dinner theater

American

noun

a restaurant in which a stage production is performed during or after dinner.
stage productions performed in dinner theaters.

Etymology

Origin of dinner theater

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The show is like daytime dinner theater, they explain.

From Seattle Times • May 31, 2024

Audra McDonald has been dreaming of “Gypsy” since she was a 10-year-old in Fresno, Calif., with a small part in a dinner theater production of the musical.

From New York Times • May 29, 2024

The American Guild of Variety Artists, the union backing workers who organized in Buena Park as well as at another location of the popular themed dinner theater in New Jersey, submitted paperwork pulling its support.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2024

In the kitchens of a trendy Madrid dinner theater called Florida Retiro, chef Joaquin Felipe introduced us to pisto manchego, a colorful combination of sautéed summer vegetables that is Spain’s answer to French ratatouille.

From Washington Times • Aug. 29, 2023

Somebody would inevitably high-kick when it was time for spirit fingers, the timing was off on the contagion, and the whole thing was such a disaster that Petra pronounced it “so dinner theater on Mars.”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023