BWW Interviews: Onstage at The Barn: Memories From the 45 Years with Lisa Marie Wright

Believe it or not, it's been 45 years Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre opened its doors to the Nashville and regional theater-going audience. Since 1967-when A.W. and Puny Chaffin founded "The Barn"-thousands of people have made the trek to the big red barn in West Nashville, witnessing some of the best shows to be produced in Music City, and in the process getting to know all the actors, artists and technicians who've brought all a myriad of shows to life.

Throughout those 45 years, regardless of the title or names on the marquee, The Barn has offered every one of its audiences exciting professional theatre and a mouth-watering buffet fairly groaning from the weight of the assembled Southern delicacies.  In fact, when you talk to people about their memories of The Barn, they're just as likely to mention peanut butter pie or corn pudding as they are to recall the onstage antics and offstage friendships of such performers as Michael Edwards or Martha Wilkinson.

Since 1967, Chaffin's Barn has provided employment to some of the best actors to be found on stages anywhere, launching careers for actors who have gained critical and audience acclaim all over the country. And during that time span, Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre has been hailed as one of the Top 25 tourist attractions in Nashville, "Best Buffet" and "Best Place to See a Play" in The Tennessean's annual Toast of Music City contest and in Nashville Scene's "Best of" as one of the top three "Best Places to See a Play." In addition, Chaffin's Barn was the recipient of The First Night Lifetime Achievement Award and its shows, directors, choreographers and actors have taken home multiple First Night honors over the years.

In recognition of The Barn's 45 years of bringing the magic of live theater to the stage, we continue our special series of Onstage at The Barn: Memories from The First 45 Years, with actress Lisa Marie Wright, who made her debut at the Barn in A Christmas Cactus in 1998, and most recently was onstage playing the Christine Penmark, the mom of the dastardly Rhoda Penmark in The Bad Seed at Street Theatre Company…

What was your first experience at Chaffin's Barn? My very first show was A Christmas Cactus in 1998, in the backstage. I had graduated from MTSU in May with my degree in Theatre Performance and had filmed a local commercial and done a few other things around town but Chaffin's was my very first professional audition. Jerry Sims was the director and he filmed the auditions because his wife, Janelle Cochran, was going to be directing the Christmas show planned for the main stage but she couldn't be there in person for the auditions. Jerry told me later, when they were watching the auditions and came to mine that he told Janelle "she's mine, you can't have her."

What's your most vivid memory of working there? Seriously? You're asking for just ONE vivid memory!? It's Chaffin's Barn my good man, vivid memories are what one walks away with every time one enters and exits the joint! From raccoons the size of grizzly bears dancing throughout the ceiling, to drunken audience members, to stage managers who fall asleep during the show!

Speaking of stage managers who fall asleep . . . during that very first show, there was a moment in which the telephone would ring and the fellow playing opposite me would answer and have a conversation with his mother that had to occur in order for the events of the show to proceed. Well, one evening the stage manager completely zoned out and did not hit the sound cue for the phone. I calmly covered for a few lines, hoping she would rejoin us in the land of live action theatre. Alas, she did not, so I quickly realized that the phone call could still occur because Lydia Bushfield, playing the role of the mother, was right on the other side of the wall, ready to do the other end of the conversation. I then instructed the young man to call his mother to which he replied "No." Yes, he did indeed say "no" to the only possible solution to the current problem and the only possible way to keep the show moving in a forward direction. I argued with the young man for a moment, in character of course, and by then the stage manager awoke from her fugue state and made the phone ring and the scene continued.

When the act was over and we were off stage, I asked the actor why he said no to making the phone call and he replied to me "It's not what my character would do." At that moment I gave this young man a great deal of instruction on what to do the next time that another actor on stage with him attempts to save the scene while he flounders about like a fish out of water! It's entirely possible that I might have done so with my voice raised ever so slightly and with my finger planted firmly into his chest while I pushed him into the nearest wall. My memory of it is a little fuzzy after all these years but every time that Lydia Bushfield, with great glee, tells this tale, that's how the ending is portrayed.

What's the funniest experience you had at the Barn? Again, it's difficult to narrow the many stories down to just one. And my #1 all-time favorite memory and funniest experience is one that is difficult to describe in writing and is also not really family friendly, so anyone who wants to hear about it will need to ask me about that one.

A close runner up would be one evening spent in the green room, after a show, playing the game Guesstures. For those not familiar with the game, it's basically charades with props, and there's a timer involved. It was me and Lydia playing against the beloved late Bobb James and Pete Carden. It was a rather unfair advantage from the start because Lydia and I, who are often mistaken for sisters, tend to share some bizarre psychic link and often can have a conversation without even using words. However, I digress.

The hilarious high point of the evening was when Pete had the word chicken to act out and I swear to you, with my hand directly on a Bible, that Bobb James said every single conceivable synonym but never said the word chicken. Lydia and I were quite literally rolling with laughter and had tears streaming down our faces at the disbelief on poor Pete's face when he said "It's a CHICKEN" after the timer had dinged. Even as I sit here writing this, I am laughing and loving this memory. It's probably not nearly as funny in the retelling, but Lydia and I often will re-enact this memory with very little provocation should any of you readers so desire.

How about interactions with patrons at the Barn? I don't have any stand out memories of actual interactions, but I do recall reading one of the comment cards, shortly after I'd started working there, where a patron wrote asking if there was any way to find out if a specific actor would be in upcoming shows because he and his wife would gladly drive from Alabama to see anything that I was going to be in. What a lovely compliment.

What was your favorite foodstuff on the buffet? I'm the worst one to ask because I usually just eat salad. I still work as a server at Chaffin's on occasion and when the patrons ask me my recommendation for dessert I have to apologize and tell them I don't eat the desserts but I can tell them what we sell the most of.

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