A Hello and a Goodbye: Newport's Fall at the Reopened Hotel Viking and the Playhouse's Final Season
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Up on Bellevue Avenue, a hotel built in 1926 has reopened in its 100th year and is pricing yoga classes for locals. Down at the foot of the Newport Bridge, a dinner theater that opened in August 1983 has posted its final performance for 7 p.m. on December 31.
The two places are asking Newport for the same thing. Hotel Viking now calls itself "Newport's cultural living room." Jonathan Perry's farewell letter calls the Newport Playhouse & Cabaret Restaurant "a gathering place. A family." For the next twelve weeks, both are open at once. Of the two, the hotel has the open-ended future. The Playhouse has a calendar that ends, and part of it is already sold out.
When Perry announced the closing on August 18, December felt a long way off. In his letter, posted to the theater's Facebook page and reported the next day by What's Up Newp, he asked longtime patrons to come back for a show during the final months. As of early October, though, only two plays and one special night remain on the schedule.
The ticketing page shows how fast the final run is moving. Social Security performances on Sunday, November 15, and Wednesday, November 18, were already marked "Sold Out" well over a month ahead. Those are the first two listed dates of the run, and one of them falls midweek. The closing-night performance on December 31 had no sold-out label when last checked, but that's a snapshot of one day and could change by the time you read this.
To catch Beau Jest, you have until November 11. If you'd rather see the final production, look at dates soon, before more of November and December fill.
The format hasn't changed. Dinner is a home-cooked buffet made on the premises, with entrées, sides, fresh breads and homemade desserts. Then comes a play in the intimate theater a short walk from the dining room. After that, you head back to your table, where the dining room has become a cabaret and the company keeps performing. The theater has plenty of parking and is accessible.
Perry's letter puts some numbers to the run. He was eighteen when the Playhouse opened and thought it "might be a fun hobby until I figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up." Over the decades the theater built more than 250 sets, staged thousands of shows and wrote thousands of cabaret skits. He worked alongside his father, Matt Siravo, for 32 years. The City of Newport honored Siravo by naming his birthday, February 25, Newport Playhouse Day.
"Come see a show. Bring an old friend. Tell us your Playhouse stories."
That is the request in the section of the letter titled "One Last Season Together." As of early October, no separate farewell event has been announced and no plan for the building has been made public. The scheduled shows are the farewell.
The box office answers at (401) 848-7529, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The renovation at One Bellevue Avenue wrapped up in August 2026, timed to the hotel's centennial. On August 13 the hotel said it had officially reopened "to locals and visitors" with four new food and drink concepts, all open daily. Littleneck Hospitality Group developed the concepts. Rhode Island natives Robert Andreozzi and Jesse Hedberg created them, and chef Will Rietzel leads the kitchen. Andreozzi has James Beard recognition and is the restaurateur behind Sarto and a co-founder of Pizza Marvin.
Each of the four rooms keeps its own hours, which helps if you're planning a stop instead of a stay:
Tuck Shop opens every day as early as 6 a.m. for made-to-order pastries, coffee, grab-and-go food and provisions.
Pescadou serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. The menu is French Riviera–inspired seafood, with local shellfish, raw bar dishes, bouillabaisse for two and herb-laced pastas.
Skoal Room, the hotel's bar for more than 50 years, is back as an intimate cocktail bar and opens daily at 2:30 p.m.
Cap Club, the rooftop bar, is currently listed as open daily from 4 to 10 p.m. Its menu leans on seafood and rum-forward cocktails. The hotel's calendar adds live music on the roof Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m. The hotel hasn't said whether those hours will hold into winter, so check before planning a December evening around the roof.
For a sense of cost, the Boston Globe's September 2026 review of Pescadou listed hors d'oeuvres at $6 to $85, raw bar items at $16 to $24, pastas and mains at $28 to $42 each, and the bouillabaisse at $90. The reviewer recommended the bouillabaisse, made with lobster and a rotating selection of fish. The same review said the kitchen planned to bring squash and apples onto the menu in early October, with celery root and parsnips to follow in winter.
The clearest sign that the hotel wants residents, and not only overnight guests, is that some of its calendar lists a separate rate for locals.
Wednesday morning yoga takes place in Kay Chapel, the restored 1859 chapel that seats up to 200. The class is free for hotel guests and $25 for locals. Sunday morning Pilates uses the same pricing. In its reopening release, the hotel also mentioned monthly sound bowl meditations, film screenings with the Rhode Island International Film Festival, and readings by local authors. Specific fall dates for the screenings and readings haven't been posted yet.
Two October evenings are already on the books:
Hotel Viking's yoga, Pilates and rooftop music run every week, and its restaurants have no end date. The Playhouse has two plays, one variety night and a final curtain at 7 p.m. on December 31. A Wednesday that starts with yoga in Kay Chapel and ends with Social Security on Connell Highway has to happen before New Year's Eve, and some of those midweek Playhouse dates are already gone.
If you have family coming for the holidays and want them to see a bit of Newport you love, I'm happy to share what I know about planning an evening in town. That includes the Playhouse's last run while it's still on. Reach out to Tammy Bass when you're ready. Let's Connect.
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