In the summer of 1975, Boulder High School choir teacher Ross Haley attended a cocktail party in Boulder, and a parent of one of his students suggested that Ross open a dinner theatre. His response was, “Why not?”
The parent who spoke up was Joanne “Jody” Sarbaugh. Papers were drawn up in 1976, and a year later, in August 1977, the Boulder Dinner Theatre opened its doors. Ross was the director, and Doug McLemore was musical director.
“Everything just fell together,” said Scott Sarbaugh, one of Jody’s sons. “Ross was leaving his teaching job and looking for something else to do, Doug already had a band and my Dad had just left his job and was looking for another position.”
Most of the planning took place around the Sarbaugh family’s dining room table. Jody’s husband, Duane, brought in investors and put together the capital necessary for the purchase of land and the construction of the theatre building. Ross and Doug put the shows together and scheduled rehearsals.
Jody searched for costumes and props in every costume, antique and curio shop within 50 miles, gave assurances to the cast and became the human resources director, house manager, royalty coordinator and head of advertising and sales, in addition to greeting guests in the evening and even serving coffee during the meals.
She was the glue that held it all together and was eventually named executive producer.
Having a professional theatre with actors who also served sit-down dinners was a new concept for Boulder residents. A reporter noted that Jody joked, “The performers would have to wait tables at one point in their careers, so they may as well do it while they’re acting.”
Everything to do with creating the theater had to be built from the ground up, including the 9,000-square-foot building at Arapahoe Avenue and 55th Street. The theatre was complete with tiered seating on three sides of a revolving stage, and the décor was described as ‘classically elegant’.”
In the early days, the theatre employed a 20-member troupe of Colorado residents who ranged in age from 17 to 31 years old. Shows were performed six days per week.
A few years later, Ross told a newspaper reporter, “Boulder has been good to us, and I believe a business must return something to the community.” By then, the theatre employed 90 people in various capacities and contributed even more to Boulder’s economy.
Dinners featured a choice of prime rib, chicken cordon bleu and flounder with crab — included in the $9 or $10 ticket price (at least during the first year). Desserts (cheesecake and cherries jubilee were popular) and drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) were extra.
Duane passed away in 1988, but Jody, Ross and Doug continued to own and operate the theatre for 26 years before selling to new owners in 2003. The curtain came down for the last time in January 2024. The building is now slated for demolition and replacement by an apartment building.
As Bruce Sarbaugh, another son, recently reflected, “I can only hope and pray that we all can one day again enjoy high-quality musical theater in a tradition that was started by a few hard-working dreamers and visionaries back in 1977.”
And that included Jody. She passed away at the age of 88 in April 2023.
Silvia Pettem’s In Retrospect column appears once a month. She can be reached at silviapettem@gmail.com.
