Dolli Dimples was Pizza Time Theatre's first stand alone side-act, originally inhabiting the Piano Bar Lounge1, which in later years became commonly known as the Cabaret Room. This larger than life "Hippo from Hoboken" was very sultry, and was initially designed for parents.
Dolli Dimples first appeared at the second Pizza Time Theatre store, located on Kooser Road in San Jose. Since the Kooser store was roughly four times the size of the original pilot location, they had to develop new ideas simply to fill the space that Kooser had to offer2. One of those ideas was to carve out a large section of the restaurant to create a separate room, which was titled the Piano Bar Lounge, or sometimes the Dolli Dimples Cabaret.
Inside of this separate room was where Dolli performed. Dolli was first voiced by a nineteen year old San Jose performer named Donna Miller3. Originally meant to entertain adults, Dolli's performances had a sexy edge to them, and her breasts literally heaved up and down thanks to an added animatronic bouncing movement. She often quipped comments to the guys in the crowd, describing her long string of husbands, and telling the audience members that they were getting her all "hot and bothered" among other subtle and not-so-subtle flirty innuendos4. Because of the suggestive nature of her performances, Gene Landrum (the original President of Pizza Time Theatre) designed a sign that read "Especially for Mom and Dad" that was slated to be posted outside the entrance of the Dolli Dimples Cabaret, but realizing there was no way to actually keep the kids out, the sign was never posted5.
Dolli was unique in that she was the only Cabaret / Lounge act to ever have a "first generation" Cyberamic made with the original style of latex and fiberglass. Since this style of Cyberamics was only employed in the first two stores, all subsequent versions of Dolli were done in the updated "ottoman style" - where the characters were made from plywood, foam, and ottoman-like cosmetics2.
Not long after her debut, Dolli started to be swapped out for newer Cabaret acts6, though she continued to be used into the early 1980s. She was promoted on several merchandise items, such as glasses, pinback buttons, pewter charms - and was the only known Cabaret character to have her own plush doll. In late 1982 Dolli was given a second showtape7 and a new voice, this time by Lady Bianca8 who had previously recorded for Pizza Time as the voice of Sally Sashay. Although the new tape continued to use some of the same earlier themes such as Dolli's multiple husbands, much of the innuendo was toned down from the first recordings9.
1 - 1979/1980 Pizza Time Theatre Program - California
2 - ShowBizPizza.com correspondence with Harold Goldbrandsen
3 - San Jose Mercury News - Pizza and Penny Arcade - March 22, 1979
4 - Showtape Review - Dolli I Tape
5 - Western Foodservice - Pizza Time's Vaudeville Theatre - March, 1979
6 - The Pizza Times - Volume 2, Number 1 - May, 1980
7 - The Pizza Times - Volume 2, Issue 4
8 - ShowBizPizza.com correspondence with Lady Bianca
9 - Showtape Review - Dolli II Tape
