Curtain Lowering : Southampton Dinner Theatre to Offer Mainly Victuals

The Southampton Dinner Theatre in San Clemente is bowing out of theatrical offerings to become primarily a banquet facility when its current show, “I Do! I Do!” ends its run Sunday, according to sources familiar with Southampton’s operations.

The 325-seat theater, which was salvaged by Barbara and Al Hampton in a 1986 bankruptcy proceeding and renamed from Sebastian’s West Dinner Theatre, is one of only three professional dinner theaters in the county (and four in the state) employing performers under a contract with Actors Equity.

The Hamptons also own the professional Harlequin Dinner Theatre in Santa Ana where they are conducting rehearsals of “The Whole Half,” an original comedy scheduled to open Sept. 17.

Jay Bradley, the Harlequin’s music director, said Wednesday that the Hamptons “have hired a banquet specialist to do wedding receptions and private parties” at the Southampton. Those services already are provided on Mondays and Tuesdays--the dark nights during the current theatrical run of “I Do! I Do!”--but now will be extended through the week.

Elaine Jenkins, the Harlequin’s sales manager and public relations director, said the Hamptons believe “they really can’t handle two theaters at once.” Moreover, the couple wants to concentrate on breeding Arabian horses at their ranch in Orange, she added.

The Hamptons have not completely ruled out occasional theatrical presentations in the future. “Down the line, they may do some community theater,” Jenkins said. Bradley noted that “they may also try to book some concerts.”

The dinner theater in San Clemente opened under its former name in 1973 and turned professional three years later. The Hamptons paid $80,000 for it in 1986 and invested another $300,000.

Earlier this year, the Hamptons had put the Harlequin up for sale at an asking price of $1.5 million. But in July, they took it off the market and said they were going to institute policy changes at that theater.

Those changes--primarily the presentation of celebrity performers in starring roles--are already in the works. Marion Ross of TV’s “Happy Days” will star in “The Whole Half.”

The county’s other professional dinner theater, the Grand Dinner Theatre in Anaheim, also features celebrities in its shows.