Box office: (559) 266-9494
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New choices! New flexibility! Winning food!

You’re in the mood for some crepes but your spouse wants short ribs!

And uncle Fred, who is visiting from Omaha, would like to try the scampi.  Not a problem!  You no longer need to order your delivered dinners in pairs at Roger Rocka’s.  Go for one of each, or any combination you want.

We’ve added an appetizer, too!  This week it’s Pepper Crusted Goat Cheese with Roasted Garlic, Olives, Red Peppers & Crostini.

And dessert!  How about a slice of Red Velvet Cheesecake?

Our entrees as we begin February are these:

Beef Short Rib Dinner
Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs with Port Demi & Gremolata
Twice Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream & Scallions
Seasonal Vegetables

Chicken Parmesan Dinner
Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast with Cheesy Alfredo Sauce
Pasta with Roasted Grape Tomatoes & Fresh Basil, Seasonal Vegetables

Roasted Vegetable and Ricotta Crepes Dinner
Fresh Crepes Wrapped with Roasted Vegetables and Ricotta Filling
Meyer Lemon Buerre Blanc

Garlic Scampi
Pure Farm Raised Prawns Sauteed with Garlic, Chardonnay and Butter
Seasonal Vegetables, Pasta with Roasted Grape Tomatoes & Fresh Basil

Side Caesar Salad
Chopped Romaine Salad with Garlic Croutons
and Shaved Parmesan, Creamy Caesar Dressing

We can deliver wine with your dinner (if you’re 21 or older).  Here are the current choices.

Apothic Dark Red
A medium-bodied, delicious red blend with dark fruit flavors of blueberry and blackberry complemented by notes of coffee and dark chocolate for a rich, yet silky smooth, palate.

Toasted Head Chardonnay
This Chardonnay has aromas of bourbon, butterscotch, white peach, and Asian pear. Barrel fermentation and aging is obvious in the wine, with a full, broad finish.

Cooks California Champagne (from Madera)
187 ml  (single serving)
Medium-dry with crisp fruit flavors. The aromas of apple and pear are balanced with a bouquet of toasty yeast notes and floral nuances.

When we deliver!  When to order!

We serve dinners for delivery or pick up on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 4 and 7 P.M.  Next week, we’ll be open Sunday as well for Valentine’s Day.

On those days, our box office is open from Noon to 7pm.  If you’re ordering for same-day delivery, please call by 1:30pm.  You can also place your order on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 1 and 5pm.
The easiest way to check our menu and prices and place your order is on our website. Click this link to get there.

By the way, our dinners made the list for “Best of the Great Food Search of 2020” at Kings River Life.

Check it out here.
https://kingsriverlife.com/01/30/great-food-search-best-of-2020/

Seeing stage lights at the end of the tunnel.

We’re hoping our country is finally nearing the home stretch for COVID-19 and in coming months we’ll be able to open our dinner-theater again, with Good Company Players lighting up our stage.  Meanwhile, we’re social distancing, washing our hands, wearing our masks and looking forward to getting our shots.  We fervently hope you are staying safe as well so we can celebrate together when this is behind us.

We’re missing one very dear member of our theater family…

and grieving over the loss last month of Good Company Players icon and friend, Peter Nazaretian. Peter was an extraordinarily gifted comic and dramatic actor, musical performer, and director, as well as a former GCP staff member and long time photographer for our shows.  By day, Peter was a caring Marriage & Family Therapist in Fresno.
On the left is Peter in the role of Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza’s father in MY FAIR LADY, in a scene with Steve Pepper.  On the right, Peter is with alumni Audra McDonald and Sarah Uriarte-Berry at a GCP reunion in the 90s..

Let us make dinner tonight!

“The only thing the three of us can say is ‘WOW!’
The chicken was beyond great.”
Thank you so much for your great response to our Family Dinners for take out and delivery.  Chef Eric DeGroot and his crew are gratified by your kind comments on Facebook and email.

