Newport Playhouse is as lively as ever with new shows and dining options

The longtime Newport venue expands offerings while staying close to its dinner theater roots

The Newport Playhouse has experienced a little too much drama over the last few years, but the dinner theater and cabaret is about to raise the curtain on its next act with a new dining concept and expanded marquee of entertainment options.

“We definitely are still a theater, but we’ve opened up the ability to have more entertainment and more live music and comedy,” says Jonathan Perry, president of the Newport Playhouse & Cabaret
Restaurant. “With our three stages, we have the ability to give performers as well as our community a place to perform.”

Located on the recently revitalized JT Connell Highway, the Playhouse was opened by Perry’s godfather, Matt Siravo, in 1983. “Theater has been in my family going back to my grandfather from Portugal, who had a traveling theater troupe that went up and down the east coast of the United States,” says Perry.

“My godfather really filled in as a father figure when my father, who also had acted, died when I was four,” remembers Perry, who began working at the theater when it opened and took over operations when Siravo died in 2015.

Initially, the Playhouse staged a mix of dramatic plays and musicals, from Caligula to Man of La Mancha. Later, a kitchen was added and the Playhouse evolved into a dinner theater where guests could enjoy a buffet meal, watch a show, then mingle with performers, cabaret-style.

“The food was always from scratch, using traditional family recipes,” says Perry. “It was the big buffet with the big platters, more food than anyone should ever eat.”

Into the 2000s, the Playhouse did steady business with a mix of local theatergoers and visitors, including those on bus tours. As with many performing arts venues, however, the Covid-19 pandemic created an existential threat.

“We could put about 12 people in the theater, and the actors had to stand on either side of the stage to maintain social distancing,” Perry recalls. Staging shows proved impractical, and for a while the family got by using the kitchen to prepare their signature meatballs and other food
to sell to takeout customers.

Just as the pandemic was easing and the theater was allowed to reopen, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation began construction on the new roadways and approaches to the Newport Pell Bridge. The first show, Sex Please, We’re Sixty, proved a successful return, but some of the bus companies that had helped to fill the theater’s seats had gone out of business, and the road construction proved to be a mixed blessing.

The cul-de-sac where the Playhouse was located was replaced with a roadway and bike path that raised its visibility, but drainage disruption contributed to a 2021 flood that left three feet of water inside the theater, which was forced to close again for repairs.

Reopened in July 2022, the Playhouse no longer is treading water. In addition to offering meals and musicals, the theater is a venue for the works of independent playwrights, comedy shows, live music, and drag shows.

“We’ve opened up the ability to have more entertainment and more live music, anything from a jazz vocalist to country western to a full-fledged band. It’s exciting,” says Perry.

“We’ve been producing and directing and casting shows in-house for 40 years, and we’re going to continue putting on a full schedule for next year, as well.”

Rhode Island comedians Doreen Collins and Charlie Hall have performed their elder cabaret show Aging Disgracefully at the Newport Playhouse several times. They are scheduled to present a “comedy brunch show” on Sunday, Oct. 26 (more info here).

“We’ve had great crowds; we’ve sold out every time,” says Collins. “Jonathan and his staff are great to work with, and there’s not a bad seat in the house.”

Sellout crowds also have been the norm for AJ Pisano, who has organized several drag brunches at the theater in conjunction with Newport Pride.

“They had a full brunch buffet, and every ticket sale gets you a cocktail and then the show, of course,” says Pisano.

“We usually do an audience participation in the middle of the show, like a dance off or trivia, for a chance to win like two tickets to the Playhouse for their dinner theater. We’re excited to do more stuff with them: we’ve been talking about doing other variations of events like drag dinners or shows on their new outdoor stage. And it’s perfect for cabaret style events,” says Pisano.

A portion of proceeds from past shows has gone to support Newport Pride, Pisano notes. “It definitely brings a sense of community,” he adds. “There was actually a group that came all the way out from New York City to attend the drag show, so we’re bringing a little bit of tourism to town with the LGBTQ community… we’re really giving people the opportunity to express themselves and show up and support the queer community.”

Another big change coming soon to the Playhouse isn’t on stage but in the kitchen. After decades of serving buffet-style meals (including the occasional lobster bake), Perry recently partnered with local restauranteurs Patrick and Craig Kilroy (of Zelda’s Newport and Lobster Bar Newport) to expand dining to include an a la carte menu and new offerings. Notably, the Playhouse has invested in a new Neapolitan pizza oven.

“We’re still doing the buffets that we’ve done in the past for our matinees, but on a Friday or an evening show when people come in, the restaurant will be open. And they’ll be able to have a meal if they want before they see the show, or see a show and come back later for a meal,” he says.

One thing that won’t change is the unique niche that the Playhouse fills in Newport’s entertainment landscape. “We have the experience of many years of keeping the arts alive here,” Perry says. “We’re going to continue to offer the great food and beverages that you expect. With the multiple stages, we can have several shows going on at the same time. There’s almost endless potential for what we can do.”

For more information on happenings at the Playhouse, visit www.newportplayhouse.com.