MIXED NUTS cast hosts opening night benefit for Bellevue flood victims 5/7

Although the aftermath of devastating floods in the Nashville area resulted in a one-night postponement for the opening of 3Ps Production's Mixed Nuts, directed by Johnny Peppers, the cast will host a fundraiser at Friday night's performance -- Friday, May 7, the show's new opening night -- to benefit those people directly affected by the tragic events of the week.

"The 3Ps Production of Mixed Nuts is donating all of the proceeds of opening night this Friday, May 07 to Bellevue flood relief," reports Martha Wilkinson, artistic director for Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre, home to the show's venue of Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn theatre.

"The show is asking for a suggested donation of $20. Please come out and support those who need it so much right now. A special thanks to Johnny Peppers of 3Ps Productions for being so generous. He rocks y'all..."

Nashville's community of Bellevue was especially hard hit by last weekend's floods and productions at Chaffin's Barn, including the mainstage production of John Chaffin's The Butler Done It have resumed their performance schedule.

"A hilarious collision of comedy happens when a Midwest man moves to the Big Apple in search of his dreams" in 3PS Productions' Mixed Nuts, running through May 29 at Chaffin's Backstage at the Barn Theatre in Nashville.

"I love Mixed Nuts because it is fresh to the Nashville stage and just one of the funniest plays I've read in a long-time," Peppers says.

"Our incredible cast includes off-Broadway actress Megan Murphy Chambers; Jennifer Richmond, an international performer just returning from the London School of Musical Theatre; and local favorite Layne Sasser, who is currently filming a television pilot. Take this tremendous talent, give them a clever coming of age/love story/follow your dreams tale and you are really in for a night of great fun - kind of like peeling back the layers of a onion, but with tears of laughter not pain!"

Flynt Foster, a Franklin-based actor seen recently in the world premiere of Southern Fried Funeral, stars as Michael Caldwell, a shy, aspiring writer from the Midwest who comes to New York in search of fame and fortune. His life becomes a series of hilarious encounters with the unpredictable residents of his dilapidated apartment house including a commercial actor who specializes in portraying inanimate objects, a Russian ballerina on the lam from the KGB, and a wisecracking actress. To maintain his own sanity, Michael retreats to his fantasies, only to find that the world of his imagination is even more nerve-racking than the reality surrounding him.

"I love this venue because when you watch the show you take the journey with the characters," Peppers explains. "Set in the 1980s, there are tons of funny pop culture references from a Star Wars dream sequence to humorous Marx Brother exploits. The quirky characters are the vehicle for Caldwell's growth and it is just good fun."

Rounding out the cast are Dietz Osborne, Eric Ventress and Laura Thomas Sonn.

Mixed Nuts runs May 6-29, with curtain at 8 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. With bar and dessert service a la carte, tickets are $20 per person (which includes coffee, tea or soda). For more information and reservations, call the box office at (615) 646-9977 or visit the company website at www.3psproductions.com. The Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre is also available for an additional cost; tell the box office if you want to have dinner when you see the show.