Growing Destinations
Your go-to source for insightful discussions on destination development. The Growing Destinations podcast delves into the strategies, challenges, and successes that drive community growth. Each episode features in-depth conversations with local and national experts, uncovering universal themes and innovative practices that can be applied to any city or region.
Growing Destinations
The Magic of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres: Inside America's Largest Professional Dinner Theater Complex
In this episode of the Growing Destinations podcast, we spotlight the legacy and enduring appeal of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, the nation’s largest professional dinner theatre complex. For over 50 years, Chanhassen has delighted audiences with memorable performances, including its current production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas. Joining us are three key leaders who drive its success: Michael Brindisi, Artistic Director and President; Tamara Kangas Erickson, Vice President and Resident Choreographer; and Kris Howland, Director of Public Relations. Our conversation dives into the craftsmanship and creativity that brings magic to the stage at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
The Growing Destinations podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Learn more about Minnesota's third largest city, which is home to Mayo Clinic and features wonderful recreational and entertainment opportunities, by visiting experiencerochestermncom.
Speaker 2:These multi-generational family groups that come in grandma, grandpa, daughters, sons, grandchildren and they can come and share an evening together, talking, laughing, eating and then watching a great show, and that's something they go away and then talk about on the way home and it really is a wonderful experience that I think is resonating with where we are in our society right now.
Speaker 3:People come out to the Chanesson Dinner Theaters from New York and they're at the Guthrie and they say, can we come out and see your production of Beautiful? And they're like blown away their heads. The heads turn and I was like I had no idea that it was like this. I had no idea it was going to be this good.
Speaker 4:A lot of people don't realize. We build our own costumes, we build our own sets, we have all of our own shops here, and so when people come here, they're getting a Minnesota-made product that they can be proud of.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast, where we take a deep dive into destination development and focus on a wide range of topics, from tourism and entertainment to economic development and entrepreneurism and much more. I'm your host, Bill Von Bank. We're on location at Chanhassen Dinner Theaters in Chanhassen, Minnesota, exploring the legacy and lasting appeal of the nation's largest professional dinner theater complex. For over five decades, Chanhassen Dinner Theaters has captivated audiences with unforgettable performances. Today, I'm joined by three pivotal figures behind its success Michael Brandese is the artistic director and president, Tamara Kangas-Eriksson is vice president and resident choreographer. And Chris Howland is director of public relations. Michael Tamara, Chris, welcome to the Growing Destinations podcast. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Bill.
Speaker 1:It's a pleasure to speak with you right here on stage with the enchanting set of Irving Berlin's White Christmas as our backdrop.
Speaker 4:And I'll bet you never thought that this is how you were going to get on stage, Bill.
Speaker 1:I've been coming here for years as a participant in the audience, so this is pretty special Cool. Before we take a deep dive into the rich history and culture and success of Chanhassen Dinner Theaters, I'd really like to learn a little bit more about each of you, your career and your history here at Chanhassen Dinner Theaters. Michael, let's start with you.
Speaker 3:I actually started here in 1971 as an actor in Thornton Wilder's the Matchmaker and I played my accordion as the part that I had. It was a gypsy that was created for me, so I had no lines and I struck up a deal with Gary Gissman, the artistic director, that if I played the accordion for him in the Matchmaker, he would turn me equity. So I do believe I'm the only Actors' Equity member that got his card from playing the accordion and that's how I got my start here. And I had a long acting career, acted on this stage and many shows in the fireside, and I met my wife here in Annie Get your Gun and she was playing Annie and I was playing Charlie Davenport in Annie Get your Gun and she was playing Annie and I was playing Charlie Davenport.
Speaker 3:And then in 1987, gary left and I had been freelance directing around Minneapolis and the Bloombergs knew that and they gave me a shot at being the artistic director. So I had a trial for two shows. I did Private Lives and the Mystery of Edwin Drood, and then they hired me and so, 37 years later, I'm still the artistic director director and it's been a great gig for me. And in 2010, tamara and I put together a group to purchase the theater and so now we're also owners and we run the day-to-day operations and it's been a great employer in the sky for me and my family. My daughter grew up here in shows. My wife is currently in White Christmas. It was a stroke of luck for me, Tamara.
Speaker 1:How about you Tell us a little bit about your career and your history here at Chanhassen Dinner Theaters?
