A season of shows

By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

April 24, 2008 08:43 pm

— GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE — The smell of Mesquite chicken and steaks on the grill waft through the Oak Room at the Landing, bringing the big-time, small-town wild west show with it.
Mesquite chicken and rattlesnake crabcakes are just the start of Noble Art Entertainment’s summer dinner theater shows, from wild west shenanigans to a Roaring 20’s musical review.
“We have a new group of actors, some real top-notch talent this year,” Noble Art owner Brook Collin Hall said. “The dinner shows are very popular.”
Hall said the dinner theater, which brought “A Christmas Carol” to the lake last winter, has enjoyed positive reviews and patronage.
“We have had a great response,” he said. “We realized quickly that this was something the area was sorely lacking and the audiences were thrilled to hear we would be offering so much more in 2008.”
Hall and his merry troupe of actors will fill the Oak Room with a full season of fun, beginning with the “Wildest West Show” today , Saturday and May 2 and 3.
This bit of dinner theater with a shoot-’em up twist opens with Penelope Perfect, a little lady who ventures to the little town of Big Gulp to meet the father she never knew.
But the recent death of old man Perfect leaves Penelope easy prey to the villainous Fargo Wells and his dastardly plans to steal the Perfect farm for his new railroad.
But there is a new sheriff in town. Sheriff Chase Courtwright and his trusty Indian sidekick Tanveer will try to save the day for Penelope in this back-to-the-saloon story peppered with crazy, unforgettable characters.
The six-course dinner includes Albuquerque crab cakes, which are made with real rattlesnake meat.
Thursday nights are a “Countdown to Murder” as the story of a middle-aged couple and their son unfolds. In the play, the couple have purchased The Oak Room to turn it into a bed and breakfast, but their personal demons haunt them past the point of insanity.
“Countdown to Murder” runs May 29, June 5, 12, 19, 26, and July 3 and 10.
Beginning May 28 and continuing every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. through the summer, the Comedy Olympics brings improv comedy to the lake.
“The Comedy Olympics is great because we keep the language clean, so it is appropriate for all ages,” Hall said.
Tickets are $7 each at the door.
Back by roaring demand, The Cat’s Meow dinner theater brings the old Speakeasy back to the lake.
“The Cat’s Meow is so much fun, people just love it. They literally demanded we bring it back,” Hall said.
Featuring themed food taken directly from an inaugural dinner served to President Calvin Coolidge, The Cat’s Meow is open Thursday nights from July 17, 24, 31, Aug. 7, 14, 21, 28.
“An Evening of Classic Horror” brings Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker, Robert Lewis Stevenson and Edgar Allen Poe together for dinner. The play features scenes from Frankenstein, Dracula, Jeckell and Hyde and more. The show runs Oct. 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25, 31 and Nov. 1.
“A Christmas Carol” will also return to the Oak Room as Ebenezer Scrooge is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
The holiday classic runs Nov. 29, 30, and Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28. Saturday night shows open at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees open at 2 p.m.
Each Oak Room show, with the exception of the Comedy Olympics, starts at 7:30 p.m. and includes a full dinner. Specialty, themed drinks are available at the bar an hour before the show. Cost is $40 per person, by advance sale only. Doors open one hour before the show and guests should allow up to three hours to eat and participate in the plays.
For tickets or more information, call 1-800-518-8650 or visit www.genevalanding.com.

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