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The Chaffin Family
The Founders:
A.W. (John) and Edna Lou (Puny) Chaffin
John and Puny Chaffin started The Barn Dinner Theatre in March of 1967. It was an instant success as the only professional theatre bringing Broadway to Nashville. Now retired, they still never miss a show at the Barn.
Owners:
John and Janie Chaffin:
John took over the theatre from his parents in January of 1976. He attended UT Knoxville, University of Miami, and David Lipscomb College. As Chaffin’s Construction Company, John and his father built the Barn in 1966 opening to a sell out crowd March 29, 1967. In his spare time, John is a pilot and an avid scuba diver. You can see his photos at TheDiversNet.com. John and Janie are very involved with the community with such organizations as The Historical Society, Chamber of Commerce, Exchange Club, and are on the Board of Directors at the Bellevue YMCA. John and Janie were honored as the Citizens of the Year by the Bellevue Chamber for the year 2006. Janie was voted Bellevue YMCA Volunteer of the Year in 2007. Janie attended UT Martin and Belmont College, and spent 40 years in the corporate world. In addition to marketing at the Barn, Janie enjoys the personal contact with the Barn patrons. She is an avid gardener (Hope you enjoy her flowers). Together John and Janie have four children, eight grandchildren, and one great granddaughter and great grandson.
Artistic Director:
Martha Wilkinson:
Martha Wilkinson, a native of Rome, Georgia, first came to Chaffin’s Barn in 1988 as a cast member in Chaffin’s production of ‘Chicago’. And we just can’t seem to get rid of her! Before coming to Chaffin’s, Martha was a resident actor at Cumberland County Playhouse - just a few miles down the road on I-40.
Martha was trained as a performer at Darlington School, the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Berry College in Mt. Berry, Georgia. The apple truly does not fall far from the tree as Martha’s late father, Wallace, was a film and television actor for 20 years. Her mother, Vera, was a visual artist. Her older sister, Sallie, lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband and four children.
Martha has performed and directed regularly with Chaffin’s for over 20 years in a cumulative of nearly 100 shows. She has garnered nine local theatre awards for her performances in musical theatre and was selected by the Nashville Scene’s Best Of… as Best Actress in 2009 for her portrayal of Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd as well as by The Tennessean’s Toast of Music City. Martha attributes a great deal of her success to the support from and the opportunitiesallowed her by John Chaffin. “John’s trust in my ability in all aspects of my association with Chaffin’s has been an invaluable part of my ability to succeed here.”
Group Sales: Vanessa Wynn
Vanessa has a long history with Chaffin’s Barn. She started answering the phones in 1994. After a year of taking reservations and fielding calls she left to open her own company, Shy Hill Marketing. The next year she was back at the Barn as the Marketing Director. This time was stretched into a five year run of representing the Theatre in all aspects of promotion, whether it meant writing ad copy for the radio or traveling to tradeshows and speaking to groups about the stellar attributes of the Barn.
In 2000 she left the theatre to devote more time to her growing business, then in 2002 she moved to Ohio in hopes of going home again. While in Ohio she wrote the marketing plan for The Voice of America Museum in West Chester; worked as the publicist for Middfest International, an annual international educational and cultural event; served on the board of the local Opera company and the non-profit, Women Writing For (a) Change; all this to discover that Nashville was really home.
Moving back the fall of 2007, and strangely enough, into the exact same condo she started in, still running Shy Hill Marketing…finally the call came. Vanessa is very pleased to be back on board and home with the Chaffin’s family as the Group Sales Director!