Extol April-May 2018 | Page 24

EXPERIENCE DERBY DINNER PLAYHOUSE Derby Dinner Does It Right BY JD DOTSON | PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN WATSON & JD DOTSON OPEN FOR NEARLY 45 YEARS, Derby Dinner Playhouse remains the only dinner theater of its type in the Louisville/Southern Indiana region. The theater in the round setup immerses the audience in the action. There is not a bad seat in the house, with actors entering and exiting the centrally-located stage through the audience. The shows range from huge Broadway mega-hits to children’s programming, holiday favorites and 22 EXTOL : APRIL/MAY 2018 lighthearted comedies and musical acts. I recently had the great pleasure of seeing “Mamma Mia!” this season, a musical set to the infectious music of Abba and was completely amazed at what a brilliant production I witnessed. The music and dancing had me singing along and tapping my feet the whole time. Some of those Abba songs are still stuck in my head. I brought my hubby along, and we started out with dinner, which is served buffet style with a salad bar. I felt it was my duty to try everything for the sake of being thorough. My spinach salad was fresh and delicious, and the salad bar was loaded with toppings as well as broccoli and tomato/ cucumber salads. I have a strict rule to not fill up on salad when a buffet is involved but made an exception for the sake of journalism. The buffet was equally delightful on my second trip. Fried