Candlelight Dinner Playhouse Founder William Pullinsi Dies at 86

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Pullinsi also founded the Forum Theatre and served as artistic director of Theatre at the Center.

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William “Bill” Pullinsi, the celebrated director and producer widely regarded as the “father of dinner theatre”, has passed away at the age of 86 of natural causes. A towering figure in American musical theatre, Pullinsi pioneered the concept of dinner theatre in the late 1950s and early 1960s and went on to direct or produce more than 400 theatrical productions during a remarkable career spanning over five decades. His work earned widespread acclaim, including 18 Joseph Jefferson Awards and numerous other honors recognizing his extraordinary contributions to the performing arts.

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Pullinsi was the founder and artistic director of the legendary Candlelight Dinner Playhouse and Forum Theatre in Summit, Illinois, which operated from 1961 through 1997 and became one of the most influential theatrical institutions in the Midwest. The theatres launched and nurtured the careers of thousands of actors, directors, designers, and technicians, including such notable talents as Mandy Patinkin , Shelley Long, Mark Jacoby , and Frank Galati . Jim Jacobs while acting in a production at Candlelight, wrote the musical Grease in the theatre's green room.

Pullinsi first opened Candlelight Theatre in Washington, D.C., in 1959 while still a college student, alongside his lifelong producing partner Tony D'Angelo, whom he had met while both college students at The Catholic University of America. He brought the concept to the Chicago area in 1961, building on land his grandfather owned in Summit, helping transform dinner theatre into a nationally popular entertainment format. His innovative model combining high-quality professional productions with fine dining in an intimate, in-the-round setting introduced live theatre to hundreds of thousands of audience members who might not otherwise have attended theatrical performances. Candlelight's success inspired countless dinner theatres throughout the United States.

Born and raised in Summit, Illinois, Pullinsi attended St. Joseph School and Benet Academy before studying at The Catholic University of America, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He later pursued graduate studies at the Goodman School of Drama and received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Lewis University.

For 10 years, Pullinsi served as artistic director of Theatre at the Center in Munster, Indiana, where he directed numerous award-winning musicals and comedies and helped elevate the company's regional and national reputation. Upon his retirement in 2015, Chris Jones named Pullinsi the “Chicagoan of the Year in Arts” in the Chicago Tribune, honoring his immense and lasting contributions to theatre locally, nationally, and internationally.

Among Pullinsi's most celebrated productions were record-breaking runs of Fiddler on the Roof, Man of La Mancha, and Little Shop of Horrors at Candlelight. His acclaimed production of Little Shop of Horrors later transferred to Royal George Theatre, becoming the inaugural production at the theatre in 1986, enjoying a highly successful extended run. Career highlights included acclaimed productions of Follies, Nine, Into the Woods, The National Health, and Phantom, all of which received Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Production. His World Premiere production based on Mike Royko's book on Mayor Daley, Boss, caused quite a political stir at the Forum Theatre as its inaugural production in 1973 (the theater is best known for the 4.5 year run of Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? by John Powers ). His productions of Phantom and Singin' in the Rain also set box office records at both Candlelight and the Westchester Broadway Theatre in New York.

His production of Into the Woods proved so popular at Candlelight that it later transferred to Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, where it also drew enormous audiences. Pullinsi's celebrated staging of Follies earned rave reviews in both its Candlelight production and a later engagement at San Diego's Civic Theatre. Pullinsi also produced and directed playwright Tom Dudzick 's Over the Tavern at the Mercury Theater in Chicago, where it ran for more than a year and a half, followed by the successful sequel King o' the Moon.

Throughout his career, Pullinsi, often directing with his mother, June, frequently collaborated with what many considered a “who's who” of Chicago theatre performers, many of whose careers flourished at Candlelight. Among them were Hollis Resnik , Paula Scrofano , Mike Nussbaum , Bill Munchow, Jim Harms , Dale Benson , Lee Pelty , Iris Lieberman , Dolores Rothenberg, Larry Wyatt , David Bedella , Shannon Cochran , Rudy Hogenmiller , Linda Balgord , Kathy Santen , Bill Bush and Larry Adams , amongst others.

In 1989, Pullinsi became the first American director to stage a musical in Russia with a Soviet cast and crew when he directed Man of La Mancha during a five-week residency at the Drama Theatre of Turgenev in Orel, south of Moscow, a groundbreaking cultural exchange during the waning years of the Cold War.

He was honored as a Distinguished Artist in Theatre by both the Chicago Academy for the Arts and the Chicago Drama League. Pullinsi was also a lifelong member of Actors' Equity Association and a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

Beyond his many awards and accomplishments, colleagues and artists remember Pullinsi for his generosity, mentorship, artistic rigor, and unwavering commitment to making live theatre accessible to broad audiences.

Bill Pullinsi is survived by his son, Jamie Pullinsi , and his former wife, Ami Silvestre . Funeral services are pending.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/William-Bill-Pullinsi-Candlelight-Dinner-Playhouse-Founder-Dies-at-86-20260522)._