La Comedia | Photo by Grace Ramsdell | The Wright State Guardian
Despite the majority of live performances across the nation being cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, La Comedia Dinner Theatre in Springboro, OH is putting on a brand-new Christmas revue titled “A Christmas to Remember.”
Since 1975, La Comedia Dinner Theatre has been providing fine dining along with Broadway style entertainment that has had Dayton families returning year after year.
This year’s holiday performance of “A Christmas to Remember”, will be in production from Nov. 5 through Dec. 30, and features famous holiday songs, beautiful festive costumes and the singing of “O’ Holy Night”
With prior successful performances of broadway shows such as Mamma Mia!, Cats, Titanic, Miss Saigon and the world premiere of Jekyll & Hyde, previous attendees are excited to see what the dinner theatre has to offer with its latest performance.
“My family has been going to La Comedia for years around the holidays and this year isn’t any different,” said Wright State University (WSU) hopeful Kassidy Smarsh. “It’s kind of been this ongoing tradition that my family has created over the years and we’re all both excited and anxious to see if the experience will be any different because of coronavirus concerns.”
Roney Pena of Dayton, OH will be attending his first show at La Comedia this year, and says that despite coronavirus concerns, he cannot wait to see what the dinner theatre experience is all about.
“I’m a huge fan of all performance arts, so having the opportunity to go to my first dinner theatre performance is awesome, especially during these crazy times,” said Pena. “I’ve always heard great reviews from family and friends that have seen shows at La Comedia in the past so I had to finally get my ticket!”
Keeping guests safe
In order to keep staff and all in attendance as safe as possible, precautionary measures will be taken before guests even enter the front door.
Upon arriving, guests will have their temperatures taken and anyone with a temperature over 100.4 will not be allowed to enter the building.
Guests will be required to wear facial coverings at all times when not consuming food or drinks, and once called to the buffet, La Comedia employee’s will be in charge of plating food.
“I don’t really think the masks will take away from the evening,” said Smarsh. “At first I never thought I’d be able to get used to wearing a mask everywhere, but at this point it’s just another accessory. My mask is handmade and actually kind of comfortable, so I don’t think I’ll even notice I’m wearing it when watching the performance.”
Fine dining
While for some the main attraction of attending a La Comedia performance is the show itself, the buffet is nothing short of extraordinary and is a highlight of the night for some guests as well.
“I absolutely love the food,” said long-time guest Alan Schussheim. “The whole dinner and performance experience is something very special. The first time I came here with my wife years back, I was astonished at how good the meal before the show was. Now I make sure to show up extra hungry!”
Each meal begins with a salad paired with La Comedia’s homemade papaya chutney dressing.
Called to the buffet by section, guests will then walk to the front of the stage where chef-carved meats, Norweigian cod deep fried in premium beer batter, a variety of pastas and vegetables and their famous sweet potato souffle can be plated by employees.
Guests 21 and older also have the option of ordering alcoholic beverages from the theatre’s full-service bar during their meal and while watching the performance.
To purchase tickets, call 1-800-677-9505, or visit https://lacomedia.com/ticket-prices/
La Comedia Dinner Theatre can also be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
