New Theatre Restaurant....Kansas City's Star Attraction

…. These days the founders and co-artistic directors of the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park are in a reflective mood.Twenty-five years ago this month they were involved in the manual labor of converting an old Main Street laundry into Tiffany's Attic Dinner Playhouse - with no thought at all about what they might be doing a quarter-century down the road.

``When you're young you just kind of do,'' Hennessy said recently. ``There's no long-range planning. No long-range goals. You just open the doors and then you take it one day at a time. You don't even think about the future. '' Indeed, as they describe it, preparing Tiffany's for its grand opening in 1972 was an ongoing emergency requiring round-the-clock work. ``Because we had such a limited budget to do the construction with, Dennis' and my families ... would go over and we would augment what the carpenters were doing during the daytime,'' Carrothers recalled. ``I jackhammered most of the sewage ditches because it was all concrete. ``On opening night ... 10 minutes before the doors opened we were wiping on and wiping off (floor) stain and working ourselves into the coat room, so that on opening night we weren't really part of it. We were in our old work clothes in the coat room and somebody brought us food. ``So you really just think of the moment ahead of you. At that particular time it was like: 'Are we gonna get the floor stained and get the audience in? ' '' The first show was Neil Simon's ``Last of the Red Hot Lovers'' and in the cast was a young actress named Patsy Calmes - who later made a name for herself on television as Morgan Fairchild.

There would be 121 productions at Tiffany's Attic during its 18-year history. Waldo Astoria, the companion theater Hennessy and Carrothers opened at 75th and Washington the following year, would be the site of 98 shows. New Theatre audiences have seen 26 productions since the showplace at 92nd and Metcalf in Overland Park opened in 1992. (New Theatre associate producer Joe Fox calculates that the impressive production history of all three playhouses somehow translates into more than 1 billion laughs.) What's for dinner?

Hennessy and Carrothers, both in their 50s, have known each other 30 years. Hennessy was born and raised in Kansas City. Carrothers was born in Iowa and spent his childhood and adolescence on a farm near Liberty. Both were theater students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, but their professional relationship began in 1967 when Hennessy, who was running the old Resident Theatre at the Jewish Community Center, hired Carrothers as his assistant. By their account, the partners chose to open a dinner theater - as opposed to any other kind - because in the early '70s dinner theater seemed to be sweeping the country as a commercial phenomenon. At one time five such theater companies were in Kansas City.

``We had been reading about the success of dinner theater,'' Hennessy recalled. ``In fact, we hadn't even seen one when we opened Tiffany's Attic. '' Carrothers elaborated: ``When you were going out and pitching it to investors - and we were just kids - when you said, 'Yeah, but it includes a bar and a restaurant,' that made it salable to them. '' Many dinner theaters here and elsewhere fell by the wayside through the years, in part because many businessmen without backgrounds in theater got involved.

``They thought it was quick money, which it was in those days,'' Hennessy said. ``They were very popular and people made a lot of money with them. '' Hennessy and Carrothers prospered to the extent that they were able to take their profits from their original investment of $120,000 in Tiffany's Attic and put money into Broadway and off-Broadway shows - ``Tribute'' and ``The Elephant Man'' among them.

They also became Hollywood producers for about 10 years. The partners were involved in several made-for-TV movies, a couple of theatrical films and a miniseries about the battle of the Alamo. But during their 10 years in Los Angeles, they now concede, Tiffany's Attic and Waldo Astoria suffered from neglect. Hollywood really wasn't to their liking - too much deal-making, they said - and when they moved back in 1990, they decided to pump money they had made in the film-and-television business into the New Theatre.

