The Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre

In the immediate previous post on Farrah Fawcett, I refer to The Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, a venue that deserves a bit of elaboration.

Located in Reynolds' hometown of Jupiter, Florida, the theatre was something of an unsung gem that opened in 1979, attracting high-profile performers in productions both new and tested duering most of the '80s.

Reynolds himself starred in several productions there - with Carol Burnett in Bernard Slade's "Same Time, Next Year" and with his then-love Sally Field in N. Richard Nash's "The Rainmaker."

Reynolds also acted with Stockard Channing in an Ernest Thompson one-act piece called "Twinkle, Twinkle" that was one-third of a trilogy known under the umbrella title "Answers." The other two titles by Thompson ("On Golden Pond") were "The Constituent," with Charles Durning and Ned Beatty, two frequent Reynolds co-stars on screen, and "A Good Time," featuring the then-married Kirstie Alley and Parker Stevenson.

Also: Neil Simon’s "The Odd Couple" featured Charles Nelson Reilly and Darryl Hickman; Julie Harris and Vincent Gardenia played in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," and James Farentino and Diana Scarwid paired for Herb Gardner's "A Thousand Clowns."

The theatre closed its doors in 1997 after Reynolds declared bankruptcy in 1996 - a nice idea that deserved a longer run.

Note in Passing: I don't know about you, but writing about Burt and Farrah brings Rona Barrett to mind for some reason.