Bill Pullinsi, Chicago theater director credited as "father of dinner theater," dies at 86

Bill Pullinsi, a Chicago-area stage director and producer widely called the "father of dinner theater," has died.

Pullinsi's death from natural causes was announced Wednesday. He was 86.

Pullinsi was credited with pioneering the concept of dinner theater in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and he also directed or produced more than 400 theatrical productions over 50 years.

A native of the southwest Chicago suburb of Summit, Pullinsi attended St. Joseph School and Benet Academy, and then headed to Washington, D.C., to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Catholic University of America.

Pullinsi first opened Candlelight Theatre in Washington, D.C., in 1959, while in college, along with his lifelong producing partner Tony D'Angelo, who was a fellow college student at the Catholic University of America, a news release noted.

In 1961, Pullinsi returned to Chicago and set up the first Candlelight Dinner Theater in a roadside building owned by his grandfather at 5508 S. Archer Ave. on the Southwest Side, a Chicago Public Library account noted. The playhouse opened on July 7, 1961, with 112 seats.

In 1964, Pullinsi opened a new Candlelight Dinner Playhouse at 5620 S. Harlem Ave. in Summit. This theater had 550 seats and an arena stage, and featured productions of musicals such as "Fiddler on the Roof," "Man of La Mancha," "Zorba," "Into the Woods," and "Follies," as well as dramatic fare such as Barbara Garson's political satire "MacBird" — featuring President Lyndon B. Johnson in a Macbeth role, and "Everything in the Garden" — Edward Albee's bleak take on suburbia.

Mandy Patinkin, Shelley Long, Mark Jacoby, and Chicago stage theater icon Frank Galati were all associated with Candlelight Dinner Playhouse early in their careers, and Jim Jacobs wrote the musical "Grease" in the theater's green room while acting in a production there, the release said.

Pullinsi bought the adjoining Forum Theatre in 1972, the Chicago Public Library account noted. The Forum was a 425-seat proscenium theater with a lobby bar and a separate dining space. The American premiere of Perter Nichols' "The National Health," and a musical adaptation of "Boss" — Mike Royko's famous book about Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley — were among the famous productions there.

Pullinsi's model combined "high-quality professional productions with fine dining in an intimate, in-the-round," the release said. It inspired numerous other dinner theater venues.

At the Candlelight, Pullinsi's production of "Little Shop of Horrors" ended up transferring to the Royal George Theater for an extended run in 1986, while his production of "Into the Woods" transferred to the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.

In 1989, Pullinsi became the first American director to stage a musical in Russai with a Soviet cast and crew. He directed a production of "Man of La Mancha" at a five-week residency at the Drama Theatre of Turgenev in Orel, south of Moscow, the release said.

The Candlelight Dinner Playhouse Forum Theatre & Restaurant closed in 1997.

Pullinsi also served for 10 years as artistic director of the Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana. When Pullinsi retired from that post in 2015, Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones named him the Chicagoan of the Year in Arts.

Pullinsi also produced and directed Tom Dudzick's "Over the Taverm" at the Mercury Theater in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood.

Pullinsi was the recipient of many awards.

He is survived by his son, Jamie Pullinsi, and his former wife, Ami Silvestre.