Fireside Theatre

There were four of us that went to see the Legends in Concert along with the meal. Meal was ok, nothing special. The show wasn’t that good and I DON’T recommend it. I’ve seen a lot better. Neil Diamond was just awful. Whitney Houston was good. Elvis only just ok– he keep sniffing-​very distracting. Carrie Underwood-​nothing special, Elton-​only ok. Buddy Holly only ok.

The Fireside has lost that loving feeling. First, it took almost ½ hour for someone to come to our table to collect our drink order. Second, the food isn’t anything special, standard conference/​banquet fair. Third, while we were seated 2 hours before the show, we had to rush through dessert because the theater doors were closing. The whole dinner process was very slow.
The show wasn’t anything special. «Legends in Concert» that featured… Carrie Underwood. She’s not a legend, at least not yet. The music seemed canned and almost fake, it you can fake music.
We’ve been to the Fireside before, but I’m unsure whether we’ll go back.

When you step into the Fireside dinner theater, you know right away your evening is about to be transformed. I recently went to the dinner production of It’s A Wonderful Life, and it felt like I was stepping back into time for a wonderful, white Christmas.
Some people may think that $ 80/​person is a bit steep for dinner and a show, but I can promise that for the completely charming and utterly friendly yet professional atmosphere and the fine dining with a delicious five course dinner, it is totally worth it. Dinner, drinks, and a show in Milwaukee or Chicago would set you back even more AND you would have to worry about paying for parking, walking, etc.
Now, let’s break down this delicious five course dinner. Our first course was a bruschetta served with corn croustade baskets. I have to say this was the weakest course of the dinner but was still light and refreshing. It’s difficult to reinvent bruschetta, so while it was fine, it was nothing spectacular. The second course was a scallop fried with potato shreds on the outside served over a tomato beurre blanc. This was the star of the dinner for me! The scallop was cooked perfectly and the potatoes were nice and golden and crisp. It didn’t hurt that I would have eaten anything as long as that sauce was on it as well. I wanted a second scallop… third… :-)
The third course was a «Christmas» chopped salad. It was the best salad option I’ve ever eaten at the Fireside — with the pepper corn cream dressing stealing the show. The only suggestion I might make is have the egg, onion, cucumber, etc chopped a little LESS because they were hard to discern at times, and it seemed like mostly just greens and tortilla strips.
For the main entrée, I tried the suggested roast holiday capon chicken. It was served with an herb and mushroom stuffing, whipped potatoes, corn pudding, and a bourbon cranberry sauce. Believe it or not, the corn pudding was the best thing about the entrée. It was a great balance of sweet and savory and was completely delicious. The rest of the entrée was good, but I have had better entrees at the theater before (next time it’s back to then Hawaiian ribeye steak or vegetarian medley for me!)
Last but definitely not least was the trilogy of sweet tastes for dessert. This included a toffee pudding cake, lemon cheesecake, and ball of turtle sundae. Although I was stuffed to the gills when dessert came, I managed to taste it all. My table’s consensus was that the turtle ball and the toffee pudding trumped the cheesecake but all were fair selections.
After dinner it’s customary to walk the gift shops and see if anything tickles your fancy. Everyone working at the Fireside is extremely personable and a treat to chat with as well. By the time the show comes around, there is a certain excitement in the air. The actual theater features theater in the round with a descending and ascending platform in the middle of the stage key for scene changes, moving cast members, etc. I have not seen a theater like this around much anymore and the charm and magic surrounding the show I just saw there was not lost on me. I would say job well done, Fireside, and you can look for my business next year as well!

The magic of the Fireside. If you have been there in the past, you know what I mean. I have always loved going to the Fireside. My first show was back in the early 80’s.
Due to various reasons, I have not been there the past 2 years. I saw «It’s A Wonderful Life» was being performed, and since it is my holiday favorite, I bought tickets.
A lot has changed these past two years. I walked in, expecting the magic.
We were seated, and right away I noticed the cheap place settings and napkins. The new tabletop drink menus were great if you wanted a wall on your table so you didn’t have to converse with someone on the other side of the table. I thought right away of that famous restaurant that every town has, called «Eats». The wait staff was excellent. However, the food didn’t have the magic. Not much taste. The seafood salad was covered with a hash-​brown type substance. That was probably the tastiest part of the meal. The meat wasn’t bad, but kind of bland. The asparagus wasn’t much more than a dandelion stem, in looks, size and taste. Deserts were very good, though. So, I thought, no problem. There will be a McDonalds somewhere on the way home. I was really still excited to see the production.
As usual, after the meal, you have time to walk through the shops. Not much changed there. However, it seemed to be a little more «commercialized» compared to the past. One shop even sold cleaning cloths and soup mixes. Things you can find at your local Wal-​Mart. Not the specialty things I remember seeing in the past.
Then came the big moment. The true magic of the Fireside. The production of «It’s A Wonderful Life». Well, the production wasn’t wonderful. The actors did what they could with what they had. If you are a fan of the movie version, you will be disappointed. Not only did the storyline chronologically not follow the movie, but they tried to incorporate language we use in 2015 in a movie based in the late 20’s, 30’s and early 40’s. And, what is the need for swearing? Granted, not real obscene swearing, but it had no part in this classic. And, if you have never seen this classic movie, you will probably be lost watching this performance. So many key elements were missing that parts will definitely not make any sense.
After 30 years, the magic has left the Fireside for me. Sorry I couldn’t have left a better review. It seems they no longer care about the little things they once did that brings people back. I understand the cost of things rise, but you either need to pass those costs on to your customers (we all realize things go up in price) or you need to eat some of the costs. Or a combination of both. I plan to go to one of their Christian Concert programs, and hope I find, at that time, a «spark» from the Fireside flame that will give me a reason to come back, and give the Fireside Theater a 5 star review.

