Disclosure

This chronology is incomplete. During more than fifty years since the opening of Burn Brae Dinner Theatre, some important research sources, including programs and personnel,  have unfortunately been lost. The principal sources for our detailed content have been theatrical programs and anecdotal recall. Although we believe that we have productions in correct chronological order, programs for some productions could not be located; thus, some details cannot be included here. However, to the best of our knowledge, the “missing” productions are noted in the chronology. 

Unless noted otherwise, from December of 1968 until Bernie’s retirement in 1986, John Kinnamon and Bernie Levin were the joint Producers of all productions at Burn Brae Dinner Theatre. After Bernie’s retirement, John Kinnamon was the sole producer of all shows offered in Burtonsville, Maryland, where the content of this site is focused.

Likewise, unless otherwise noted herein, the official photographer for productions in Burtonsville was Joe B. Mann. Unknown to most who saw his photographs and attended Burn Brae productions, Joe Mann had also been a performer at Burn Brae! He sang and danced in the chorus of West Side Story, which opened in July of 1968, the second show offered in the opening season.

Also, we sometimes have the personnel data but no production photographs, or vice-versa. We invite visitors to contact us and help us “fill in the blanks” by offering verifiable contributions to data about any production. Please visit the Contact page to reach the author.

Moreover, with regard to data accuracy, we have generally deferred to printed programs when they are available. Burn Brae was a business enterprise, not an historical archive; nonetheless, programs are a reliable wellspring of information for this kind of effort. But without hard (e.g., printed) evidence of the opening and closing dates of most productions, which were generally not a part of those programs, we must apologize for the inaccuracies herein.

When we received anecdotal information about any show, we spent a great deal of time attempting to corroborate contributed information with others who were involved in that show. We have also studied magazine and newspaper articles, critiques and marketing/advertising materials for data about each of our productions. Needless to say, we are extremely grateful to all who have contributed information to the reconstruction, however flawed, of Burn Brae’s legacy.