Chanhassen Dinner Theater Minnesota

A popular entertainment and tourist destination in the Twin Cities, Minnesota is the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre Minnesota. 

It opened its doors in 1968 and since then has put on over 193 plays with over 8 million people watching. Given the quality of shows, those numbers aren't surprising.

The 90,000 square foot facility was constructed and designed by Herbert and Carolyn Bloomberg on what was once a corn field. The Old Log Theater had contracted them to build it's new facility. Their own complex soon followed, built about 30 minutes from downtown. To add to the risk their vision included a restaurant. Given the failure rates of new restaurants and the distance from downtown, the project appeared to be a pipe dream doomed to fail.

But the theatre opened the curtains for the first time on Oct. 11 1968. Fittingly, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” was the inaugural production . That ran for a month and a half before “the Fantasticks” took the stage. Now for a pun. America's largest professional dinner theater had finally taken center stage. And as for the restaurant, today it's the largest privately owned one in the whole state of Minnesota. Not bad for such a risky venture.

On February 18, 1971 a production of “I Do! I Do!” opened in the Playhouse, a smaller theatre space in the Chanhassen facility . 21 years later the final curtain dropped on the popular show. Even more amazing was that the same cast stayed with the show the whole time. How's that for job security? That long running show made Chanhassen and the Playhouse famous throughout the United States. It drew its final applause in November of 1992, but after a brief hiatus of a few months, returned for almost a year in 1993. “Stevie Ray's Comedy Troupe” took over for the next two years. That pretty good too

Both “Stevie Ray's Comedy Troupe” and “I Do! I Do!” later returned to Chanhassen, but in a different room. The Courtyard, now called the Club, hosted each of the plays in 1995. Now the Club hosts corporate meetings and weddings. Camelot, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and many other plays have appeared at Chanhassen . The list goes on and on. Go to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre Minnesota web site, http://www.chanhassentheatres.com, for the complete list.