The atmosphere was exactly what we thought it would be-​70s to the max. The buffet food was good but it could have used more selection. The first time through the line the food certainly was hotter. The service was very attentive, from the waitress to the water boy to the coffee pourer to the person busing tables. We certainly were expecting more of the lemon dessert. This is certainly a well run place with plenty of personnel that seem to pitch in wherever necessary.
The theater was quite small, not sure how they can pull off bigger shows. We thought it was a bit hard to hear performers when their back was to you. We will definitely be back to visit.

I have visited this venue since my college days; having attended UW Whitewater in the 70’s. Overall the hospitality, food and ambiance is great. The servers are attentive and the food is delivered well prepared and hot and fresh. I think that the gift shop is both overpriced and somewhat pushed upon patrons during the intermission. Another thing that I would suggest to management is to do some updating of the physical facility. To me it looks somewhat dated. All in all, this is a nice place to relax and unwind with a special someone or even your family and friends.

I’ve been attending the Fireside for ten years now, and never have been disappointed. Excellent food, freindly staff, and terrific shows!

This was my first experience with the Fireside and it exceeded my expectations. Great food, fantastic and personable servers, lovely atmosphere, and a highly entertaining show. I will be back!

Just saw the sensational 70s show… it exceeded my expectations! If you love anything about the 70s, this show is a must see! There’s a variety of comedy, dance and song. The high point for me was the trio of Elton John songs performed masterfully by the house band. Just awesome!

Our first visit to the Fireside was in August for parents anniversary. We we so impressed with our dinner, wait staff and the Cast performance of Smokey Joes Café was exceptional we decided to go back for Thanksgiving and their Christmas show. Not disappointed, the buffet was fantastic, service exceptional. The theatre performance was Fantastic. Great Talent. We are looking forward to going back in 2015!!! Well worth the trip and great value.

Great Friday night fish fry spot. Broiled cod is also an option. The peppercorn sauce offered at the restaurant adds so much flavor to otherwise bland fish. My favorite is the applesauce mixed with red hots — yum! Service is always great!

Love this place. Couldn’t be happier, my wife and I both worked here in college (UW-​Whitewater) 20 yrs ago. Now we live in the city of Fort Atkinson. We have seen dozens of shows over the years and have NEVER been disappointed. We regularly eat the Friday fish fry the baked cod is amazing. Fresh baked bread, coleslaw, cool drinks and great desert! All for about $ 15 per person. (Fish fry). Best in the area!

We went to see the Fireside production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and it’s fantastic. We usually go on Thursday night as they have a delicious buffet with some very healthy selections. I’ve been on Weight Watchers for two years and I’m right at the point of being down one hundred pounds. I like to pick and choose the serving size and food based on my points left for the day. They had chef carved turkey and tenderloin with a honey glazed salmon on the buffet and all were great. They had quite a few other entrees on the buffet my Wife said the deep fried fish was good as was the chicken. It’s an hour drive from our home in New Berlin but well worth the trip. We’ll be back for Smokey Joe’s Café, Les Miserables and A Fireside Christmas this season. However It’ll be hard to beat this performance of Fiddler. For the first time I’m thinking about buying season tickets for next year.

$ 6 per ticket «handling fee» even when picked up in person!!! Cmon… Also need to respond to Gillys response {one year post review] to my
’complimentary soda refill” issue that I mentioned previously. Cmon again… Am sure, as usual, food will be meh and performance great.

So first I just wanted to say that this is actually not dinner theater. It’s first food and then later in a different room a show, which is fine, but not what most people think of when they hear dinner theater. Our waitress was very friendly, and we went to see Mary Poppins during a Sunday brunch showing. The food was alright, a bit soggy from condensation because after all it is a buffet. They did a great job of keeping everything stocked and I was never wanting for coffee. The meal, while fairly decent, doesn’t live up to the price you’re paying, which is about 80 $ per person, and that price doesn’t include certain beverages or gratuity so be sure to check the menu for your show time.
Understand before you go that this is a family atmosphere. They read off a long list of birthdays and anniversaries before the show starts, and there are kids jumping around and screaming and leaning on you and drooling on you during the show. Not the best atmosphere but it’s what you should expect in a tiny town in Wisconsin.
The show itself was excellent. They did a great job casting it, the sound, lighting, dancing, and acting etc were all spot on. The room, however, was not great. The balcony is best suited for giraffes. If you have balcony seats either you will only see about 80% of the stage at a given time because of the beams and bars, or you will get a good neck workout trying to look around the beams and the bars.
Overall, I would say that the show itself is what makes this a good experience as long as you can get seats on the ground floor (I suppose I shouldn’t say that as I don’t know how the view is from the ground floor. I assume it’s better than staring at beams). The performance was above my expectations. However, all things considered I am still not convinced it is worth the price. I will probably go back if they are doing a show I really want to see, but not before then.

