Several years ago, when the Westport Country Playhouse was being renovated, nearby restaurants saw drops of up to 2/3 in business.

The Dressing Room sits in the shadow of the Playhouse. Other partner restaurants are not far away.
This summer, many of those restaurants — the ones still around, anyway — will show their appreciation for the Playhouse in a tangible way. Seven have signed on as “partners” for the 2011 season. Playhouse subscribers receive discounts of up to 20%, when presenting a ticket or stub on the day of that performance.
The 7 partners include The Dressing Room, La Villa, Manolo, Matsu Sushi, Rizzuto’s, Tavern on Main and Thali.
It’s a win-win-win. Participating restaurants get their logos displayed in Playhouse promotional materials (and complimentary tickets). The Playhouse gets to support — and gets support from — local businesses.
And theater-goers get great, discounted meals at a diverse mix of restaurants. It’s a nice reminder that Fairfield hasn’t stolen all our culinary thunder.
Yet.
(Click here for full restaurant descriptions and discounts.)
So if I get a 20% discount from Matsu Sushi, I will break even on the added 20% tip????
It would seem that the Dressing Room would be competing with itself by adding such partners. Manolo is excellent, however.
I seriously doubt if Fairfield has stolen our “culinary thunder.” I go out every Saturday night and infrequently head east.
What ever happened to the marvelous old Player’s Tavern, anyway? I can’t even now remember exactly where it was. It seemed bigger than that picture of the place called the Dressing Room, and of course had a tree growing in it. Then again, I suppose there’s a lot about the Player’s Tavern I don’t remember, perhaps thankfully!
I don’t know why my above comment came up as “Anonymous”. This is Gwen Dwyer, Dan