dinner theater
Americannoun
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a restaurant in which a stage production is performed during or after dinner.
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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.
Play is the primary side dish at “7 Paintings,” a tech-infused dinner theater that aims to be a crash course in fine art.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
He took in projection dinner shows on cruise ships, animated table shows, some more traditional dinner theater and, of course, elaborately themed restaurants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2025
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
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
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.