The Barn & The Plantation Dinner Theatres 1971-1981
A brief history of the first two St. Louis dinner theaters, from inception to closing
The Barn Dinner Theatre
Construction was completed in the fall of 1971, on what was to be the first dinner theater in St. Louis. Gerald Moss, a native of St. Louis, opened The Barn Dinner Theatre on New’s Year Eve in 1971. “Under the Yum Yum Tree” was the first production.
Many of Moss’ friends and associates advised him against building a dinner theater in St. Louis. They felt he was combining the two most difficult businesses, restaurant and theater. They added that St. Louis was perhaps the toughest marketplace in the country. Moss felt that the comfort and convenience of an elegant evening of gourmet dining and live Broadway productions for one low price would appeal to the people of St. Louis. He was correct and The Barn Dinner Theater did so well he opened his second dinner theater, The Plantation in June of 1974. The Plantation Dinner Theatre was the largest capacity dinner theater in the country, and yet maintained an intimate atmosphere.
The Barn & The Plantation dinner theater operation was a speculative venture on the part of Gerald Moss. His primary business endeavor was in the trucking business. He started a trucking business in the late forties with a single truck. The business grew into a prosperous trucking firm specializing in transporting refrigerated commodities from St. Louis & Chicago to California & Nevada. Gerald Moss then felt that two dinner theaters was enough for the St. Louis market but he had purchased other property in South County St. Louis, Peoria IL, Davenport IA, and Palm Desert CA for future prospects.
The Plantation Dinner Theatre
His son Mike Moss came to The Barn Theater in July of 1972 to manage the proposed future theater locations. As things developed, Mike Moss became the manager of The Barn Dinner Theater in September 1972. He worked all aspects of the operation and later was instrumental in designing the Plantation Theater to be built in 1974.
The Plantation opened with “Fiddler on the Roof” in June of 1974. The theaters offered employment to many local actors and actresses and others from Chicago, L.A. and New York.
The list of movie and television celebrities is numerous; some older and some contemporary:
- Dana Andrews
- Billie Bird
- Tab Hunter
- Bill McCutcheon
- Martha Raye
- Cesar Romero
- Jack Murdock
- Stubby Kaye
- Tommy Smothers
- Al Lewis (The Munsters)
- Ruta Lee
- Broderick Crawford (Academy Award Winner 1951, All the Kings Men)
- Donald O’Connor
- Marvin Kaplan
- Marjorie Lord
- Marion Ross (Happy Days)
- Donnie Most (Happy Days)
- Kathleen Freeman
- Yvonne De Carlo
- Angela Cartwright
and many others.
Concerts
In 1976 the theaters began doing concerts to widen their appeal to a broader audience. The first concert was “The New Christy Minstrels”, followed by numerous others:
- Patti Page
- Rosemary Clooney
- Mickey Gilley
- Brenda Lee
- Kitty Wells
- Kingston Trio
- Blood, Sweat & Tears
- Tom T. Hall
- The Association
- Fats Domino
- Ray Charles
- Tina Turner
- The Temptations
- The Pointer Sisters
- Four Freshmen
- Porter Wagoner
- Crystal Gayle
- Dolly Parton
- Barbara Mandrel
- Donna Fargo
- Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers
- Lynn Anderson
- Jose Feliciano
- Ray Stevens
- Roger Williams
- Brook Benton
- Boots Randolph
- Floyd Cramer
- Pete Fountain
- Chet Atkins
- Count Basie Orchestra
- Stan Kenton Orchestra
- Glenn Miller Orchestra
- Maynard Ferguson
- Buddy Rich
- Dave Bruebeck
- Ace Trucking Co.
- The Second City
- Roger Miller
- Jim Ed Brown
- The Platters
- The Ink Sports
- Conway Twitty
- Jack Greene & Jeannie Seely
- Jeannie C. Riley
- Billy Davis Jr. & Marilyn McCoo
- Stephan Grapelli
- The Amazing Kreskin
and many more.
In 1977 revolving stages were installed in both theaters to enhance the concert experience, 630 guests at the Barn and 1,000 guests the Plantation were sitting comfortably within 65’ of the stage. A BMX bike track was built on the site of The Plantation’s 31 acres in 1978 and the A.B.A. Nationals were held there twice. Over 300 bike racers from around the country attended.
All Good Things Must Come To An End
The Plantation closed in late 1980 and was purchased by Hope Baptist Church. The Barn was converted into a banquet facility for a couple of years doing wedding receptions, high school proms, and corporate events. A couple of local actors rented the facility for about six months to perform theater, after which it was rented to the “Bubba & Coy’s” restaurant chain for about two years. Later it was rented to “New Community Church” who then went on to purchase the property.
Life After Dinner Theater
Mike Moss received an M.B.A from St. Louis University while overseeing The Barn Dinner Theater, after which he began a “business to business” marketing company that he operated for the next 32 years.
During those years he built a wedding venue at the family farm in Hermann MO, “Little Piney Lodge”, now owned & operated by his eldest son and daughter-in-law.
In 2014 he converted his marketing business in O’fallon, MO into the recreational facility “18 North Central”, which features a number of team building activities. Moss felt it would be interesting for the customer to be involved in the activities instead of just being a spectator. Two of his younger sons, as well as two of his grand-daughters, help to operate the new facility.
At 18 North Central the customer can enjoy Tactical Laser Tag in an 8,000 sq. ft. arena built to emulate a middle-eastern village, this experience has been compared to a real-life “Call of Duty”. Other activities include Demo Ball, Axe Throwing and Human Foosball.
An attached banquet facility, “The Loft“, also accommodates large corporate events and wedding receptions. The Moss family is in the beginning process of expanding into an outdoor laser tag operation at the same location, scheduled to open in the spring of 2021.