Speaker 2:It's very proud to say that I was a child actor here. So I started working here in 1980 in the Sound of Music and did a year-long run in the Sound of Music and then, when I was 12, 13 years old, did a year-long run in Annie. So two years of my real formative years growing up I spent in this building and it really shaped me in ways I probably can't even pinpoint today. But that was sort of the start. And then I went to St Olaf College. I got a degree in dance, really thought I was going to go for more of a modern dance career. And then musical theater just kept pulling me back and Chanas and dinner theaters kept pulling me back. So I was living in New York, I was living in Florida and just kept getting pulled back to do shows and to assist the earlier choreographer. And then there was an opportunity to come back and choreograph Anything Goes in 2004, and here I stayed.
Speaker 1:And now, Chris, you've been at Chen Hass in a long time. Can you share a little bit more about your history here?
Speaker 4:Yes, I was very involved in musical theater in my high school and college years and I got a job here the summer after my freshman year in the box office, which is a great training ground, by the way. If you want a career in theater administration, get behind a phone and take a gazillion phone calls a day. It will teach you how to take care of a customer. It was wonderful training for me and I was a music major at Concordia College in Moorhead, and after a summer working here, I was bit by the theater bug and I decided to change my major and I waited, waited patiently for the job that I have now.
Speaker 4:I waited like 10 years, through a couple of different ownership changes and all of that, and in 1981, they offered me the box office manager role. But in 1988 to 89, they offered me this job that I currently have as director of public relations, and around the same time, actually, as Michael was named artistic director. So he's really the only artistic director that I've worked under, except we've had some guest directors. So I kind of grew up with him and was mentored by, actually, his father-in-law, bill Barber, and this place has been my, my second home my entire life, and I want to add that Tamara's children have grown up on stage here as well, and so has my son also Michael's daughter, Tam's girls and my son.
Speaker 4:They all kind of grew up running around this beautiful fun place.
Speaker 1:Let's dial back on the original history of this facility. It's been here a long time in Chanhassen and when it opened, Chanhassen didn't look like this.
Speaker 4:No, I mean, you know, there was a gas station, a few bars, there was a supper club and a lumber yard, wow. And the Chanhassen Dinner Theater grew up where one stood, a cornfield. Really. There was really even not a four-lane highway out here at the time or anything. So yes, the city has really changed into something really quite magnificent.
Speaker 3:Well, and everybody thought Herb Bloomberg, who is the genius who founded and built this building, was crazy, there was nothing out here, and didn't he build the old log? First he did, and then he said well, this was crazy, there was nothing out here and didn't he build the old log.
Speaker 4:First he did.
Speaker 3:And then he said well, this was fun, I'm going to build a bigger theater over in Chanhassen in my town. And everybody thought he was nuts and it would never work. He was an architect, so he was a real genius.
Speaker 4:And 56 years later, here we still are.
Speaker 1:In the same building. Michael, as both artistic director and president, you wear many hats. How do you approach managing day-to-day operations alongside your artistic responsibilities?
Speaker 3:I've kind of changed that a little bit lately. You know I'm getting up there in age, so I've turned over the responsibilities to Timra and Solvig to run the day-to-day operation and I'm there when they need me. If they need me, I'm there If they want to ask me should we purchase this for a million dollars? And I'll definitely chime in when it's a big deal. But usually I'm pretty much just directing the plays now and it's been good for me to kind of step back a little bit from the day-to-day operation.
Speaker 3:I did spend a long time with finding out how to how to pick steaks and what carpet needs to be replaced, and it was a lot of fun. Actually, the food operation was where I really focused a lot of learning and I loved, I loved getting all that experience. I actually went out to one time, went out to the place where they cut our steaks and put a white coat on and a mask and went in the freezer and met Craig, the guy who cuts our steaks, and talked to him about marbling and and it was. It was really fantastic, you fantastic to learn all that and learn about accounting and be able to read the P&L and I still can't read a balance sheet. Can you read the balance sheet Somewhat? Okay, you're better than I am. I still can't read it.
Speaker 1:Tamara, how do you balance your responsibilities of leading the choreography and vice president of the organization?
Speaker 2:Because of our long runs. It's really helpful because we can focus on the business for most of the year and then there's a couple of critical months where we really need to work on the shows. And because I choreograph the shows, I can kind of manage my time a little bit and I work pretty far in advance so I can do my prep work and then when we're in rehearsal we're sort of heads down in the rehearsal room. We're not doing much with the day-to-day operation for those many weeks that we're in the rehearsal room. But it seems to work out pretty well and we can find a balance.
