Olde Towne Dinner Theatre hosting classic plays for 40th anniversary

What used to be a furniture store and grocery store in Worthing turned into the Olde Towne Dinner Theatre in 1982. Now, the theater is celebrating 40 years in operation.

As part of the celebration, the theater will be showing old classics, starting with "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie. That show will run through September and into the second week of October. In that play, 10 strangers are summoned on a remote island with each "marked for murder," with showings ending on Oct. 9.

The theater will go on this season to show "2 Across" by Jerry Mayer, "Leading Ladies" by Ken Ludwig and "The Movie Game" by Adam Hummel.

"(We picked) shows that were fan favorites, or actor favorites. Normally we try to not repeat more than maybe one show a season. And even now, it's usually about 10 years out," John Bowe, artistic director at the theater said. "... We just had a discussion about what shows had the best responses both from the audience and the actors."

100-year-old building in Worthing gets a makeover

This year, the 100-year building has gone through a facelift, including new paint, new signage, new lighting and new menus, according to Megan Bakken, executive director at the Olde Towne Dinner Theatre.

"It's just been a lot of changes and a lot of revamping, but it's still the same Old Towne (Dinner Theatre) that everybody knows, it's just got a little bit of polish on it," Bakken said. "... It still holds the character of a 100-year old building. ... It's been kind of a journey for this little old building."

The Olde Towne Dinner Theatre has a "red" theme going on, recognizing the 40th anniversary – which is traditionally celebrated with "rubies." Throughout the theater will have a red theme, including food like red sauce and red velvet cake, according to Bakken.

"Everything is red around the theater's accents," Bakken said.

In its earlier days, the Olde Towne Dinner Theatre served food, it just looked quite a bit different.

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"They were having (food) catered in actually and they were plating everything across the street and they were carted across the street to the theater, serving it to their patrons at that time," Bakken said. "Those in the cast were actually serving, so we didn't have any volunteer servers or anything. It was just cast members."

While Bakken has a new position that she's held for about six months as executive director, her ties to the theater go back about 20 years she said, participating as a volunteer and eventually playing in 13 shows, she said.

"It's just a wonderful little community that you feel like you're part of a family down there. It's my second home ... It just seemed natural to take on the job as executive director and I've loved every minute of it," Bakken said.

Olde Towne Dinner Theater has 'grown immensely,' in need of volunteers

Boe also has ties to the theater. He did his first show at the theater in 2005, and started working with the theater in 2006. After working there for a couple years, he moved to California, before eventually moving back to Sioux Falls in 2009 – when he started working at the theater once again.

"In the last 40 years, the theater has grown immensely. Just from the first show they did there, they had two performances and the house was less than 20 (people)," Boe said. "... Now we can serve over 100 a night ... We've come a long way in 40 years."

The theater has a group of "regulars" that routinely addition for plays, but they also see some new faces, Bakken said. Those who act perform four nights a week for five weeks, and get free food and a $300 stipend, Bakken said.

While the theater is looking for talent, they are also in need of volunteers, Bakken said.

"We're always in need of volunteers. Every night we need 10 servers, two coffee pourers and two bartenders, and thankfully, we have a very amazing group of people in the Sioux Falls area, but love to come down and contribute, give their time as volunteers," Bakken said. "Without our volunteers, we definitely could not function."

Weekend tickets for "And Then There Were None," are mostly sold out, while there's availability for Thursday and Sunday. Tickets range from $50 to $55 and can be purchased on the theater's website at OldeTowneTheatre.org.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Worthing Olde Towne Dinner Theatre hosting classic movies 40th