For those who haven’t tried our dinners yet, you can view the menu and place your order on our website at this link.  Be sure you get your same day dinner orders in by 1pm at the latest.
View Menu or Place an Order
You can also order by phone at 266-9494.  Our box office is open from 1pm to 5pm Tuesday and Wednesday, and from 1pm to 7pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

We serve our family dinners for pickup or delivery between 4 and 7pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  We can deliver to the area between Herndon and Kings Canyon/Ventura and between Clovis and Brawley.

Plans for Christmas Week

Next week we will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day  so our employees can be with their families.  However, we will be serving our Family Dinners on Wednesday the 23rd so you can skip cooking dinner on that busy day before the holidays.  We’ll have our Family Dinners on Saturday Dec. 26 too.
The box office will be open for phone orders from 1pm to 5pm on Dec. 22 and from 1pm to 7pm on Dec. 23 and 26.  266-9494

For Christmas gifts…

How about Gift Certificates for dinner and show with Good Company Players at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater.  With the vaccines rolling out, we hope to have Broadway shows back on our stage by summer.  Order them on our website at this link.

Or call our box office at 266-9494 between 1pm and 5pm Tuesday and Wednesday, and from 1pm to 7pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Get Gift Certificates

Family dinners begin December 3

Family Dinners

Our experiment begins on Thursday, December 3.  Chef Eric DeGroot and his crew will be turning out delicious family dinners from 4 to 8 P.M. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.  You can order them by phone or online, for pickup or delivery.

We have over 40 years of experience in serving good food, but we’re total neophytes in take out and delivery, so we ask your indulgence.  It will be a huge help if you can order a day or more in advance.

If you choose delivery, a familiar face (although masked) will come to your door – one of the same people who’ve been serving you at the dinner-theater.  It has been a long wait since March and everyone is glad to get back to work.

Here is the link to Eric’s menu and the order form.  Click “buy now” on any date to see dinner details and prices.

If you would like to order by phone, or want more information, please call the box office at (559) 266-9494 or 800-371-4747. The Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday 1pm to 5pm.

We will be offering Family Dinners through the month of December, and your response will tell us whether to continue delivery and take out into 2021.
View or Buy Family Dinners
 

 

What we really want, of course…

is to get back to being a dinner-theater with Good Company Players creating magic on our stage.  The pandemic is raging now but there is hope on the horizon with the promising vaccines and treatments.  If we all do our part, maybe we can be up and rolling again while 2021 is still young.

Here’s a taste of what we’re all missing, and a reminder of why our Gift Certificates are still a good idea for Christmas giving.
Ashley Hand was so looking forward to being one of our two Anna`s in The King and I.  Because of the pandemic, she never got to perform.  But you can count on seeing her in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RrE1LT_iXc&feature=youtu.be

 
Ashley was one of the performers in Good Company Players’ “We’re Still Here”, a special, hosted by Donald Munro on CMAC.  You can watch the whole thing at 8 P.M. on Tuesday, December 1 in a live stream on Xfinity 93, U-verse 99, and cmac.tv/public.  Or you can watch it on Donald Munro’s website.

 
 

 
You may want to combine one of our Family Dinners with this event for a dinner-theater-at-home experience.  Watch the show at 6 P.M. on Friday, December 18 by searching Junior Company Foundation on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.

It will be a night of Christmas carols and fun by GCP Junior Company performers past and present! “Home for the Holidays…Literally” will feature singing, dancing, and hilarious host sketches that are sure to put you into the holiday spirit.

Seeing a little light in October

Small beginnings

If the virus numbers hold, we’ll be able to open up – just a crack – in late October or in November.  No normal plays yet.  But we have some ideas for a baby step toward normalcy.  During dinner, we’re hoping to have some virtual music treats from Good Company Players.

We’re planning to have dinner seatings, with reservations through our box office, between 5 and 8 P.M.  Our maximum occupancy will be 50 to 70, so there will be plenty of room to space everyone out in our building.  Masks will be required except when seated at the table.