Speaker 2:But I'd like to go back Bill to Michael for a second, because one thing he didn't touch on which is critically important is his idea about how to run this business is why we're successful today, because when we bought the company, this theater was doing musical theater in four rooms and Michael never thought that that made sense. He's like I think we're spreading our audience out, we're not adding people. We need to think about really diversifying our programming and that's where we started. And the first thing he did was bring Stevie Ray's in as a comedy troupe downstairs and then over time we developed the concert series and really were committed to only having musical theater in this main dinner theater, and that strategy has been what has saved this company, and so he should not sell himself short in terms of that contribution is major because that has changed how we do business.
Speaker 1:Unique ways to use the space that many maybe, from the outside looking in, would say, well, it's a theater complex, but theater complex plus.
Speaker 4:Yes, and also I don't know if you mentioned this, but we do weddings and ceremonies and receptions and bar mitzvahs and all sorts of parties and great family reunions in our other spaces. So that is another part of our business that we have sort of really solidified over the last 15 years or so.
Speaker 1:Chris, you have an important job of bringing people in.
Speaker 4:I do.
Speaker 1:So the theater is successful. Tell us about your role and how you do that, because you've been doing it a long time very successfully.
Speaker 4:You know it's a team. We have a team that's fantastic and Tamara actually leads our team, along with Joel Rainville, our director of sales and marketing. But we have a great group of people who do all sorts of things. We used to just solely advertise in the newspaper and on the radio. Now we're really into television. We're really really into the digital marketing very heavily.
Speaker 4:Everything has sort of changed in my career over the last few years, especially as readership and newspapers has kind of gone down and more people are gathering their news from different sources, like especially online. So we have sort of pivoted that and kind of followed with where those trends are. But my main job is to get stories, to get people to talk about us, and so a lot of people don't understand that public relations. They think, oh, that I work with customers. But I really do not work very much with customers. I work with people like you and people at the different media outlets to try to get them to do stories on us and by that vehicle we get people to hear about us and come through our doors.
Speaker 1:I always say public relations or earned media, is really the unsung hero of marketing.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's funny that you say that, because I always tell everybody that I'm a bottom feeder and the reason I say that is because I'm sort of at the bottom of the rung. I'm always begging people to do things for me and people are always doing me favors and I've sort of gotten good at begging and asking for favors.
Speaker 2:Chris, you are the best in the business she is.
Speaker 1:She is. She is Well speaking of high standards. How has Chanhassen been able to maintain its high standards in quality, such as having a live orchestra and professional cast, even as the landscape of theater has changed?
Speaker 3:There was a time, I think in the 70s, when I was first involved here, that we had 60 or 70 members of the National Dinner Theater Association, of the National Dinner Theater Association. Now we're down to 20, but maybe of those 20, two or three are equity and the rest are non-equity, non-union. They're all good. The ones that are left are all good operations. They all produce high quality productions and they survived the demise of the dinner theater by keeping their production values high and not having live orchestras like, as you said, not production values.
Speaker 3:I love when people come out from New York and you know, dinner theater has this stigma and people think, oh, ok, it's going to be like a lousy buffet and they're going to be waiting on us during the show and clinking dishes and the show is going to be kind of rank and and amateurish. And then people come out to the chanice and dinner theaters from new york and they're they're at the guthrie and they say can we come out and see your production of beautiful? And they're like blown away, their, their heads, the heads turn and I was like I had no idea that it was like this. I had no idea it was going to be this good. It's that that kept us alive.
Speaker 3:We never, we never stopped. We're not. Not only did we not stop having live music, but we grew our orchestra right. This production has 10 players, 10 live players in the orchestra pit and a cast of I don't know 27 or 28. It's like a huge shell. It's a big Broadway shell, and that's what kept us alive. Sometimes it's very expensive and it cuts our margin down, but it's worth it because we're still here.
Speaker 4:Well, and we have between three and 400 employees. It takes a lot of people to run this place, and so it's an expensive operation.
Speaker 3:And it's table service. It's a really nice evening out. You come out here. We have the best wait staff ever I mean veterans, really good waiters. I mean I love watching them work and the food is excellent. You know, I always say, always say that you know the first impression is is the food, and that's the first thing that happens. They people come into the dinner theater and they have a drink and they have food, and if that's lousy and then the show starts, they're not going to be really favorable to the show. So we we put as much uh emphasis on the the dinner part of dinner theater as the theater part and the welcoming aspect.
Speaker 4:I think that we that when somebody comes as a guest, they walk in the front door, they're greeted by that beautiful roaring fireplace and an actual person who's very dressed up to welcome them. I mean it's a very nice first impression. That was something Michael also started.