My review has not changed I am just writing in response to Firesides Gilly G’s response to my review.
1: It was almost a year later that a response was written so that tells your their concern about a customers experience.
2. No apology was made for such a horrible experience, just what seems like justification or a «You’re wrong here is what others think or have told us so your opinion doesn’t count» they still need to look at their other reviews some are positive and some are negative.
3. Your talent isn’t only from New York, many of your performers are repeat performers, and just because they are from New York doesn’t mean they are great. The show I saw was subpar compared to previous shows but there has been a decline in talent for the past few years.
4. Just because your Mary Poppins cast is fabulous (in your mind) does not mean the other shows were not disappointing
5. I did not and would not ask for a seat that was next to the light booth. In fact I was never even told that there would be an obstructed view so not all seats are the best seats in the house.
6. The food portions were not so large I couldn’t eat all of it and if the portions were larger it wouldn’t change the quality of the food. Again something that has declined over the years.
7. Just because it was Saturday night and you had a large crowd does not excuse poor quality food.
8. We still won’t be going back, we have stopped our season ticket subscription and have not renewed the season tickets we give as gifts to our parents because of our past few experiences.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I live near Chicago and the majority of my live theater experience is from the many Chicago theater options. And since Ft A. is not really a «suburb» of Madison or Milwaukee, I really wasn’t sure if it would be glorified community theater or what.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a top-​notch production of Mary Poppins (which I had previously seen in Chicago so I know how it was «meant» to be performed). The talent was excellent (both the local folks and those who were in from outside the area) and the staging was nicely adapted to theater in the round.
As for the food and service — both were much better than I assumed they would be, considering how far out in the sticks I felt I was. Very friendly wait-​staff and there was a good variety of food on the Thursday buffet. And it wasn’t just the people who worked the area of the restaurant I was in who were friendly. I watched the staff as they seated people before the show and, to a person, every guest was engaged in friendly conversation by the staff. The manager/​owner took the stage prior to the show to offer the family welcome and another manager/​owner was in the hall afterwards to say goodnight and thank guests for coming.
Nice touches you aren’t going to get in the «professional» theater setting.
I guess maybe $ 80 seems expensive to some. But I can tell you that $ 80 to see Mary Poppins in Chicago would cover your parking and a seat in the back of the balcony. At Fireside, I had park, a good meal, and a front row ticket for that price.
Over all, a great experience and I hope to be back soon!

I had the fried chicken on a Friday. It was reheated as were the «sides» offered with it. Honestly this was THE WORST meal I’ve had in Fort Atkinson. Just awful. Staff was friendly.

I really can’t help but to think that the other reviews listed here are somehow associated with the Dinner Theatre itself. Our family of 4 attended the Fireside Christmas production in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. ALL of us were struggling the entire time not to fall asleep. It was incredibly boring. We will definitely not be going back. Certainly not worth the money. Hands down the worst production that any of us had ever attended. It was painful to sit through. We were very tempted to leave half way through the show. The food was not impressive or memorable for that matter. I am incredibly shocked that this place is still in business.

This place is a top-​notch dinner theater located right in the middle of nowhere in Fort Atkinson. Where the heck is the fort, anyway? I don’t know. Nobody knew. They know where this place is though, that’s for sure. We saw an early afternoon rendition of A Christmas Carol with brunch beforehand and the place was packed.
If you’ve never been here before they have a selection of shops you can browse at before and after eating and checking out the show. I’m a boy, I don’t really get into shopping but the girlfriend and female parental unit seemed to have a pretty good time checking things out and spending my cash. The stores are definitely full of kitschy country stuff, but this is Wisconsin and I’m sure it goes over well.
After I tore them away from this we wandered into the dining area and ate. Phenomenal food. Highlights included scrambled eggs w/​swiss cheese and ham, some truly awesome sweet potatoes, and the salmon. Oh-​Em-​Gee, the Salmon. Poached with a little dill and they have this awesome creamy horseradish mustard. It was splendid. I only discovered it after my fourth plate full of bacon or I would’ve eaten more. As it was I was tempted to have the girl stuff some into her purse for later gnoshing.
The show was excellent as well. I love theater-​in-​the-​round, and it was pretty obvious that while this place brings in a ton of money they must reinvest a hefty portion of it into sets, props, and hiring skilled actors and actresses. Everyone involved was very professional, Scrooge in particular was a stand-​out, as I guess he should be.
All in all, tickets were far from cheap, but the food was amazing for a buffet, the service was great, and the show was one of the better renditions I’ve seen of a classic.
I thought it was a great value and would go again.