Our very top priority is to keep you and our employees as safe as we possibly can.  You can expect we will act accordingly with spacing, protection and sanitation.

 

Thinking outside the box

A second possibility being explored is to create a dining area in the parking lot to the south of our building.  Tyler Mackey of the Tower District Marketing Committee has been working with City Councilor Esmeralda Soria to make provision for more outdoor eating spaces in the district.

The area would be fenced off and equipped with tables and a small stage.  Good Company Players would be able to provide some limited musical entertainment. The outdoor space could be used as long as the good weather lasts.

 

We’d love to take your pulse

Are you ready yet to go out for dinner?  Do you have a preference between indoors and outdoors?  Would you enjoy some smaller entertainments from Good Company Players until we can resume our Broadway musicals?  Send us a note to News@rogerrockas.com.

If this interests you, you can expect to see more detail in a couple of weeks, including menu, prices, reservation details and more.  We’re hoping this is a small first step toward resuming our theater season, which came to an abrupt halt in March because of COVID-19.  Any tickets you purchased for shows that were cancelled retain their value and will be honored when we resume our schedule of Broadway musicals.

Meanwhile, please stay safe. And stay tuned.

 
Ready for another edition of “Dan speaks”?
Here, Dan uses the empty 2nd Space Theatre to discuss the intricacies of staging. 
2nd Space hasn’t been completely empty.
Arts groups are supporting one another, and Dan let the Tower Quartet
rehearse and record there.  This was their gift back to us. 

How to wish an actor good luck

Break a leg?

What do you say to an actor to express the wish that things go well?
That’s the topic for this month’s chat from Dan Pessano.
This is Bethany, daughter of Jennifer Money from our box office.  Jennifer says she bought her family to our still-shut theater to take pictures, just because she is missing it so much.  We all are, and we’re now having employee get-togethers on Zoom, just to see each other’s faces and catch up.  As for Bethany, she clearly has star charisma.  We may be showing this photo again in 18 years when she premieres on Broadway.
Patrons pitch in to help.  Jim Irvine talks about the
Go Fund Me campaign he started with Donald Munro.

You’re helping us too!

Getting the virus under control is what will enable theaters to thrive again.
We are ready and eager to open the doors, fire up the grill and light up the stage just as soon as we reach that point.
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“All the world’s a stage”

I’m sure you’ve been watching the news about the virus in California.  So it will come as no surprise that we’re still in a holding pattern.  Dan Pessano speaks for all of us in saying, “It’s just way too quiet around here.”
Dan Pessano reveals some of the secrets of the stage at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater
 

Junior Company member Stella Freeman is expressing her love of theater by using her art to try to help performing groups in the Fresno area.  You can read about her efforts HERE.

Meanwhile, arts angel Jim Irvine has upped the ante in his assistance project for our theaters.
“All the world’s a stage” is the phrase that begins a monologue from William Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy As You Like It, spoken by the melancholy Jaques in Act II Scene VII.

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts”

Not the August we ever imagined!

Good Company Players at
Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater
Looking back while we wait to move forward.
Early 1978 –
working to convert an old Sprouse-Reitz Variety Store into a Dinner-Theater.
Planning, discussing, worrying… and excitement.
Greeting patrons of our young dinner-theater.
Laying out the weekday buffet.
Getting ready before a show.
And having some fun.
Going strong 40+ years after opening.
More than ready to get going again when the virus shutdown is over!

Shows that were postponed during the shutdown will be presented when we reopen, and your tickets will be transferred to new dates.  We’ll send out new season schedules when the time comes and contact single ticket holders about reserving new dates.

