By David J. Glenn
To celebrate this genre of entertainment, Larry and Andrea Marshak of Floral Park have started a dinner theater – kosher, of course – named appropriately enough in honor of the indisputable father of comedy television, if not television itself, the legendary Sid Caesar.
The theater, to open later this month, has booked plays like Woody Allen's “Play It Again Sam,” Neil Simon's “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” (about Caesar's early TV show) and “Groucho: A Life in Review,” starring Gabe Kaplan (“Welcome Back Kotter”) as the legendary Groucho Marx.
The Marshaks had wanted to locate the theater in Queens, but the city zoning and parking regulations were so Byzantine that they couldn't find a good spot, Andrea said. The theater will open at Huntington Town House in Huntington Station on Long Island, but they hope to eventually find someplace in Queens. “One thing about dinner theater, it's very movable,” she said. “We're open to suggestions” about a Queens site.
The couple had spent many years producing different shows and acts. “We're not the performers, we're the schleppers,” Andrea said. “We bring in the audiences.”
She said they had always loved the concept of dinner theater, which is quite successful all over the country. About a year ago they had the idea that older theatergoers, a good deal of whom are Jewish, would welcome a place where they could have a good dinner and see a good show without fighting the traffic, parking and exorbitant expenses of Manhattan. “It's practically a sin to pay $30 just to park your car for two hours to see a play in Manhattan,” she said.
It followed naturally to call their new venture the Sid Caesar Dinner Theater. They would have to get the star's permission to use his name, but they didn't even think about his turning them down. “We had no backup,” Marshak said. “We knew we wanted to call it that, and we just thought positively.”
It was the right attitude. They got the permission, and now they're ready to open with “An Evening with Golda Meir,” starring Renee Taylor, known to a national audience as the mother on the TV show “The Nanny.”
The shows at the new dinner theater are geared toward an older audience, but already several families have made reservations. Children over age 9 or 10 are very welcome, Marshak said, adding that some of the reservations are for three generations in a family – the grandparents, who personally remember people like Caesar and Marx; their grown children, who may have been infants or young children in these entertainers' heydays; and their children, who may not have even heard of Sid Caesar, but who will no doubt find themselves laughing as hard as audiences in the middle of the last century did.
All performances are scheduled for Wednesday and Sunday matinees, and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings through April 29, starting with “An Evening with Golda Meir” from Jan. 17 through 28; “Play It Again Sam” from Jan. 31 through Feb. 11; “Groucho” from Feb. 28 through March 11; and “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” from April 18 through 29.
Prices range from $38 to $57 per person, depending on seating and whether it's with or without dinner. For reservations call 718-347-8670.
