How The Palace Theatre Runs Dinner, Ticketing, Volunteers, and Marketing in One Place

The Challenge

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The Palace Theatre has been a landmark in Chubbuck, Idaho since 2001. Owner and Executive Producer Jenna Davies leads a two-venue dinner theatre operation inside a genuine castle-style building, complete with a full commercial kitchen, staffed bar, and fine dining experience that draws patrons from across the country. In 2026, The Palace celebrates 25 years in its community.

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Running a dinner theatre is a different operation from standard ticketing. The Palace team needed a platform that could manage pre-ordered meals as ticketing add-ons, flexible seating across two venues, a large volunteer program, and patron communication at scale. Their previous system, Tix, was built for larger, more rigid venue operations. It did not bend. Season ticket tracking lived in spreadsheets. Manual workarounds stacked up. When the team asked for adjustments or support, the response was silence.

The Ludus Solution

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Jenna first discovered Ludus at the AACT conference in San Antonio. She had not heard of Ludus before, but she was frustrated with her current system and ready for something that could fit the Palace operation.

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By 2022, the Palace team had moved everything they could to Ludus. The goal was straightforward: eliminate manual work, consolidate tools, and give patrons an experience that matched the elegance of the building they were walking into.

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Features That Made the Difference

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Marketing Automations and Patron Communication

No-shows ran 10 to 50 per run at Palace. For a dinner theatre, each empty seat means food already prepped, money already spent, and sometimes the same guest showing up the following week on the wrong night expecting a meal. Automated pre-show reminders and 24-hour post-show surveys cut that problem down. All email marketing now runs through Ludus as well.

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Volunteer Management

Palace runs a volunteer program of 169 people. Before Ludus, the team built paper schedules and emailed them out with reminders. The distribution was unpredictable. Sometimes 10 volunteers signed up for one night and zero for another. Now the team sends a link and volunteers sign up themselves. The uneven gaps closed, no-show rates dropped, and the manual scheduling work went away.

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Ticketing Add-Ons and Self-Service Sales

Selling dinner alongside a ticket is not a standard feature on most platforms. The Palace team worked closely with Ludus to build the add-on capability they needed. As patrons got comfortable with the platform, in-person sales dropped from 40 to 50 percent of transactions down to 20 percent. Patrons chose the online experience once they tried it.

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Fundraising, Collections, and Invoices

Fundraising, collections, and invoices now live inside the same system. The Palace team no longer needs separate subscriptions to handle what Ludus covers. "By removing those other systems, we were able to save some money."

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Real-World Impact

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Fewer No-Shows and Less Dinner Waste

Automated reminders changed the math. When guests confirm and actually show up, the kitchen wastes less food, the room runs cleaner, and the team spends less time on recovery the following week.

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Online Sales Grew from 50% to 80%

Before Ludus, 40 to 50 percent of Palace ticket transactions happened in person. Today that number sits at 20 percent. The shift happened because the online experience was simple enough that patrons preferred it. Box office call volume dropped alongside it.

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A 169-Person Volunteer Program That Fills Itself

Volunteer gaps are easier to catch and fill. The system sends reminders and frees the Palace team to focus on the production rather than chasing sign-ups.

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Guests from 48 of 50 States

Palace's experience has become a destination draw. In 2025, guests visited from 48 of 50 states, with many traveling from Utah for an intimate dinner theatre experience that felt more personal and more affordable than larger regional venues. As that audience grew, Ludus helped Palace keep reservations, communication, meal add-ons, and online sales manageable.

The Vision Ahead

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Palace is celebrating 25 years in 2026 with audience favorites across both venues, including West Side Story, Wizard of Oz, and White Christmas. After 25 years, the theatre is more than a venue. It is a community gathering place with a castle address. As the season grows, the team plans to keep using Ludus to reduce manual work, communicate with patrons, and support the volunteers who help make the full experience possible.

Why Ludus?

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No contracts or setup fees.

The Palace team consolidated multiple software platforms into Ludus, cutting costs and manual labor in the process. Getting started did not require upfront investment.

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Tools built around a dinner theatre operation.

When Palace needed add-ons for dinner orders, Ludus built them. The platform adapted to fit the way Palace actually works. "Ludus has spent so much time and resources fixing and adjusting things for us."

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Branding that matches the guest experience.

For a theatre with chandeliers, stone lion heads, and candlelit tables, the patron-facing experience has to meet the standard of the building. "Our old system was clunky and didn't go with the branding of Palace. Ludus offered a sleek and professional look that matched my style."

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Support that helps teams grow into the system.

"At first we used support religiously," Jenna said. As the Palace team grew into the system and built their rhythm, those calls became less frequent. That is the goal: a platform you learn to run confidently, with help there when you need it.

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Final Takeaway

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Running a dinner theatre, multi-venue organization, or busy performing arts program?

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See how Ludus helps your team manage ticketing, meal add-ons, volunteers, patron communication, fundraising, and more in one place.

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