![]() ![]() New Theatre Restaurant When it was built in the 1960s, the Glenwood Theatre was the largest and most elegant lodging facility in Overland Park, Kansas. This new theatre, dubbed the Waldo Astoria, opened on Jand ultimately proved to be as popular and successful as Tiffany’s Attic. Plans were even made to create a sidewalk a la Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood where the lead players of each show would imbed their footprints in cement. ![]() The Waldo was decorated with a 1920’s motif including oil paintings of silent screen stars. In 1973, Hennessy and Carrothers took over the vacant Waldo building and began to refurbish the theatre. It remained a movie house until it closed in 1972. By 1939, the theatre was solely a movie house and had changed its name to the Waldo Theatre. Waldo Astoria When the Westmoreland Theatre opened in 1924, it offered silent films, vaudeville and burlesque. Starting with 500 season ticket holders, Tiffany’s Attic was such a success that Dennis and Richard decided to compete with themselves by opening a second theatre – the Waldo Astoria. Ticket holders couldn’t wait for the next show. Shows were booked up to five months in advance. It was something like a dream come true.” The response to Tiffany’s Attic was overwhelming. ![]() “Opening night, we had 5,000 people on a waiting list,” Hennessy said. The show also featured an up and coming actor named Barney Martin who went on to play Morty Seinfeld, father of Jerry Seinfeld, on the iconic sitcom Seinfeld. As the curtain went up that first night, Carrothers was still applying stain to the coat room floor. The opening production was Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” It starred a young actress named Patsy Calmes (who would later change her name to Morgan Fairchild). Carrothers’ parents also financed a hefty loan and a new era in theatre began in Kansas City. Hennessy’s mother mortgaged her house to lend the men money. As the story goes, the two graduates from the University of Missouri – Kansas City decided to open a dinner theatre because, at the time, dinner theatres were sweeping the country as a commercial phenomenon. Hennessy had been running the old Resident Theatre at the Jewish Community Center and had hired Carrothers as his assistant. Hennessy and Richard Carrothers, their family and friends got to work and Tiffany’s Attic Dinner Playhouse was born. With jackhammers, paintbrushes and lots of elbow grease, Dennis D. Where it all Began | Tiffany’s Attic In May of 1971, the lease was signed on an old laundry on Main street just south of the Plaza in Kansas City. ![]()
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