971, the long-running I Do! I Do! Opens, making business at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres boom.
Chronology:
- 1965: Herbert Bloomberg builds the Old Log Theater in Excelsior and begins to dream of a theater complex to bring Broadway to Carver County.
- October 11, 1968: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres opens under the name, The Frontier, showing How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.
- 1970: The Downstairs Playhouse holds its first non-comedy show production.
- 1973: The Clerestory, a restaurant and banquet space, is converted and reopened as the Courtyard (know The Club).
- 1970s: The 1970s CDT bar, the Bronco, is converted into the Bronco Opera House, now known as the Fireside.
- 1971: The longest running musical production featuring the original cast, CDT’s I Do! I Do! opens and runs for the next twenty-two and a half years, for a total 7,645 performances.
- 1976: The last non-musical production is performed on the Main stage.
- 1989: Herbert and Carolyn Bloomberg sell Chanhassen Dinner Theatres to Thomas Scallen.
- May 1989: I Do! I Do! and its cast are featured in People magazine.
- 1994: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres begins its partnership with Dan Goggin, premiering many of his Nunsense shows over the years.
- February 2007: The world premiere of the stage production of Irving Berlin’s Easter Parade takes place.
- 2010: Thomas Scallen sells the complex to a group of local investors, including long-time actor and artistic director Michael Brindisi and Tamara Kangas Erickson.
Bibliography:
Adams, Forrest. “Sold! Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.” Chanhassen Villager, March 18, 2010.
Burns, Christopher. “ Going Steady, Couple Enters 20th Season of I Do! I Do!” Chanhassen Sailor, February 21, 1990.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Marketing Intern, email message to author, May 20, 2013. Copy of Institutional History.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Our History… A Journey in the Making. Accessed May 31, 2013. http://www.chanhassentheatres.com/history.aspx
“Chanhassen Complex Opening New Dinner Theatre,” news release, April 12, 1978.
Mueller, John. “Couple marks 20 Years of ‘Marriage’ on Chan Dinner Theatre Stage.” Chanhassen Villager, February 14, 1991.
Olson, Linda. “I Do! I Do! To Close! To Close!” Chanhassen Villager, September 17, 1992.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres News Release. 1976.
Related Resources:
[Primary]
“Bloombergs Likely to Announce Sale of Chanhassen Theaters.” Minneapolis Tribune, May 5, 1989.
“Caller Threatens Bomb at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre.” Carver County Herald, July 6, 1989.
“Dinner Theatres Sold; Will Continue Tradition.” Carver County Herald, May 11, 1989.
“It Takes At Least 300 to Get Dinner Theatres Ready.” Chanhassen Villager, October 21, 1987.
“Management Considers 4th Playhouse Options.” Chanhassen Villager, April 6, 1988.
Olson, Linda. “Happy Anniversary– I Do! I Do! Marks Another Milestone.” Chanhassen Villager, February 18, 1993.
Zuege, Unsie. “CDT’s Musical history on Display.” Chanhassen Villager, January 31, 2011.
[Secondary]
Hoisington, Daniel John. Chanhassen: A Centennial History. Chanhassen, MN: The Press, Banta
Corporation, July 1996.
[Web]
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. http://www.chanhassentheatres.com/default.aspx
The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization. http://www.rnh.com/
Images/Audio/Video
View this article and the photos below at: http://www.mnopedia.org/structure/chanhassen-dinner-theatres
“CDT.night.nologo,” Digital print. Craig Peterson Archive, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Chanhassen, Minnesota. [Description]: An outside, front view of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres at night. Rights held by Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
“Grand Entrance or Lobby,” Digital print. Mike Paul, Act One, Too Photography Archive, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Chanhassen, Minnesota. [Description]: An image of the main lobby of CDT. Rights held by Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
“Main Sound and Lights,” Digital print. Mike Paul, Act One, Too Photography Archive, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Chanhassen, Minnesota. [Description]: The main sound and light systems for CDT Main Stage. Rights held by Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
“Photo Collage,” Digital print Mike Paul, Act One, Too Photography Archive, Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Chanhassen, Minnesota.[Description]: A collage of scenes from CDT productions, featuring the CDT logo in center. Rights held by Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
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