ROYAL PALM BEACH - The Royal Playhouse in conjunction with Wild Orchids Cafe will be presenting a Dinner Theater fundraising drive beginning Aug. 22.

Chef Chris Paul Falci, owner of Wild Orchids will be preparing a five-course dinner and the Royal Playhouse will be putting on "tick, tick... BOOM!" by Jonathan Larson, best known for his musical "RENT." It tells the story of an aspiring composer about to turn 30 in New York City named Jon. His girlfriend wants to get married and move out of the city, and his best friend is making a lot of money on Madison Avenue. Meanwhile Jon is waiting on tables, and trying to write the next great musical.

Tickets are $150, $50 of which will be donated to charity. There will be five performances starting Aug. 22 and ending Sept. 12.

"I'm so happy to be able to help so many people all at once through these charitable organizations," Falci said. "My passion is making people happy through food and this is the best of both worlds."

The charities that will receive a portion of the proceeds are PACE Center for Girls, Hospice of PBC, the Autism Project of PBC, FAU's CARD program, Caridad Center, the Cancer Alliance for Help and Hope, Chris Evert Charities and JDRF.

"I hope that everyone will come out, have a wonderful meal, see a great musical and have an enjoyable evening and support a local charity, said Jean Fischer, executive director of the Cancer Alliance. "We hope people dig deep in their pockets to help assist cancer patients."

The Alliance assists patients dealing with financial issues while they are undergoing treatment. Since 2003 they've helped more than 500 patients and paid out more than $1 million. Fischer said donations are down but with some reworking of their budget they've yet to turn anyone away.

"We just really appreciate them for including us in this event," she said.

This is a special production from the Royal Playhouse so they won't be handling ticket sales. Tickets must be purchased through www.wildorchidscafe.org.

The Royal Playhouse is still searching for someone to donate a home to them.

"We're waiting for this show to be over and then we'll have time to sit down and assess our future," said Peter Pagliaro, executive director. Since losing their home they had hoped to come back to the Western Communities. So far they've had no luck.

Call Aimee Zickerman of Wild Orchids Cafe at 561-504-1814 for more information.

If you go:

What: Dinner Theater fundraiser

Where: Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center, 151 Civic Center Way

When: 6:30 p.m. dinner; 8 p.m.; Aug. 22, 28 and 29; Sept. 11 and 12

Cost: $150 includes a five-course dinner, show and $50 of that will be donated to charity

Information/tickets: www.wildorchidscafe.org or 561-504-1814