RiverArts Brings NYC-Style Dinner Theater to Hastings...Again

Remember when living close to the city meant actually going into the city—before Metro North ticket prices skyrocketed, before traffic became unbearable, before our lives here in Westchester became so full, that what used to be a night out on a whim became something to plan for months in advance?

That's why RiverArts—the non-profit organization dedicated to bringing artistic and cultural events to the Rivertowns—wants to introduce the experience of New York City-style dinner theater here, in the Rivertowns.

Last week, the initiative debuted at in Hastings to a sold-out crowd with acclaimed Dobbs Ferry playwrite and actor Don Creedon's "Guy Walks into a Bar."

"There could not have been a single thing more perfect about the evening," said Carol Hayward, president of RiverArts. "Don really is a brilliantly funny playwright, and his fellow actors were precise, restrained, hilarious."

Bettina Speyer, who has been on the RiverArts board for one year, spearheaded the initiative—initially setting out on an exhaustive search for a venue for the performance.

"The tough part was finding a restaurant that had a bar connected to it because the performance takes place in a bar," Speyer explained. "A number of restaurants were interested, but ultimately Comfort seemed like the best fit."

The other obstacle to running these events is keeping costs low enough for patrons to be able to afford going during these tough economic times—while simultaneously allowing restaurant owners to profit from them. 

"The concept I had in mind was caberet-style dinner theater," Speyer said. "Someone suggested Don [Creedon] and in small towns like these there are never more than six degrees of separation; you never know who knows whom."

Despite having a successful theater company in Riverdale, Creedon was enthusiastic about performing his show here in the Rivertowns. 

"We've lived in the river towns for 12 years now; throughout these years, my family and I have enjoyed many quality arts, music, and film presentations," Paula Romanow Etzel wrote in an email to Speyer. "This was literally the first time that we've had the opportunity to partake in such a magnificent dinner theater event (without having to travel to NYC).  Don and his fellow performers were phenomenal."

The content of the show is somewhat mature, Speyer said. "Perfect for a couple or a girls' night out."

"In Creedon’s perceptive plays, which are set in any and every corner dive bar in the city, if you scratch the gentleman you instantly reveal the hairy knuckled cave man beneath. All it really takes to uncover the truth is one beer and the prospect of another lonely night at home," wrote reviewer Cahir O’Doherty in The Irish Voice.

Read more about Creedon and "Guy Walks into a Bar" here.

Learn more about the show, its pricing and purchase tickets for the encore presentation on the RiverArts website here. 

The dinner-portion of the evening begins at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 9.