Starting as a pop up in 2020, Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time has transformed into Memphis, Tennesee’s own answer to the experiential museum format in the style of St. Louis’ City Museum, Oklahoma City’s Factory Obscura, Kansas City's Atlas 9, and — of course — Meow Wolf’s multiple exhibits.
Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time plunges guests into the “middle of a generational, time-bending’ excursion through the multiverse. The creative team emphasizes the storytelling aspect of the attraction that has taken over the 33,000 square foot space that was previously home to the Mississippi River Museum at Mud Island Park.
As the pictures accompanying the interview attests: the team has taken an already striking building and brought something pretty wild to life inside it.
We were lucky enough to have BVO Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Christopher Reyes and BVO CEO Jee Vahn Knight give us the lowdown on the space, which opens to the public on May 1st.
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NO PROSCENIUM: Tell us a little bit about your experience! What’s it about? What makes it immersive?
Christopher Reyes: It’s an epic story and journey through the multiverse. What makes it immersive is the layering—there are layers upon layers of deep storytelling that unfold as you move through the experience.
Jee Vahn Knight: This is a cinematic universe whose first expression is a purpose-built, location-based experience. Instead of grasping a singular linear narrative, you crash into the middle of a generational, time-bending, multi-threaded existence already in motion. Every environment, every interaction, every imperfection reveals itself as part of a living world. It’s a universe you return to and keep unlocking.
NP: What was the inspiration for your upcoming experience?
CR: The core inspiration was storytelling. A lot of immersive experiences fell short of my expectations, and I wanted to create something that was truly immersive – something where the story is the driving force.
JVK: Every human on this project adds a spark of inspiration that continues to shape and transform the crew as whole. For me, it’s transcendent to be in the presence of another person’s inspiration, the Baron is Chris’s. That kind of joy is an uncontainable energy that has to be shared, creating something together in a moment. Joy proliferates joy.
I am on my own journey with the Baron. Even in my role, I only know a fraction of his adventures. His adventures are my companion as I explore his multiverse, while navigating my own life in this world.
NP: What do you think fans of immersive will find most interesting about this latest experience?
CR: The depth of the storytelling is what sets it apart. It’s combined with cinematic aesthetics, creative play, and gamification – but not for its own sake. Everything is in-world and story-driven. If it’s part of the experience, it has to belong in the world.
JVK: What people will find most interesting is the integrity of the world. Nothing exists just to entertain. It exists because it belongs. The systems, environments, and interactions all come from the same underlying logic. Nothing is bolted on. The world simply exists. You’re not being entertained. You’re being let in.
NP: Once you started designing and testing what did you discover about this experience that was unexpected?
CR: What surprised me wasn’t the experience itself – it was how hard it was early on to communicate what it is. People naturally try to categorize it: Is it a game? An escape room? Like Meow Wolf? And the answer is no – it’s none of those things, and all of those things combined. It’s something uniquely its own, centered on storytelling.
Another unexpected piece was the space itself. We look for locations that speak to us rather than building something from scratch, and this one really did. Once we got inside and started world-building, the synergies were incredible – the story almost wrote itself. The river, the environment – it all naturally integrated into the narrative.
JVK: What stopped me in my tracks was realizing BVO is sitting on an extraordinary asset of good fortune, in a golden window, within a perfect storm of geography, timing, and creative opportunity. From both an economic development and creative perspective, moments like this are so rare you can miss them.
What surprised me is the team didn’t fully see it yet. When you’re inside something like this, you naturally look at it from the inside out. But stepping back, looking at it from the industry and as a Memphis outsider, it’s obvious: this is a convergence point. And once you see it that way… let’s go.
NP: What can fans who are coming to this, or thinking about coming to this, do to get into the mood of the experience?
CR: Come with an open mind. That’s it. The world will bring you in from there. I don’t want to set expectations or tell you what it’s going to be – it’s up to you to define your own journey. If you do that, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
JVK: Come in wrong. Seriously. The moment you think you understand what this is, you’ve already limited it. Lower your expectations, not because it’s small, but because whatever you think this is, it isn’t that. This place rewards curiosity, not certainty. If you’re willing to be surprised, even a little uncomfortable, you’ll get a lot more out of it.
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