BWW Interviews: Onstage at The Barn: Memories From the First 45 Years with Rona Carter McLaughlin

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 Pat McKinney Burton or Christopher Bosen.

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 Rona Carter McLaughlin, who is one of the most accomplished actors to be found on a Nashville stage, taking on a wide range of roles that have showcased her abilities to perfection. Today, Rona (who most often is seen onstage at Nashville Children's Theatre) adds her reminiscences of life at The Barn to the ones that we've been sharing since last week…

What was your first experience at Chaffin's Barn? My first experience was a musical review and then followed by Dames At Sea. We did a song from A Chorus Line and I was wearing a black leotard covered by a light colored short sleeve shirt. Most patrons thought they were looking at my naked body from the waist down because of the black leotard. I had a costume change after the feedback.

What's your most vivid memory of working there? Any memories of a moment shared with the audience? My most vivid memory was when we opened Broadway Bound. I was playing Kate. The morning review in the Tennessean from Clara Hieronymus was horrible. She really took me down. The afternoon paper was the Banner and Beth Monin gave me a rave. They almost seemed to balance each other but you always believe the bad stuff. I had an evening performance and was so nervous. As I entered speaking, the audience got onto its feet and applauded. It lasted for some time. I never forgot the love the patrons always had for us.

What's the funniest experience you had at the Barn? I was doing Cooking With Gus and I had a scene where I had been hypnotized and every time I said the cup or something like that, I got more drunk while taping my cooking show. Well food would go out into the audience. It was rumored that you should bring a plastic cover if you sat in front. Clara Hieronymus, the reviewer, was sitting right down near the stage. A big piece of food landed right onto her. She proceeded to stand up and fling it right back to me. I must say the show stopped for a brief period.

What was your favorite foodstuff on the buffet? The salad was always something you could count on but my favorite was the peanut butter pie. Carter Thrower brought the recipe in from his family. Miss him. We would always joke that if I was the boy and he the girl, if we married we would be Carter Carter.

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