``We're from the theater,'' Hennessy said. ``That's our background. We were lucky to be able to come back and do this. '' Starting over Carrothers said that in part because the programming at Tiffany's Attic and Waldo Astoria had grown stale, it was important to communicate to the public that the New Theatre was - well, really new. They called it a ``theatre restaurant'' and tried to persuade the local press to stop using the term ``dinner theater. '' ``The reason we closed down the other two and opened the New Theatre is that we had to make a commitment to the community that it wasn't business as usual, that we were going to do something new and different or better,'' Carrothers said. ``We literally had to close down those opera tions and start over. '' Hennessy said, ``I think maybe we took the audience for granted.

I think you always have to be ahead of the audience a tad. You always have to lead the audience. Once they lead you you're in trouble. And I don't think we did that in the late '80s. '' The familiar criticism of dinner theater is that it is simply too crassly commercial, that the goal of filling seats always takes precedence over artistry.

But don't tell that to Patricia McIlrath, Curators' Professor Emerita in the UMKC Theater Department and founder and former artistic director of Missouri Repertory Theater. If done well, she said, dinner theater is no less worthwhile than dinnerless theater. ``I love the idea of appealing to everyone with the arts , which means you must not rule out a form of theater,'' McIlrath said. ``There's nothing wrong with dinner theater. There are lovely things there. ``Of course, I love the classics. But there are people who will get to the classics, eventually, through other forms of theater. They have to get a habit of going. And that's what Dennis and Richard have done so beautifully. ''

Still, Hennessy and Carrothers, both of whom are talented directors, bristle a bit at the suggestion that somebody out there - critics, other theater professionals, somebody - considers their work to be inferior to the ``serious'' theater practiced elsewhere. To emphasize the new era, the partners took a lot of risks in their first couple of seasons at the New Theatre. They brought in a production of the nostalgic musical ``Forever Plaid'' at considerable expense in order to ensure quality; they tried a wild cross-dressing satire called ``Pageant,'' which, to say the least, was a challenge for the traditional dinner-theater audience. Most of the shows they tried had never been seen in Kansas City.

These days the programming is more traditional - the current production is Neil Simon's comedy ``Rumors,'' with TV star Karen Valentine headlining - but Hennessy and Carrothers have plans for the future. Although they remain vague about details, they insist that establishing a second theater company in Johnson County with no direct connection to the New Theatre is a real possibility. The idea would be to fill a niche no one else is filling in local theater, to offer material considerably more challenging than the typical Neil Simon play. Hennessy said Terrence McNally's ``Master Class,'' a play about opera diva Maria Callas, would be typical of the sort of material they would seek for a second theater. ``I think it's taking entertainment to another level,'' Carrothers said. ``It would still have the element of entertainment, but be more challenging. ''

'To entertain' Carrothers and Hennessy believe they have made an important contribution to the community by introducing professional theater to an audience that might not have experienced it otherwise. The audience, they say, has responded with remarkable loyalty. ``Well, I know this,'' Hennessy said, ``that there is an appreciation for the theater by our patrons. We have several thousand people for whom this has become a part of their life ... ``Some of these people have passed on their season tickets to their children. One thing we have noticed about our patrons (is) they take ownership in the theater. And they will let us know if they think something is not quite right. '' Hennessy added that while some of their patrons also attend productions at Missouri Repertory Theatre or other companies, many do not. ``A lot of our people probably don't go to the Rep because they find it intimidating, or maybe not interesting or they don't relate to it,'' he said. ``I'm n ot putting (the Rep) down, but what we do is entertainment. That's what our purpose in life is.

That is our mission - to entertain an audience. ''

