120 Seats in a Boiler Room

Most start-ups struggle to thrive.

But here’s how one small theater company turned obstacles into a rousing success.

A dilapidated boiler room filled with debris and four theater friends looking for a home for their newly created theater company. What could go wrong? Better still, what could go right?

The heartwarming story of Nashville’s “scrappy little theater that could,” 120 Seats in a Boiler Room: The Creation of a Courageous Professional Theater, retells the tumultuous journey of the award-winning Boiler Room Theatre from conception to closure. This hybrid memoir journeys with readers, show by show, through the company’s first five burgeoning years as well as offering valuable “Hot Tips” for new and seasoned theater owners and managers alike to boost their expertise. BRT’s boldest undertakings are retold with a renewed spirit by seven-time award-winning author and co-founder Lewis Kempfer. Readers also enjoy unique perspectives from a wide assortment of guest authors who enrich the company’s history with their own accounts, spotlighting the local treasure the Boiler Room Theatre evolved to be. An inspiring reflection on hardship, determination, and triumph, 120 Seats in a Boiler Room provides a vibrant portrait of how four visionary co-founders transformed a decades-old boiler room at The Factory at Franklin in Tennessee into a beloved, theatrical beacon.

This all-in-one entertainment archive, delightful how-to guide, and intriguing memoir spans the history of the Boiler Room Theatre from birth to final curtain call.