History Main / DinnerTheatre

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs.'' has an episode called "Dan Vs. Ye Olde Shakespeare Dinner Theatre". Both Dan and an actor at the theatre are perfectly rude to one another, but the actor slapping Chris in the face with his epeé and giving him a shiner that streches from chin to brow seals them as worthy of revenge.

* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs.'' has an episode called "Dan Vs. Ye Olde Shakespeare Dinner Theatre". Both Dan and an actor at the theatre are perfectly rude to one another, but the Alactor slapping Chris in the face with his epeé and giving him a shiner that streches from chin to brow seals them as worthy of revenge.

* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs.'' has an episode called "Dan Vs. Ye Olde Shakespeare Dinner Theatre". Both Dan and an actor at the theatre are perfectly rude to one another, but the Alactor slapping Chris in the face with his epeé and giving him a foot-ling shiner seals them as worthy of revenge.

* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs.'' has an episode called "Dan Vs. Ye Olde Shakespeare Dinner Theatre".

* ''Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser'', a resort offshoot of ''Ride/StarWarsGalaxysEdge'' in Disney Hollywood Studios, Florida, is effectively two full days of dinner theater and LARP that started in March 2022. The story is that the attending vacation-goers are spending time aboard a luxury Corellian cruiser, the ''Halcyon'', which suddenly becomes a subversive battleground between the Resistance and the First Order; actors will routinely engage with the audience and assign missions, including a proper visit to the ''Galaxy's Edge'' setting, in order to entertain and move the story along until it culminates on the second night, followed by departure back to Earth the following morning after breakfast. Unfortunately, with a $1,200 a night per person price tag and launching in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the experience proved to be a commercial failure and will end on September 30, 2023. It is unclear what will happen to the cruiser/hotel.

* At the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', Prince Charming is reduced to performing dinner theater to an unappreciative audience who cheer Shrek (who is supposed to be the villain in the play) instead of him.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnythingAVeggieTalesMovie'': The main characters begin the plot as pirates in a pirate-themed dinner-theatre restaurant, depicted as cheesy. The main characters' hate of working there fuels the plot and their desire for something more interesting.

** Krusty The Klown also appeared in ''Theatre/KingLear'' at the Springfield Dinner Theatre. Homer, a restaurant critic at the time, thought the food wasn't near so hammy as the acting. (It didn't help that Krusty didn't know it was a tragedy.)

* ''Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser'', a resort offshoot of ''Ride/StarWarsGalaxysEdge'' in Disney Hollywood Studios, Florida, is effectively two full days of dinner theater and LARP that started in March 2022. The story is that the attending vacation-goers are spending time aboard a luxury Corellian cruiser, the ''Halcyon'', which suddenly becomes a subversive battleground between the Resistance and the First Order; actors will routinely engage with the audience and assign missions, including a proper visit to the ''Galaxy's Edge'' setting, in order to entertain and move the story along until it culminates on the second night, followed by departure back to Earth the following morning after breakfast. Unfortunately, with a $1,200 a night per person price tag and launching into a cost-of-living crisis, the experience proved to be a commercial failure and will end on September 30, 2003. It is unclear what will happen to the cruiser/hotel.

* ''Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser'', a resort offshoot of ''Ride/StarWarsGalaxysEdge'' in Disney Hollywood Studios, Florida, is effectively two full days of dinner theater and LARP. The story is that the attending vacation-goers are spending time aboard a luxury Corellian cruiser, the ''Halcyon'', which suddenly becomes a subversive battleground between the Resistance and the First Order; actors will routinely engage with the audience and assign missions, including a proper visit to the ''Galaxy's Edge'' setting, in order to entertain and move the story along until it culminates on the second night, followed by departure back to Earth the following morning after breakfast.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnythingAVeggieTalesMovie'': The main characters begin the plot as pirates in a pirate-themed dinner-theatre restaurant, depicted as cheesy. The main characters' hate of working there fuels the plot and their desire for something more interesting.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/{{Soapdish}}'' has Creator/KevinKline's washed-up character performing ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'' at a Dinner Theatre. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAI1SjHcyQA His audience is divided between the oblivious and the uninterested.]]

