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Star City
Dinner Theatre
fills artistic
niche in Lincoln
Story by Danell McCoy
'k
. 'alk
i *
T
he year 2000 is the year of the
JL remote, says Bob Rook.
Convenience drives decisions, and con
sumers want everything at their fingertips.
“People like one-stop shopping, and
they like only having to go one place to get
everything they need,” he said.
Keeping that in mind, Rook and his
business partner, Russ Bayer, opened the
, Star City Dinner Theatre at 803 Q St. ift the
Haymarket.
The two wanted to bring something
new to Lincoln and, at the same time, make
it convenient.
“We looked into what niche wasn’t
being served in this city,” Rook said.
“Now, people can come here, see a show,
eat dinner and go shopping, but they only
have to find one parking space.”
This fall, the Star City Dinner Theatre
celebrates its one-year anniversary.
The increasing business of Lincoln’s
only restaurant/theater/comedy club is
proof that Rook and Bayer were on the
right track when they were looking for a
new form of entertainment to bring into
the capital city.
In a year, the Star City Dinner Theatre
has made its way into the community’s
support system, but it didn’t come without
a lot of work aind a few problems.
When Rook, a former stand-up come
dian, and Bayer, former owner of Huey’s
and O’Malley’s, decided to open the din
ner theater, they had no problem finding a
building.
Unfortunately, the building they found
was a 100-year-old warehouse in the
Haymarket that was badly in need of reno
vation. _
Construction didn’t stop the owners
from getting started on their project. While
the building was under renovation, the the
ater began doing outdoor productions of a
few plays.
“We were at the mercy of the contrac
tors,” Rook said. “We were two months
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