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Brown County Playhouse 75th Celebration
~by Amy Huffman Oliver
Photos provided by the Brown County Playhouse.
By my count, Dad hawked popcorn at the Brown County Playhouse for around 40 years.
My childhood memories of summer are of Dad donning his distinctive yellow cap and vest to sell popcorn for the Brown County Lions Club at the Playhouse.
Once he was wearing the hat and vest, he would transform from his every day, newspaper man, Clark-Kent-kind-of-persona, into his alter ego—a carnival carny.
“Hot popcorn! Get yer hot popcorn here! Cold Coca-Cola! Orville Redenbacher popcorn!” he would call out in a thundering cadence that could be heard a block away. Who can resist walking by the sound and smell of popcorn tumbling out of a salty, sizzling kettle without trying a box?
This summer, as the Playhouse celebrates 75 years as a center of performing arts in the village of Nashville, Indiana, it is time to reflect on its humble beginnings in 1949 and its successes through 2024.
History of the Playhouse
The Brown County Playhouse was unique from its start. It was not only the first summer stock theatre to open in Indiana after World War II, but it opened in a tiny village whose population in 1949 was only 493 residents and not yet the tourist destination it is today.
The history of the Playhouse was chronicled in a 1998 booklet called The First Fifty Years, written by R. Keith Michael, who was then the president of the board of directors and former producer for the Playhouse.
According to Michaels, Professor Lee Norvelle, director of the Indiana University Theatre Department, collaborated with local businessman A. Jack Rogers to build a nonprofit “straw-hat” theater on land supplied
by Rogers on “Shoppers’ Lane” in downtown Nashville. Rogers financed the initial cost of the building while Norvelle prepared the productions, hired a company of students, and constructed the set on the IU campus in Bloomington.
Norvelle wanted the Playhouse to “attempt to do for theater in Brown County, what has been done in the field of painting.”
The first show at the Playhouse, The Old Soak, ran for five weekends in the summer of 1949 and tickets sold for just 90 cents each. It and a second show that summer were such a success that Novelle produced four plays in the summer of 1950.
In the beginning, the Playhouse was nothing more than an open barn for the stage and a large tent with open sides to cover 300 wooden seats. Water seeped through the walls of the dressing rooms under the stage and matinees were halted because the summer heat was so oppressive that actors and patrons were fainting.
There were no restrooms on site for the first 16 years. The program announced that “Restrooms were across the street in the Nashville House,” but it failed to mention that the restaurant closed its doors long before the play concluded.
In the 1950s, the wooden seats were replaced by canvas lawn chairs and a tin roof took the place of the tent to prevent a fire from the potter’s kiln that burned holes in the tent’s canvas.
The Playhouse remained a quirky, outdoor theater. The summer heat was intolerable, vehicle noise distracted audiences during poignant scenes, and the sound of pounding rain on the tin roof drowned out the actors. Even after upgrades in 1965 of restrooms, 200 additional seats, and the ability to reserve seats in advance, IU struggled to attract professional actors, designers, and directors to perform at the Playhouse.
The building you see today was built in 1977. Jack Roger’s son, Andy Rogers, donated the land and the IU Foundation, IU Chancellor Herman B Wells and others donated to the cause. The new building featured heat, air conditioning, and more comfortable seating for an expanded audience of around 400. It also included better lighting and sound systems and an orchestra pit for musicals.
Another feature was a separate space for concessions so the Lions Club volunteers could make popcorn without disturbing the show.
To maintain the rustic flavor of the theater, wooden siding from the original barn structure was used on the street front, lobby area, and as part of the interior décor.
From 1977 through 2010, IU used the Playhouse as its venue for summer theatre students to practice their craft.
In the summer of 2010, after building a larger, more modern facility on the Bloomington campus, the IU Theatre Department announced that it no longer needed the Playhouse, and it was going to close.
Thanks to members of the Brown County community, the Playhouse ownership transferred to a non-profit organization that continues to keep the Playhouse thriving today.
Since 2011, the Playhouse board of directors and its staff have remained committed to offering a wide range of national and local musicians, comedians, and movies, as well as community stage productions year round.
Three Generations of Popcorn Poppers
My parents and I, along with many cohorts of local Lions Club members, sold thousands of cups of Coke and boxes of popcorn at the Playhouse to raise funds that went directly back into the Brown County community.
In the 1990s, my husband became a Lion and a dedicated popcorn popper. As young kids, our two sons learned the fine art of hawking popcorn from their grandfather. Although my dad has passed and my boys have grown up and moved away, my husband and I continue to volunteer at the Playhouse.
You too can be part of the history of the Playhouse by volunteering. It is fun and you can watch the shows or bands of your choice for free in exchange for welcoming guests and a little clean up afterward.
Join us at the Playhouse for its 75th Anniversary Gala celebration on Sunday, July 14 at 2:30 p.m. Return to the musical vibes of 1949 with the Dan Nix Big Band, and enjoy food, costumes, and entertainment of the era.
Advance tickets are available at their website .
