A column I wrote last month paid tribute to William “Bill” Pullinsi, the celebrated director and producer widely regarded as the “godfather of dinner theater,” who died at age 86 on Sunday, May 17, at his home in Dyer with his family at his side.
The theater community will gather this month at 6 p.m. Monday, June 29, for a farewell and tribute program with a reception following for Pullinsi at Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago.
The year 2026 took another theater great from us, another man connected to the world of dinner theater and associated with many wonderful meals and celebratory memories and applause for audiences from Northwest Indiana, Chicagoland and beyond.
Chicago South Side stage icon and raconteur John R. Lazzara, age 76, died Feb. 19, 2026, at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Affectionately known as “Johnny” or “Johnny Lightning,” he joined his brother Ray to successfully run and rejuvenate the elegant Drury Lane Martinique Dinner Theatre in Evergreen Park, Illinois, during the 1990s and was a good friend to me and my parents, Chester and Peggy.
Born Dec. 26, 1949, to Eleanor and Blaise Lazzara, he was raised on Chicago’s Southwest Side and later in Oak Lawn, always proud of his Italian heritage, graduating from Richards High School before earning his degree in marketing from Indiana University.
Johnny got his first taste of the hospitality business when he opened a pizza restaurant inside Arena Lanes in Oak Lawn, with brother Ray joining the business in 1973. In 1975, the brothers acquired a bankrupt Shakey’s Pizza franchise at 82nd Street and Cicero Avenue in Burbank and transformed it into a themed restaurant they called “Annie Tiques,” selecting a matching decor of eccentric collectibles and unusual serving ideas like displaying their chilled salad bar in the bed of a 1925 Model T truck as a focal point for the restaurant dining room.
The brothers acquired Drury Lane Martinique Dinner Theatre in 1988, with Johnny stepping in as CEO and executive producer to handle the marketing and entertainment booking, while brother Ray preferred to stay out of the spotlight and remained dedicated to the business and administrative matters.
The 800-seat theater-in-the-round design stage space, known for its musicals, concerts and revues, first opened in Evergreen Park in 1949 as just a dining spot by late theater mogul Tony DeSantis, and the 1958 expansion of a stage was named in homage to the great Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, dating back to the 17th century. DeSantis, who was born and raised in Gary, also opened a Drury Lane East stage space in McCormick Place in the early 1970s and was active with programming through 1983, as well as Drury Lane Water Tower Place, which opened in 1976 and closed in 1983 to become a movie cinema before being rebranded back to a Drury Lane Theatre in May 2004 with a $7 million facelift. In 2010, it was acquired by Broadway in Chicago and rechristened as Broadway Playhouse of Water Tower Place.
DeSantis died at age 93 in 2007, and today only his 1,142-seat Drury Lane Theatre in Oak Brook Terrace, which opened in 1984 with a $2.2 million price tag, remains open, as well as “Drury Lane Theatre North” in Lincolnshire, which also opened in 1976 and was soon rebranded as Marriott Theatre Lincolnshire Resort.
Johnny Lazzara loved the Las Vegas glitter and opulence that were/are the signature of the Drury Lane brand, including blood red carpeting, heavy drapery throughout, glistening chandeliers and gold-leaf and wall mirrors galore.
He had a remarkable vision, and he proudly and patiently introduced myself (a fresh out of college young reporter) and my parents to a parade of legendary performers including Debbie Reynolds, Lou Rawls, Bobby Vinton, The McGuire Sisters, Jim Nabors, Phyllis Diller, Rosemary Clooney, Steve Allen, Pat Boone, Diahann Carroll, Florence Henderson, Rich Little and Patti Page, to name just a few.
In 2004, recognizing what Johnny and Ray described as “a shifting market,” the brothers shocked us all when they made the strategic decision to sell the still successful Drury Lane-Martinique complex for a Walmart to open in its place by January 2005.
My family and our friends all joined my parents for Johnny to host us for Mom and Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary dinner party in September 2003. And the following New Year’s Eve, I was with Mom and Dad when Johnny hosted his final “New Year’s Eve at Noon” in the Martinique Ballroom to welcome in 2004 and the final event held in that legendary space.
The final “headliner” to ever perform at Drury Lane Martinique was accordion player Dick Contino, who became a household name with his accordion hit version of “Lady of Spain” after appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show” a record 48 times. Contino performed during Drury Lane Martinique’s final “New Year’s Eve at Noon,” welcoming the arrival of 2004.
(Contino, who died at age 87 in 2017, found his career at a halt in 1950 at age 20 when he was drafted for the Korean War, but once on military property, he fled the barracks at Fort Ord, Monterey, California. In 1951, he pled guilty to “evasion” and served a six-month sentence at McNeil Island Corrections Center in Washington.)
Johnny is survived by his brothers, Ray (Deanna) Lazzara and Jim (Ginny) Lazzara; his sister, Diane Lazzara; his nieces, Lauren (Dan) King and Julie (Matt) Schneider; and his cherished great-nephew and great-nieces. A private ceremony was held in Johnny’s honor earlier this spring for close friends and family following a visitation at Boynton Memorial Chapel in Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 23, and then laid to rest at Our Lady Queen of Peace Cemetery.
I’ve written previously about the decadent and delicious recipes served at Drury Lane Martinique and my memories of rich béarnaise sauce over skirt steak, shrimp cocktail, barbecue meatballs and a dessert finale of baked Alaska.
During summers, “Peach Frost” was a light and delicious dessert course guests loved at Drury Lane Martinique. Johnny liked it because it could be made in large quantities to serve to the masses of awaiting appetites, always topped with a dollop of whipped cream.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a radio host for WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected] or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre IN 46374.
Drury Lane Martinique Peach Frost Dessert
Makes 8 servings
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Ingredients
6 peaches, peeled, sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup (6 ounces) pink lemonade, thawed, undiluted
1 can (13 ounces) evaporated milk
3 tablespoons grenadine
Whipped cream garnish
Directions
1. Mix peaches with sugar and let stand 30 minutes.
2. Turn into electric blender and add lemonade and milk; process about 1 minute.
3. Turn into a bowl and stir in grenadine.
4. Pour into 9-inch-by-9-inch-by-2-inch pan and cover with clear plastic or foil.
5. Freeze until firm about 1 inch from edge on all sides.
6. Turn into large bowl of electric mixer and beat until mushy.
7. Return to pan and cover again and freeze until firm.
8. Remove from freezer to refrigerator about 20 minutes before serving to assure it is soft enough to scoop into serving cups.
9. Garnish with whipped cream.