* The film ''Film/AutoFocus'' recreates Creator/BobCrane having to make do with these kind of theatre roles to make ends meet, after ''Series/HogansHeroes'' ends.
* ''Film/TheCableGuy'' takes his increasingly reluctant buddy to an outpost of ''Medieval Times'' and they wind up duking it out ''Star Trek'' style in the arena itself.

* One episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' featured Chris Farley as an actor playing the victim in a cheesy murder mystery play ("Eeny Meeny Miny Murder, Catch a Killer in the Mansion of Flurder"). Because his parents were in the audience, he overplayed his death scene, outright refusing to die so he could keep on overacting, eventually driving everyone away.
* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' Has an episode ("The Case of the Libertine Belle") that fits this trope. The gang is treated to a Murder Mystery Dinner Party at an upscale bed and breakfast. The twist: [[spoiler:The first mystery is a decoy. Blanche unwittingly takes part in the second act.]] HilarityEnsues
* Part of the backstory in the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk Gets Drunk" reveals that Monk ruined a murder mystery theater weekend by solving the mystery in the first twelve minutes, causing the organizers to have to refund all the guests.

* ''WesternAnimation/The3LittlePigsTheMovie'': [[TheBigBadWolf Big Boss]], owner of ''The Inn of the Gentle Wolf'', plans out a lucrative event for his establishment, where he intends to serve pigs Wally and Beemo to his carnivorous guests, after the two provide some entertainment with a song & dance.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'', Shnitzel [[PlayingATree plays a tree]] in Mung Daal's dinner theater.

* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs.'' has an episode called "Dan Vs. Ye Olde Shakespeare Dinner Theatre".
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnythingAVeggieTalesMovie'': The main characters begin the plot as pirates in a pirate-themed dinner-theatre restaurant, depicted as cheesy. The main characters' hate of working there fuels the plot and their desire for something more interesting.

* Cabarets in UsefulNotes/{{France}}:
** Particularly in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, such as the ''Moulin Rouge'', the ''Theatre/CrazyHorse'', the ''Lido''...

* Cabarets in UsefulNotes/{{France}}, particularly in UsefulNotes/{{Paris}}, such as the Moulin Rouge, the Theatre/CrazyHorse, the Lido...

* The film ''Film/AutoFocus'' recreates Bob Crane having to make do with these kind of theatre roles to make ends meet, after ''Series/HogansHeroes'' ends.

* The film ''Film/AutoFocus'' recreates Bob Crane having to make do with these kind of theatre roles to make ends meet, after ''Film/HogansHeroes'' ends.

* ''WesternAnimation/The3LittlePigsTheMovie'': [[TheBigBadWolf Big Boss]], owner of ''The Inn of the Gentle Wolf'', plans out a lucrative event for his establishment, where he intends to serve pigs Wally and Bimo to his carnivorous guests, after the two provide some entertainment with a song & dance.

At conventional dinner theaters, the plays chosen tend to be TheMusical, or other LowestCommonDenominator crowd-pleasing fare. Another take comes in the form of original spectacles in custom-built arenas designed to entertain family crowds, such as the RealLife ''Medieval Times'' chain. A popular variation has been to mix dinner theater with {{LARP}} MurderMystery theatre, where the audience takes part in the proceedings to solve the crime. Alternatively, the show is set up as an event that encourages mingling between audience and actors, a concept pioneered by ''Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding'' in TheEighties.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': The episode "Hamburger Dinner Theater".

** Creator/MarkHamill performs a ''StarWars''-themed dinner theater version of ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls''.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' have two episode where Krusty Krabs is temporarily turned into one, "Culture Shock" and "Squirrel Jokes".