Speaker 1:It's a great package from beginning to end, isn't it?
Speaker 2:It is Bill, and you know what's awesome about our current culture is we really have shifted in the last 10 years from, in terms of, I think, gift giving especially getting away from things and getting more towards experiences, and I think we have really benefited from that and we hear it all the time these multi-generational family groups that come in grandma, grandpa, daughters, sons, grandchildren, and they can come and share an evening together, talking, laughing, eating and then watching a great show, and that's something they go away and then talk about on the way home, and it really is a wonderful experience that I think is resonating with where we are in our society right now.
Speaker 4:And we also have the free parking. It's easy, it's very easy.
Speaker 1:And what a benefit.
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely, Because people don't have to go to dinner someplace downtown, hustle back to some parking ramp, get in their car, drive somewhere else to go to a show park again. It's very, very seamless.
Speaker 3:And the value is still there. I people know people do the do the math when they go downtown to see a show and they go out to dinner and they park and and then they go like, wow, we can go to chan hassan for half of this and see a really good show. I had a artistic director from florida call me this morning, from the oslo theater and peter rothstein, and he said, uh, you know, I'd like to come out and see your show, your White Christmas show, because we're thinking about doing it next year. So that I mean, that's really a great thing that we've gone from being, you know, just a dinner theater to now a theater that people are looking to and come to plan their seasons based on what we're doing.
Speaker 4:And you know, here this is important too I'm going to toss this in what we're doing. And you know, here this is important too I'm going to toss this in when Michael says that we, you know, we hire live musicians and we hire equity or professional acting company, everything here that you see is done locally by people who live in this community, it's it's Minnesota produced, minnesota made, and I think that is really commendable. And a lot of people don't realize. We build our own costumes, we build our own sets, we have all of our own shops here, and so when people come here, they're getting a Minnesota made product that they can be proud of. We are proud of it, and it's just staggering that we have this operation that can do that level year after year after year, all right on site.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of theaters in the country, very well-known, reputable, regional theaters that go to New York because they don't have the local talent pool that we have here in Minneapolis. And Sue Berger, who's running the lights for us today, is an excellent lighting designer that lives here. My sound designer, my costume designer, my set designer they all live here.
Speaker 1:Tamara, what's one of your proudest moments at Chanhassen? Where your choreography made a strong connection with the cast or audience?
Speaker 2:This current show is one of them. I mean, if I went back I could probably come up with some other ones Newsies, in particular, mary Poppins but really what we're doing in this show, white Christmas, is exceptional. And that has much less to do with me and has so much more to do with the cast and the level and the depth of talent of the dancers in this cast. They are phenomenal. So I can only do as much as what I have to work with in terms of the abilities of the cast members, and this cast is exceptional. So the dance and the choreography is pretty awesome and they're maintaining it just beautifully and it's really stunning to watch.
Speaker 1:Michael, what have been some of your favorite productions to direct over the years? You've directed a lot, yeah, and what stands out to you about those experiences?
Speaker 3:For a long time. I answered that question by saying Jesus Christ Superstar, because it was really one of my all-time favorite productions in terms of everything landing the concept, the casting and the concept was really out there and a little bit different, and Les Mis was one, and a lot of the shows that I really loved didn't sell very well, but they were fun. They were fun for me. But recently I just did Jersey Boys and I think that Jersey Boys did very well for us financially and artistically. I think it was a superb production and I just love the play. So I think Jersey Boys is my new favorite.
Speaker 1:Chris, have there been particular productions or moments that deepened your appreciation for musical theater and the work you do here?
Speaker 4:There are so many shows. I guess one of my all-time favorites, which people might be surprised to hear, was Sister Act. It was a play that was like White Christmas, adapted from a popular movie, but they added so many great songs for the Broadway production and I probably saw that show more than any show that I've ever seen here since 1977 because it brought me so much happiness. It just brought me so much joy and I have to say that that is probably our mission here is to celebrate the people who come here and their celebrations. And you look in this room before you leave at night and you see all the people laughing and having fun that show well, they enjoy all the shows. But I will say that Sister Act brought me personal joy. It was just the music, just the story was so much fun. I'm not even Catholic but I absolutely loved it.
Speaker 1:You were absolved for that show.
Speaker 4:I loved the music, I loved the story and it took me by surprise because I wasn't a huge fan of the movie. You know, when they do these adaptations, you never know what great things they're going to do.
Speaker 1:For the many years that I've come here, I've always heard that of you, Michael, that you bring something extra special or different, or you tweak a show that maybe people think they know, but then you bring a different edge to it.
