Tim Fudge Does Double Duty on 'Sanders Family Christmas' Backstage at the Barn

Tim Fudge, one of Music City's busiest theatre artists, takes the reins as both director and musical director for A Sanders Family Christmas, opening November 24 at Backstage at the Barn.

Backstage at the Barn is Nashville's venerable Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre's more intimate second stage plays host to the musical sequel to Smoke on the Mountain for a holiday season run through December 31. Written by Connie Ray and conceived by Alan Bailey, the show features musical arrangements by John Foley and Gary Fagin.

In this musical sequel to Smoke on the Mountain, the Sanders family returns to Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, home of the Mount Pleasant Pickle Factory for Christmas Eve in 1941. Reverend Oglethorpe, of the Mount Pleasant Baptist Chruch, has invited them to sing and witness, getting his congregation into the down-home holiday spirit before the boys, including one of the Sanders' own, are shipped off to serve in World War II. The show's score features more than two dozen Christmas carols - many of them vintage hymns - and hilarious yuletide stories from the Sanders family keep the audience laughing, clapping and singing along with some bluegrass Christmas favorites.

Fudge has been music director of virtually every musical at Chaffin's Barn in the past ten years, including Hello Dolly!, My Fair Lady, Annie Get Your Gun, Johnny Guitar, My Way, The Bop She Bops and Smoke on the Mountain (bo the 2005 and 2007 editions). Fudge was also music director for Tennessee Rep's critically acclaimed production of Sweeney Todd. In addition to music directing and directing, he has been a professional session singer and performer for more than 25 years.

Fudge's cast for this holiday-season revival includes Barn veterans Jaclyn Brown (last seen in Chaffin's Barn's production of The Bop She Bops), Daron J. Bruce (There Goes the Bride), Laura Marsh (Greetings), Amanda Lamb (Dearly Beloved) and Derek Whittaker (See How They Run), and in their Barn debuts, both B.J. Rowell and Will Sevier, who have recently been seen in productions with the Renaissance Center and Boiler Room Theatre.

Curtain is at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday evenings, with the buffet served from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 for each adult for those performances; student tickets (ages 13-18) are $35; and tickets are $25 for children 12 and under. Show-only tickets are $33 for adults, $25 for children 12 and under.

Three Thursday senior matinees are schedule for December 3, 10 and 17, with tickets for $19 (bring your own lunch, with beverages provided); for an additional $8.50 a boxed lunch is available to patrons. A Sunday matinee, set for December 13, includes the buffet served from noon to 1:30 p.m. and curtain at 2 p.m.; tickets are $50.

Reservations are required for A Sanders Family Christmas; call (615) 646-9977 for details. Season tickets are also available for the upcoming 2010 season, along with sampler memberships. For further details, visit the company website at www.dinnertheatre.org.