They started arguing right after dinner, and they didn't stop arguing for two hours. And we laughed. No, we aren't some kind of sick nutcases who enjoy other people's misery. (At least, not more than most people.) My wife and I were guests of Mill River Dinner Theater on Valentine's Day and we were watching the 1960's "live-TV" reunion show of Pete 'n' Keely -- the show business couple who rehashed their musical meeting, marriage, and bitter breakup at Mill River Dinner Theater.

Of course this fictional Pete 'n' Keely eventually got together - we could predict that the instant they said "This show is brought to you by Swell Shampoo, the folks who put the 'ooooo' in shamp-ooooo. And ladies, if they can get the two of us together, think of what it can do for your split ends." Musical comedys usually come equipped with happy endings.

In telling us (and the imaginary TV viewers) Pete 'n' Keely's story of falling in love, breaking up, and struggling with single life, real life couple Darlene and Bill McMillan sang a long list of songs of the early 60's, many of which we recognized and many that we didn't. Bill, a large man with a voice to match, boomed out songs like "Bésame Mucho", which he sang while reliving Pete's days as a singing waiter. Darlene, as the spotlight-hogging Keely chimed right in. The highlight of Darlene's performance was when she sang solo the blues song "Black Coffee", perfectly suited to her lighter voice.

And in between songs (and at times during the songs) they bickered. Interestingly, the McMillans themselves are newlyweds, having met and worked together through numerous productions at the Mill River Dinner Theater.

The set designed and built by Chuck PetitBon simulated a 1960's television studio with a live audience, complete with sparkly draping and a campy "APPLAUSE" light. To one side was Dan Zabinski, who played the critical support role of on-stage musician Del DaCosta, whose few lines set up the story and kept it moving.

One nice touch was the song "It's Us Again", probably crafted by specifically for the play. When they sang it as an introduction song, it was saying "Hi, we're back", but when they sang it at the end, bracketing the performance, the same words came to mean "we're a couple again".

The play was written by James Hindman, a Broadway actor, who won the 1999 Backstage Bistro Award for his first play, "I Love New York". "Pete 'n' Keely" was his first full length book musical. Some of the play's original music was by Patrick Brady, with 15 year of Broadway musical background, starting with the "Will Rogers Follies" that ran two and a half years back in the early 1990's. Mark Waldrop, who performed on Broadway since the 1970's wrote some of the musical comedy's original lyrics.

Of course, dinner theater isn't dinner theater without dinner.

Dinner was tasty and abundant. It started with an escarole or perhaps an Italian wedding soup, awash with a multitude of ingredients. I had two helpings. We had a choice of entrees with sides of mixed vegetables and potatoes -- I had a slice of beef wrapped around a stuffed mushroom topped with mushroom gravy, my wife had chicken cordon bleu with a sweet Vidalia onion glaze. Other options included a vegetarian lasagna, haddock, or Canadian Ham in a Kentucky bourbon sauce.

As good as the entrees were, we were especially thrilled with the potatoes, red potatoes and sweet potatoes, served braised and oiled and sprinkled with herbs and buttery soft. I could have made a meal of just the potatoes and been happy to take more home for later.

Dessert was strawberry shortcake with hot coffee - it was a little too early in the season for fresh local strawberries, but the dessert was clearly appropriate for a romantic Valentine's Day meal. To celebrate Valentine's Day, the theater included a bottle of wine with dinner, which We skipped and instead ordered from the bar.

We enjoyed ourselves tremendously (dinner and theater just seems to go together), and will recommend Pete 'n' Keely to anyone wanting a night out, especially if it's a romantic night out.

You can find Mill River Dinner Theater at 499 High Street, in (oddly enough) Central Falls. Call them at 401/721-0909 or visit their website at www.millrivertheater.com. Excluding brief rehearsal and set-building gaps in their schedule, they perform on Fridays and Saturdays, with dinner starting at 7PM, and on Sundays with lunch served at 1PM. Dinner and a show is just $35.50 plus tax per person.

About the author, Paul Pence: Not a life-long Rhode Islander, Paul got to Rhode Island as fast as he could. He has 25 years of writing experience and numerous publication credits including the Providence Journal, the East Greenwich Magazine, Weissmann Travel Reports, Travel Lady Magazine, Jackhammer, Your Skin and Sun, TravelNotes, TexWoman, and many others.

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