Speaker 4:Let's talk about State Fair. I want you to tell that story.
Speaker 3:Also, State Fair was a play that didn't do very well in New York and closed actually in a few months after it opened On.
Speaker 4:Broadway On.
Speaker 3:Broadway. And I called the licensing agents and said you know, can I get the rights to do it out here? And they said no, we're not. We're not doing any more productions of state fair. And I called them back a week later and said I I'm calling again to ask if I can get state fair. And I said I would be willing to commit to um an eight month run. And they said well, we'll call you back next week. And they had a staff meeting in New York and they said we'll call you back next week. And they had a staff meeting in New York and they decided to give us the rights to do it, based on the fact that we've guaranteed them eight months run, which for us was a little short at the in those days.
Speaker 3:And we we did it and it was hugely successful. I mean, it played like gangbusters, the reviews were fantastic and all of the people from rogers and hammerstein organization that licensed it came out to see the production, including john davidson, who played abel frake in the broadway production, and they just loved it. And john told me john davidson told me after the show that that that our production was everything they wanted it to be on broadway and it wasn't. And he said he came back a second time with his daughter ashley, and they and I think I believe his wife came too, and they, they sat at 4, 15 and saw it a second time and he said this is, this is an amazing production. I mean so we, it was a big success story. It was 1997, and a bit of a turning point for us. We actually made money that year. So, yeah, it was a great story.
Speaker 4:Some of the things he did, though, were unique and novel, like, for example, he added children to the cast. Why did you add kids?
Speaker 3:Well, because you can't do a state fair musical without having kids in it. So we had two little kids in it anyhow. Yeah, I don't know. It's about finding out where the heart is in the piece. And even a show that you're not really crazy about, I'll tell you honestly White Christmas.
Speaker 3:When I first read it I was like, oh, it's nice. It's a nice show and I think you know it's going to play well and people will enjoy it, and I wasn't like head over heels for it. And then I sort of got into the general story and I'm 76 years old, so this story really resonated for me. A guy who had a career that made a difference, he saved a lot of lives and now he was. He was running a lodge and feeling lost and wondering who he was, and I imagine I'm going to feel like that someday when I when I retire or quit and I'm going to go like well, now who is Michael Brindisi?
Speaker 3:And I just latched onto that story and suddenly this piece became so important to me and I was like this is the most important play I've ever worked on. This is about me. It's finding those kernels of truth that make the shows special, and I try to find them in shows I love and I try to find them in shows I've done many times and I try to find them in shows that I'm not really that crazy about and that seems to work.
Speaker 1:Chris, what's special about White Christmas to you?
Speaker 4:I've always loved the movie. I think my husband watches it every single year and then all the whole world does that and the United States. Anyway, people love the movie is a little bit of a different story, which kind of took me by surprise. I saw the Broadway tour of it and I loved it. I walked out of the theater wanting to tap dance and that couldn't be further from any of my abilities.
Speaker 4:But that show is full of the most amazing tapping and I think that people come and they go. Oh, I would love to be able to express myself in that way, to be able to dance with Wild Abandoned. I mean they are just hoofing it up there night after night and I think that that just makes people again. I always go back to the joy. It just makes you feel like let go of your troubles, just be in the moment and just enjoy the beauty of the costumes, the dancing.
Speaker 1:I mean it's just a gorgeous production same question for you, tamara what's special for you about White Christmas?
Speaker 2:with Michael. I really love the general story. I love that Michael pulled that story out. You know it's. It's interesting because I wasn't a real fan of it when I watched videos of the original tour and you know it felt very inflated but at the same time a little flat and I think our production has a lot of depth and vibrancy. You know, part of that also is this room. There's an intimacy in this room that you feel that almost that you can be a part of the production. You really feel it's immersive, even though it's separate and on stage. But I think that there is an excitement and a dynamic, exciting quality that this production has.
Speaker 1:And it's really connecting with audiences in a really special way. Well, I was at opening night and it definitely connected with that audience and you brought a lot of joy to that audience. I really appreciate you allowing me to be on stage with you today for this podcast and I want to thank all three of you for being our guests on the Growing Destinations podcast.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much. Thanks, bill, it was really fun talking about what we do.
Speaker 1:Thank you for tuning in to the Growing Destinations podcast and don't forget to subscribe. This podcast is brought to you by Experience Rochester. Find out more about Rochester, Minnesota, and its growing arts and culture scene, its international culinary flavors and award-winning craft beer by visiting experiencerochestermncom.
