Jubilations Dinner Theatre — Local services in Edmonton

I attended the Elton John show the other night and, after the experience I had, I am confident that it will have been my first and last time attending a show here.

The show itself was alright. The actors had some good singing numbers and it was overall entertaining. The positives of my experience end there however.

Customer Service: The customer service was absolutely god awful. We were rushed in when the doors opened and proceeded to wait at our table for an hour before we were seen by our waitress. I can't fault the waitress however because it appears this establishment has absolutely crammed the venue with seating and not hired the appropriate amount of staff to ensure each table gets addressed in a timely manner.

Our group had a seating issue and when we asked to speak to the manager about it we waited nearly 20 minutes before she made an appearance. When we spoke with her we were polite and wanted to just ask a couple questions about what had led to the issue. The manager was rude and condescending to us despite the fact we weren't trying to be confrontational. She cut us off mid sentence multiple times and wouldn't let us finish what we were trying to say. She spoke down to us as if we were simpletons and at one point began scrolling through her phone while we were talking to her. In the end nothing we wanted to speak with her about was addressed and she left, having made zero effort to understand what we were trying to communicate or to rectify the issue. If my issues with this place had ended there I still wouldn't come back purely because of how she treated my table. Absolutely god awful customer service skills, I have no idea how she was in a management position.

The Food: The food was horrendous. When we sat down we were treated to a single cold stale breadstick each. Although it was good they left them on the table as it was nearly an hour before we were brought our salads. Had I known I wasn't going to get my first course until nearly 8pm I would've eaten beforehand. We waited patiently and noticed that almost all the other tables had finished their salads and had received multiple rounds of drinks before we were finally able to dig into ours and hadn't received drinks yet. Had I known I wasn't going to get a second chance to order a drink I would've just ordered a pitcher for myself.

The "roast beef" which my girlfriend ordered literally looked like Arby's meat that was microwaved and thrown on a plate. It was actually comical how horrible it looked. The ribs, which I had, were obviously just packaged ribs, something I could buy from the frozen section at my local walmart. The seasonal vegetables that accompanied the main course were just frozen vegetables from a bag. There was zero seasoning or any attempt at presentation. I could've made myself a much better meal for a fraction of the price.

The Venue: As I said before, its obvious when you arrive that this place has been loaded with seats to maximize revenue without any consideration for the guests experience. There's nearly no room to move around if you need to go to the washroom. If a waitress was tending to a table there was no room to squeeze past. God forbid there's an emergency, you would never be able to make it out. The excessive number of guests causes the theatre to be loud and makes communicating with your waiter/waitress extremely difficult. As well, because there's so many people crammed into this space and no airflow, the theatre gets extremely warm. I found myself leaving between every act to go stand outside because I was sweating bullets. The way the seating and multiple stages are set up ensure that you can only see half the show unless you want to turn your head 180 degrees to look behind you.

It’s also apparent the owners don’t care to make any meaningful changes. Looking through the reviews I’ve found multiple with the exact same complaints from years ago. Owners will respond and claim they want to improve. But by the looks of things that just seems to be for show. Actions speak...

Saw The Big Bang Parody Musical. I honestly expected it to be cringey- but the story was entertaining, the actors were incredible, and the live singing and choreography were very well done.

The actors for Leonard (Christopher Ford) and Sheldon (Dallen Girard) in particular did an amazing job with their characters. The actors themselves don’t look like their characters- although their costumes allowed you to recognize who they are representing. This is where the acting can make or break their character representation. Both Dallen and Christopher absolutely nailed the acting. The way that they incorporated the mannerisms and facial expressions of the TV show characters made them look and feel like Leonard and Sheldon- despite not physically looking like them. The girl next to me even commented on how she thought Christopher “looked like” Leonard, not because of physical appearance, but purely based on his facial expressions and mannerisms. As someone with acting experience, I know how much practice and effort that takes. It was honestly impressive. Keep up the great work!

The stage design, art, and transitions were also really well done and helped immerse you into the experience. Props to the designers, crew, and stage manager.

It is best to come to this theatre with someone you know and want to spend time with while enjoying some entertainment. The spaces between scenes and acts allow you to enjoy the company of those around you, while the actors come around and speak to guests. I was visiting from out of province, so I was here alone and surrounded by strangers. However, it was nice talking to the people around me and getting to know them in between acts. It really helped give me a feel for people in the area. When the actors came to our table and started interacting with us, it was really fun to talk to them. Helped a lot with breaking the ice around strangers. It really showcased the impressive acting and improvisational skills of the cast. There was also a waiter dressed as Fred Jones from Scooby Doo who was unrelated to the show but very in character. It was so much fun talking to him- we decided to form our own two man Mystery Gang since the rest of the gang abandoned him: Fred and Jo forever!

They also incorporate some of the audience into the scene by inviting some people into the stage. In addition, they do something cute for people celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. It makes any celebration feel a bit more special.

The food and drinks were good. I was satisfied with the offerings.

My only complaint is that the service was a bit slow. It was hard to get someone’s attention if you wanted to order a drink outside of their scheduled drink rounds. Drinks were slow to come out and the wine pairing I ordered with my meal never came.

Overall, highly recommend this dinner theatre experience for the entertainment and...

I attended a dinner theater at your establishment on May 13 with a group of 18 people. I had gone to WEM in person to book ahead to for the group and dietary concerns for two attendees. The gentle man at the front desk and Darlene (manager) were wonderful and told me they would email me for reservation confirmation and that I could order food for people with allergies and dietary restrictions. The day before the event I was emailed and asked to contact customer relations. I phoned to confirm the meals for two individuals – Cuna answered the phone. There was some confusing regarding ordering and Cuna hung up on me. I phoned back and asked her “did you purposely hang up on me?” She replied, “Yes, you were not listening to me.” I was not yelling – I was asking questions – and giving dietary information. Perhaps she was overwhelmed; nevertheless, hanging up on a customer does not solve any issues rather it escalates the tiniest of problems. Thereafter, I requested to speak to the manager – Darlene and relayed information regarding the dietary concerns/allergies as well as a Birthday sign request.

Unfortunately, the birthday signs were not on our table – it was not done. Secondly, and most importantly, the two dietary issues were not followed. No fish for one person - (anaphylactic reaction) and No dairy for another - lactose intolerance. I did as was asked and yet Jubilations did not follow their own guidelines. We had a lovely server and enjoyed the performance. However, the evening could have turned out much differently – especially if the young teenager had eaten his salad – with anchovies. When an establishment is aware of allergies and dietary restriction and has agreed to serving special meals for those patrons, it is extremely important for them to follow through on the agreement. They create a false sense of security for the diner, and it could lead to catastrophic events. Jubilations Dinner Theater were negligent with their compliance in this matter, and if it were not for the fast thinking of a person in our dinner party, EMS would have been called.

In closing I would suggest Jubilations review their policies and procedures regarding known dietary issues and allergy awareness and follow through. It would also be beneficial if they employed individuals that did not hang up...