The Stage is set for Music and Fun

Rick and Andrea in Plain & Fancy

The Round Barn Theatre
Stage is Set for Music and Fun

"Without a doubt, Amish Acres Round Barn Theatre is becoming the best regional theatre in the Midwest. As a matter of fact, I've enjoyed some of
your past performances better than some Broadway shows that I've seen."

-Subscription Patron

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The National Home of Plain and Fancy

An Amish Acres tradition, Plain and Fancy fills the proscenium Joseph Stein Stage each April through October. This gentle but spirited musical comedy brought the first national attention to the quaint customs, stern morals and picturesque dress of the Amish. Over 3,000 shows have been performed, and over 300,000 patrons have marveled at Amish Acres nationally recruited cast, English Strand theatre lighting, full-scale, authentic sets and costumes over the last decade.

Five Broadway Musicals Join Plain and Fancy

The 2005 Series includes You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown,
Fame: The Musical, Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida,
Smoke on the Mountain, and for the holidays,
Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Now you can see two different musicals in one day on Amish Acres Round Barn Theatre stage!

The Round Barn Theatre is
Amish Acres Crowning Glory

Of all of the preservation and restoration projects which Amish Acres has undertaken since its founding in 1968, the relocation of this round barn, which was donated by B.J. and Shelley Schrome, and its conversion into a state of the art theatre which seats 375 patrons in orchestra, mezzanine and balcony seating, is by far the most ambitious, and with its self supporting dome and graceful cupola, perhaps the crowning glory of the historic farm.

The Round Barn Theatre This state of the art theatrical facility surrounds the framework and structure of the 1911 Frank Aker round barn which was dismantled nearby by Amish carpenters and has now been suspended from a thirty-two ton tubular steel frame. The original 60-foot diameter barn measures 60-feet to the cupola's self-supporting cedar shingle roof. The proscenium stage is to be housed in the original hand-hewed timber straw shed which was added to the round barn early in its history.

Frank Aker, the barn's builder, wrote, "The contractor set up jigs in the barnyard. Green timbers were cut and fitted into the jigs. When they were properly seasoned, they were put into place by the use of scaffolds, boom poles, ropes, pulleys and horses, plus hard labor put the barn together." With an attached lobby, Steinway grand piano, Strand theatre lighting from England, the new Theatre at Amish Acres will at the same time be the newest, and perhaps one of the oldest, theatres of performing arts in Indiana.

Amish Acres mission is to interpret the life style of the Amish society in an authentic, tasteful and enjoyable manner. We're sure you'll agree that Scott Saegesser and his company accomplish this mission most admirably through their artistic and musical talent. Over the years many patrons have become pilgrims and return to celebrate the show each season at America's national home for Plain and Fancy, Amish Acres; we hope you'll want to join them.

Plain and Fancy
2005 Season
Story of the Round Barn
History of the Round Barn
Peter Aker's Round Barn
Theatre Articles

Five Broadway Musicals Join Plain and Fancy

The Round Barn Theatre is Amish Acres Crowning Glory

The Round Barn Theatre is
Amish Acres Crowning Glory