BWW Interviews: Onstage at The Barn: Memories From the First 45 Years with Brian Russell

Offering proof positive that time flies when you're having a good time, 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 Alei'sha Brevard, Michael Edwards, Mark Delabarre, Lydia Bushfield, Pam Atha, Rona Carter, Martha Wilkinson, Carter Thrower...the list goes on and on and on.

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 actor Brian Russell, who is one of the region's favorite actors despite the persistent rumor that he was in the cast of Our American Cousin on the night that Lincoln was shot (relax, it's just part of his urban legend). Today, Brian, who just concluded a critically lauded (which means I thought he gave the best performance I'd seen over the many, many years I've watched him onstage) run in Tennessee Repertory Theatre's Superior Donuts, adds the memories of her Barn experiences to the ones that we've been sharing of late to celebrate the 45^th anniversary…

What was your first experience at Chaffin's Barn? First show was Seven Year Itch with the indomitable Alei'sha Brevard in the Marilyn role. I was literally fresh out of college (Morehead State University in Kentucky) and blithely looking to make "an impression" on the man who hired me (the amazing Michael Edwards) and anyone else that might be looking for a fresh-faced skinny runt with hair (then). The last show was backstage's 1997 Comedy Of Errors in John's memorable and probably historic attempt to mix the Bard with the dinner. 

What's your most vivid memory of working there? )Two answers. Doing such fantastic and well cast shows as Groucho: A Life in Revue, Biloxi Blues and Wally's Café. And the very scary night that a drunken lady patron, all done up in red, tossed her rocks glass directly between Martha and me during Groucho. 

What's the funniest experience you had at the Barn? A little boy puking in every corner from B to C to D section during The Odd Couple. Or watching Edwards break up when Eric Tichenor flailed his quite flaccid plastic sword in his face during Forum...or subbing on the fly as Horatio in Hamlet. Or the drunken revel that occurred when the Barn temporarily shut down in '86, and the absolute wreck we made of the "company car" that day. Do I have to choose just one? Long ago, when everything on the buffet lined up in an X on the stage floor, specialty items, like fruit salad were offered on a big silver mixing bowl, set up on a poker table (of all things!) One night, an unfortunate busboy launched a veritable Niagara of fruit salad when he bumped one of the tottering table legs in a rush to replenish the regular buffet!

How about interactions with patrons at the Barn? My interactions have been and continue to be so very positive and warm. There are folk there that still remember me onstage and as I've said, that's been some time ago now. To this day, someone will mention me doing my production of The Foreigner or most especially, fondly remember me as Groucho Marx. Despite the schmaltzy notion, it truly means a lot to any actor, but most importantly to a certified neurotic like me, that someone remembers. Story about the "joyed it" line: Never stand to the right of Michael Montgomery. Knowing that patrons rarely listened to you past the actual handshake, he would consistently send them down my way saying outrageous and just barely audible things like "Lawnmower....Burger King," etc. They never caught on, but I was busting a gut!

What was/is your favorite foodstuff on the buffet? As the aforementioned Monty has said on many occasions and to many a newbie: "You want to do the best show you've ever done; just eat you a big ol' wad of that lasagna." It really works, let me tell you. As for the worst item ever offered, I direct you to a short-lived chef there during the Ken Tanner years, Chef Charles. He offered up this yellowish, soupy looking mixture with what passed for popcorn shrimp, crab bits and some other kind of fish (?) that he referred to as Seafood Newburg. However, the flavor and the texture soon got the dish renamed Seafood Nuremburg!

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