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The theatre exists for you. It is for you that this building was erected, the drama written, the play rehearsed, and the performance given. Tonight, every artist will be working in the hope of sharing an experience with you by moving you emotionally and intellectually and thereby bringing to you some measurement of enjoyment or entertainment which is expressed through your sustained attention and appreciation. It is this sought for attention and appreciation that makes you an active participant in this evening's dramatic production, for your reaction, whatever it may be, is as much a part of the success or failure as is the contribution of the actor, director, designer or technician. Tonight, unlike 120,000,000 other Americans, you have turned off your television set and are attending the legitimate theatre-a medium distinct in its aliveness, its immediacy, and its personal touch. The theatre is a minority art and because you're here you represent a minority within our society. Ladies and gentlemen let me reiterate, the theatre exits for you, with continued fidelity the theatre will continue to meet its responsibility to you as a significant social and cultural institution.		GUEST DIRECTOR: RICHARD CARROTHERS is a young man with a large amount of theatre experience and even more talent. His acting background includes performances for the universities of Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri, and professional radio announcing and television appearances in Kansas City, Springfield and Chicago. He toured Iceland and Greenland in "South Pacific." Mr. Carrothers also has a wealth of experience in other areas of theatre arts such as director, manager and teacher. Some of his credits in these fields are Director and Manager of the Kansas City Children's Repertory Theatre, Director of the UWCA Summer Theatre Program, Assistant Director of the USO European tour of "Finians Rainbow." Director of the Springfield, Missouri Little Theatre and the Drury Lane Players, also in Springfield. He just recently directed and produced a movie for the Missouri Fine Arts Council entitled "Interpreter's Art in Theatre's Framework." This past summer Richard served as Managing Director of the Barn Players Theatre. He is currently teaching drama in the Jewish Community Center's Fine Arts Department and Adult Education Department.

STAGE - New Theatre thrives Dinner and a show The founders of the New Theatre Restaurant have full houses and happy employees.

The Kansas City Star STAGE - Dinner theater The founders of the New Theatre Restaurant have full houses and happy employees. Richard Carrothers and Dennis Hennessy are prosperous, satisfied men. The 60-something founders and co-owners of the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park produce shows that often sell out, have 25,000 season subscribers -- more than any other theater in town -- and can afford to divide half the profits among eligible employees as a bonus. Still they have a dilemma. They want to keep up with the times. They want to move their theater forward. But their loyal audience, cultivated during their 34 years as producer-directors, has markedly conservative taste. And that means they simply can’t afford to do some shows.

“Look politically at the direction of government in the last 10 to 15 years,” Carrothers said recently. “Look at how conservative it's become. The whole country is ultra-conservative. The kind of play we did 15 or 20 years ago at the Waldo (Astoria) and Tiffany’s (Attic), we couldn’t do now. They were sex farces. We couldn’t do a sex farce now.” They still do farces, of course, and sometimes the humor can be pretty rude. The current production, Ken Ludwig’s “Leading Ladies,” employs a cross-dressing-for-laughs plot device as two unemployed Shakespearean actors try to pass themselves off as maiden aunts in a ploy to get their hands on an inheritance. In “Aspirins & Elephants,” a 2002 production, Jack Klugman played a man trying to resurrect his sex life while recuperating from a heart attack. “They do have sexual overtones, but they’re not as overt as what we used to do,” Hennessy said. And what of the current generation of Broadway shows, which might be considered classics years down the road? Could we ever see “The Producers” at the New Theatre? In a word, no. The F-word is uttered loudly in the first few minutes of the show. “That’s the line,” Hennessy said. “It has to be that. You can’t change it.” “Urinetown,” a hit on Broadway and the road, is another non-starter. “I loved it,” Carrothers said. “I just think it had such an unfortunate title.” “Avenue Q” wouldn’t play because the audience would probably see it as too weird and mean-spirited. Besides, it shows puppets having sex. “Miss Saigon,” which ruled Broadway for several years in the 90s, has too much tragedy and R-rated dialogue, not to mention scenes in a whorehouse.

