Celebrations theatre shuts doors permanently amid strike

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This article was published 08/09/2023 (753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The curtain has come down on Celebrations Dinner Theatre.

The Winnipeg entertainment venue gave notice of its permanent closure Friday, less than a week after its 33 unionized staff went on strike.

“Faced with the huge cost of inflation on many fronts… we have decided that we are no longer able to operate at a profitable level,” Bob Cunningham, president of owner Act Three Entertainment, wrote in a statement.

Cunningham pointed to the rising cost of goods, wages and interest rates, and leftover debt from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

“We are extremely sad and disappointed,” the statement says, adding all guests with tickets to previously scheduled events will receive full refunds in an as-of-yet undetermined time frame.

Unionized staff at the 1824 Pembina Hwy. venue unanimously voted to strike at the end of August. Labour action began this week.

“It’s shameful that the business model for Celebrations didn’t account for paying employees a fair wage or offering them any benefits,” Jeff Traeger, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 832, said in a statement.

The picket line was shut down Friday evening.

Staff had been without a wage increase and working contract for three years, Traeger told the Free Press last month.

“Inflation and economic conditions have made it difficult for these workers to make ends meet,” according to an UFCW Local 832 statement released late Friday.

Celebrations was “fully operational and busier than ever” when bargaining began earlier this year, the union said. “Despite that, Celebrations refused to provide more than minimum wage.”

The UFCW said it will help its Celebrations Dinner Theatre members with employment insurance and career transitions in the coming days.

The union, however, doesn’t represent all venue workers, including kitchen staff and cast members who don’t wait tables.

Celebrations Dinner Theatre has been family-run for 25 years, Cunningham noted in his statement. “For the entirety of this time span, profits remained small and infrequent, with as many years ending in a loss as those that ended in a meager profit.”

Act Three Entertainment believed it could “build the client base to the point where the profits would become more worthwhile and more consistent,” but concluded “this is never likely to be the case.”

Tracey Brandt had tickets to upcoming dinner theatre shows. Her plans fell through when she logged into her email account Friday and found a closure notice.

“I was shocked,” said Brandt, who attended Celebrations shows three times a year. “It sucks. The kids loved going.”

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com