The rise and fall of Australian theatre-restaurants

Kaye and Garyth Walpole have run Footlights Theatre Restaurant since 1994. (ABC Capricornia: Jacob Gamble)

One of Queensland's last theatre-restaurants is selling up, following a long running decline of "dinner and a show" venues across the country.

Footlights Theatre Restaurant in Yeppoon has entertained audiences since 1994 with its original stage shows, but owners Garyth and Kaye Walpole are now retiring.

Industry leaders say evolving entertainment trends, high operating costs and the unique skillset required to run a theatre-restaurant have contributed to the reduced number of venues.

Stage lights dim, the curtain draws and audience chatter hushes.

Garyth and Kaye Walpole open their show with a slapstick skit featuring an operatic song about Italian food.

With a painted-on moustache and a wig, Mr Walpole plays an incompetent waiter, belting out "cappuccino" with practised vibrato.

Garyth and Kaye Walpole opened Stagecoach Theatre Restaurant in Geelong in 1981, before moving to Yeppoon. (ABC Capricornia: Jacob Gamble)

The duo has been running Footlights Theatre Restaurant for 32 years, but as they approach retirement they've decided it's now time to sell.

For more than three decades, the central Queensland institution in the coastal town of Yeppoon has not only entertained audiences with its original stage shows but also nurtured generations of actors with its weekly drama class.

Azariah Beasley is considered a star student at Footlights. (Supplied: Simone Beasley)

Azariah Beasley, one of its students for more than five years, said it had become a "second family".

"I've grown out of my shell completely," the 12-year-old student said.

Mr and Mrs Walpole hope that the venue will remain as a theatre restaurant, but believe it is unlikely with the high operating costs and niche skill set required for the unique venue style.

Audiences were treated to morning tea and a variety show. (ABC Capricornia: Jacob Gamble)

"Once we've sold it, we've got no say in the matter of what it's turned into," Mr Walpole said.

"We don't want to stay in this area because we don't want to see what happens to our baby."

The building interior is adorned with old photos and memorabilia. (ABC Capricornia: Jacob Gamble)

Theatre restaurants began in Australia in the 1960s, with venues such as the Music Hall in Sydney and Tikki & John's in Melbourne among the first to open.

The unique "dinner and a show" experience struck a chord with audiences, with similar venues opening across the country offering varying forms of live entertainment such as vaudeville, comedy and