Then there’s the recent generation of off-Broadway musicals, including “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” which just closed at the Unicorn Theatre, and “Evil Dead: The Musical.” Either show would look oddly out of place on the New Theatre stage. But Carrothers and Hennessy want to do new shows if they meet the theater’s standards. Next summer they plan to produce “All Shook Up,” a show based on the music of Elvis Presley that had a brief run on Broadway last year. According to the two, the median age of their patrons is 37, so an aging audience is not a concern. But Hennessy and Carrothers often pass on shows they might personally want to do. Even so, they said, they receive complaints from at least a few patrons about every single production. “Ninety-nine percent of them are the most wonderful people in the world,” Hennessy said. “It’s a very small minority that keeps kicking us in the butt.” Carrothers was philosophical. “You know what? Everybody has a boss,” he said. “Our audiences are our bosses. I don’t think it’s love-hate. But I think most people with their bosses have a love-fear relationship because they can take their job away from them in the blink of an eye. If our audience ... left en masse, we wouldn’t have a job.”

Carrothers and Hennessy, both University of Missouri-Kansas City theater graduates, have been partners since 1972, when they converted an old laundry near 51st and Main into a dinner theater and called it Tiffany’s Attic. It was an immediate success. They soon opened a second playhouse, the Waldo Astoria, near 75th and Wornall. When they decided to close the Missouri-side playhouses and open the New Theatre Restaurant in 1992, they pledged to elevate the quality of the material. They were intent on redefining dinner theater. In the early days they took admirable risks. The second show of their inaugural season in 1992 was “Pageant,” a sort of postmodern musical in which men played female beauty contestants. It turned out to be a controversial choice. “I don’t know if we could ever educate an audience here,” Hennessy said. “I think they come here for one reason: to be entertained. I think we finally realized that after being beaten over the head a couple of times. Remember Pageant? I thought it was a wonderful production. We got the hell knocked out of us on that one.” Two years later they staged one of their best productions, Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues.” It was a good play. It was cast with good actors. But there was a problem. It was about barracks life in the Army. There was a foul-mouthed sergeant. There was a scene in a whorehouse. “We really got beat up on that one,” Hennessy said. “We answer every e-mail, every letter, every phone call, because we feel like if they take the time to do it, we should answer them. And we were spending our lives answering phones.”

Carrothers and Hennessy live in separate homes on adjacent 20-acre properties in a semi-rural area of Lenexa. Carrothers and his two adopted kids -- David, 7, and Jacki, 4 -- live on one tract; Hennessy lives on the other. Hennessy built a 6,000-square-foot barn, where he lives on the second floor and maintains a nonprofit dog rescue operation on the ground level. At the theater, the marketing and search for new material falls to Carrothers while Hennessy handles the finances and management issues. As directors, Hennessy excels at farce, and Carrothers shows a deft hand with shows that are more humanistic and sentimental. But each can go from one genre to the next with ease.

The company has 250 employees, half of them full time. They can participate in a 401(k) plan, and each year the company divides half the profits between the eligible employees. In 2006, that came to more than $300,000 shared by 71 people. The company also has a “compassionate leave” policy by which employees can donate banked leave time to a co-worker in need of an extended leave. The New Theatre was a finalist in the 2006 Kansas City Business Ethics Award. Carrothers has served for several years on the board of the Overland Park Convention and Visitors Bureau. For years the partners sustained a dream of opening a small black-box theater where they could do more substantial material. But that idea was put on permanent hold, especially after the founding of Kansas City Actors Theatre, the nonprofit group that performs in Union Station. Hennessy is on the board, and he and Carrothers have developed a season-ticket plan for KCAT. Occasionally they’ve given the Unicorn Theatre money for certain productions. And Hennessy is on the Kansas City Repertory Theatre search committee charged with finding a successor to outgoing artistic director Peter Altman.

And although either of them could retire comfortably, that apparently isn’t in the cards. “I’ll probably be here until I keel over and die, hopefully in my office,” Hennessy said. “I don’t really want to leave. I have to keep busy. ... It seems like I’ve been doing this forever, and I don’t know what it would be like not to work because I enjoy the work so much.” Carrothers offered his take: “You know, we’re reading more and more about people who retire with nothing to do, and they just start disintegrating. We’re in a lucky situation where nobody’s gonna force us out. So I m the same way. They’ll probably carry me out.”