Dinner hour is an oppressively quiet time, probably because most families eat their meals in the public library. Let others talk while your mouth is full with today's Groupon: for $48, you get one dinner-theatre admission to Shady Business at Stage West Theatre Restaurant (a $96.60 value, including GST). Choose from the following dates:

• Sunday, September 4, at 5 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 13, at 6 p.m.
Tuesday, September 20, at 6 p.m.

Seating is assigned upon ticket reservation.

Stage West Theatre Restaurant elegantly entertains dinner-theatre devotees with riotous stage productions augmented by a bountiful buffet. The rollicking production of Shady Business sends audiences on a breathless, hijinks-fuelled romp as it follows two winsome nightclub dancers desperately trying to sweep their misadventures under the rug and out of the sightlines of their no-nonsense mob boss, Big Mack. Starring Scott Valentine of Family Ties as Big Mack, the show’s wild shenanigans elicit laughs from even the most highly buttoned of larynges. Be sure to leave those younger than 16 at home with their st. bernard chaperone, as this tale of untruth-telling tomfoolery and organized-crime capers bears a parental guidance and discretion warning for lighthearted lasciviousness.

The dinner buffet menu escorts an array of entrees—including sushi, chicken cordon bleu, and Alaskan snow-crab legs—into expectant mouths, leaving tummies sated and as growl-free as a tiger in a soundproof bubble. The buffet begins at 6 p.m. on weeknights and at 5 p.m. on Sunday evening, leaving nearly two hours to pile plates and nosh in good company until the performance commences.

Please note that Stage West Theatre Restaurant has a semiformal dress code.