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Dinner Playhouse closes

Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 23, 2007 at midnight

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Country Dinner Playhouse, a fixture in Greenwood Village for 37 years, closed Tuesday without warning, padlocking its doors.

The theater is owned by David B. Lovinggood and Robert and Joan Buffington, none of whom answered phone calls Tuesday from reporters or employees.

A note posted on the door said the theater had run out of money, 9News reported. The note also stated the theater had not been able to negotiate a lease with its landlord, so it was not able to sell season tickets.

The current show was in the first weeks of a run of the musical Evita, and cast members were shocked to learn Tuesday morning they no longer had jobs. Joanie Brosseau-Beyette, playing the title character, had left her wedding ring at the theater Sunday night.

Tuesday morning she received a call from stage manager Matthew Campbell, who phoned the cast of 15 to tell them the theater was closed.

"He called very forlorn and upset and said, 'I don't know what to tell you, I have very few details, the theater has been locked up, there's a sign on the door saying it's closed until further notice,' " Brosseau-Beyette said.

"He got in to retrieve the ring. He said, 'I wish I could have gotten everybody's things. My whole life is in that building.' "

Artistic director Paul Dwyer, unaware of the imminent closing, was on a plane to New York Tuesday to plan the new season. The lateness of the season announcement had aroused suspicions in Thaddeus Valdez, playing Juan Peron in the current show. "My personal warning flag was already up, but I did not think it would happen midshow."

He also was concerned last week by the sight of surveyors working on adjacent property to the theater. The current owners rent the land on which the theater sits from California- based Uhlmann Offices, which bought it for $3 million in 2005 from previous owners Sam and Hilda Newton and Mary N. Boren.

Country Dinner is one of the largest theaters in the state by budget size and audience, and the third-largest employer of actors who belong to the Actors Equity union.

"It's a huge blow to the local Equity community," Valdez said. "If it weren't for Country Dinner Playhouse, probably I wouldn't have had insurance for the past five years."

The theater has been a multigenerational family destination. It was known for its Barnstormers, who performed before shows.

A number of actors and actresses who have appeared on Broadway - including Annaleigh Ashford, Rachel deBenedet and Michael J. Duran - performed at the playhouse.

Duran, artistic director of Boulder's Dinner Theatre, earned his Equity card at Country Dinner in 1980. He recently collaborated with Country Dinner on sharing talent. "I'm flabbergasted. I'm heartbroken. I can't believe it," Duran said.

Janet Forgrieve contributed to this story.