Gift certificates you have purchased never expire.  But those we have donated generally expire at the end of the year.  Because of the virus shutdown we are extending those through December 30, 2021.
Dan Pessano and “The Bathroom Song”

Highlights and Gratitude

Good Company Players at
Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater
Stay safe!  That’s what we all need to do as California works its way through this painful pandemic.  As bad as we feel about the prolonged closure of our dinner theater, our hearts break for those who have lost family, friends or livelihoods to COVID-19.  And we ache for the exhausted health care workers who risk their own health in caring for victims of the virus.

So, we hope for the will to pull together as a state and a nation to stop the spread of this Coronavirus.  And we wait for the time when we can safely invite you into our theaters once again.
Here’s another look back at moments from past shows.
What is better than being told you are loved?  Our hearts are full after reading the many comments on a GoFundMe page, organized by Jim Irvine and Donald Munro.  Unbeknown to us, they launched the project to assist us in weathering the COVID-19 shutdown and its aftermath.  The kindness on display is breathtaking.  Thank you!
You can view the comments here
Here are more memorable moments from past shows

July News

Good Company Players at
Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater
As we begin July, we’re still waiting for any hint of good news about a safe date for reopening at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater.  The news instead over the weekend was that COVID-19 cases in Fresno County have nearly tripled over the past month.

Last Sunday was an anniversary for us, though we never expected to be observing it in shutdown.  June 28 marked 42 years for Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater and 47 years since Good Company Players inaugural performance at the old Hilton Hotel downtown.

When we finally can reopen safely, we’ll present all the rest of the 2020 season and honor everyone’s tickets, but some of the shows obviously will have to slide into next year.
We’re really missing the fun of live theater
so we gathered some video clips of past
Good Company Players’ musicals to
cheer us up.  We’re just itching
to get going again!
Watch here!
Wearing a mask is something one does for our community
much more than for one’s self. 
Good Company Players’ first show in June of 1973 was “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”.  For its first 5 years, GCP did 3 shows each summer, first at the Hilton and then at Memorial Auditorium and the Del Webb.  GCP began performing year-round in 1978 with the opening of Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater.

Mid June

Good Company Players at
Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

With the consistent increase in COVID-19 cases in California and Fresno County since Memorial Day, Good Company Players has decided to delay opening The King & I until January, 2021 at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater. Both companies are working on plans to downsize shows and streamline dinner service in ways that make it safe for actors, tech staff, wait staff and patrons, and we wanted to update you on our newest approach to living with coronavirus.  Please bear in mind that all subsequent information is subject to change (and most likely will have to change again). Naturally, all our proposals must be approved by local health officials.

The King & I will still be included in your current season ticket or regular pre-purchased ticket and GCP fully intends to produce its regularly scheduled 2020 Season at both Roger Rocka’s and 2nd Space Theatre, but realizes that many of the 2020 shows will have to now move to the 2021 Season. That means your current Season Ticket and reservations will still be valid—just with a bit of delayed gratification. GCP has, however, come up with some smaller-scale entertainment options in the interim.

Once it is safe for both companies to re-open this year, we are planning to celebrate with a special Good Company Players’ Concert Event, In the Meantime…, featuring such GCP all-stars as Ed Burke, Meg Clark, Janet Glaudé, Kaye Migaki, Emily Pessano, Sara Price, Shawn Williams and more! There is also a possibility of adding another small-cast production until we are able to safely resume Good Company Players’ regularly-scheduled season. You can purchase the added productions separately or trade one of your season ticket shows for a new production.

Good Company Players’ 2nd Space Theatre will be ready to re-open once allowed with two small-cast, socially-distanced productions beginning with a production of Love Letters, featuring Tessa Cavalletto and Gordon Moore, and, hopefully, followed by This Random World. GCP hopes to continue with the regularly-scheduled season at 2nd Space Theatre as soon as allowed.

As we said before, all of our current “plans” are subject to change. This is definitely not how any of us expected this year to go, but what we can do is adapt and make the best of it. We want you to know how much we truly appreciate your support and patience as we all adjust to the realities of this uncertain time.  Thank you for your continued flexibility and understanding. Please continue to stay safe and take care of one another.