Cornwell’s Live Dinner Theater is Back in Marshall
It’s a very positive sign. Cornwell’s Dinner Theater will be starting up on Thursday, May 13th with a hilarious comedy, “Right Bed, Wrong Husband.”
The pandemic has been tough on everybody, and certainly performing artists who have had nowhere to perform and almost no way to make a living. Theaters from the local civic to Broadway have been padlocked, which means no work for actors, musicians, light and sound techs, directors, and producers. College students are lucky to mask up and perform on Zoom, and frankly, it’s just not even close to the same as seeing a live performance where you can actually see facial expressions.
Broadway announced that they’ll resume in the fall, and the first show to go on sale is... ……drum roll…..”Phantom.” Really? The one show where the guy on stage wears a mask the whole time!
The Broadway announcement comes several weeks after Cornwell's announced that they'd be staging live shows again. “I think Broadway was looking to Cornwell’s for their professional queues,” joked Dexter Brigham, the new Producer and Director at Cornwell’s. “You know, once Cornwell’s Dinner Theater decided that we were going to reopen, Broadway said ‘Ok, if Cornwell’s is doing it, then I think it's probably safe for us to do it.”
They won’t be wearing masks on stage at Cornwell’s for “Right Bed, Wrong Husband.” Dexter Brigham is the new Producer and Director at Cornwell’s. It’s one of those fast-paced comedies that have the characters running in and out, slamming doors, and lots of mistaken identities. Ted is a young, penniless bachelor whose uncle holds the strings to his trust fund. To increase his meager allowance, Ted hatches a plan to convince his uncle he has gotten married, but when his uncle drops in unexpectedly, he has to work double-time to convince his uncle that his best friend’s wife is, in fact, his own. Then, Ted’s fiancé arrives, and there’s an accidental mention of children (that don’t exist), and it just keeps getting more and more complicated and hilarious.”
Brigham said they’ll be doing a few things differently at the dinner theater. “First of all, we’ll have to stay with 50% capacity,” said Brigham. “We’ve spaced out the tables, and it’s just one party to a table. Instead of a self-serve buffet, the staff will be serving the food, and social distancing will be observed.”
Cornwell’s hires professional actors, and Brigham says they’re from all over the country. “From Florida to Oklahoma to Pennsylvania and Alabama, you've got folks in from all over the place. They’re all here in Marshall and we’ve been in rehearsals now for just about a week.” And Brigham says the entire cast has been vaccinated, which helps a lot.
- Who: Cornwell’s Dinner Theater
- What: “Right Bed, Wrong Husband”, a fast-paced comedy
- When: May 13th thru June 26th
- Where: Cornwell’s Turkeyville USA, 18935 15 1/2 Mile Rd, Marshall, MI 49068
- Why: Because it’s time to get out and enjoy live theater again!
- How: Click here for tickets.