The Dream was born in the shower in 1972 as Dwight "Hairy" Heggenberger soaped his back with a palm full of Lava and given birth 13 months later with the opening of The Lincoln Lodge, a dining and entertainment destination on the shores of Muskegon, Michigan. A high-class restaurant and showroom featuring some of the top comedians, variety acts and musicians of its day, The Dream was abruptly cut short in 1976 with the advent of pay cable and the sudden disappearance of Heggenberger (allegedly linked to the Muskegon underworld). When The Lincoln Lodge mysteriously burned to the ground six days later, all that remained of the original establishment were a few tattered photos, a singed architectural rendering and some scribbled notes on the back of yellowed racing form.

As fate had it, a Chicago aficionado of comedy came across these materials at a Battle Creek swap meet and immediately began working with his partner on scouting possible venues to revive The Dream. Through yet another coincidence, they chanced upon the aptly-named Lincoln Restaurant, a fixture on Chicago's North Side for almost three decades. After spending immense amounts of labor and expense to rehab a shuttered banquet room and recreate Heggenberger's legendary showroom circa its 1974 opening, The Lincoln Lodge opened its doors in the Lincoln Restaurant in the fall of 2000, and has been disrupting drinking habits all over the North Side ever since. Visitors to The Lincoln Lodge comedy and variety show have reportedly fallen in love with the eclectic entertainment and intimate cabaret setting provided by the showroom's sumptuous, wood-paneled interiors, soft lighting and luxurious naugahyde chairs. The show is now in its sixth season.