BIG NEWS
The new Alabama Theatre website is up and running. One of the many upgrades are the new 360º Virtual Tours! Zoom in to see the beautiful chandeliers, light fixtures, and the delicate hand painted ceilings. The festoon valance over the stage was created by hand and has colors exactly matched to the primary colors of the theatre.
The website also features sounds of the historic Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ, the largest Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ in the South.
Our entire Fall schedule of events is also listed on the web site including our complete Holiday Schedule through the end of 2004.
NEW BALLROOM
We are in the planning stages for our new, as of yet unnamed, ballroom that will be on the fourth floor of the Alabama Theatre building. This ballroom will be constructed in a large, unused space formerly occupied by the Loveman's Department Store lay-away department. This room will hold 200 people for a sit-down dinner or 400 for a stand-up reception. It will have street access as well as access to and from the Alabama Theatre, making it a very flexible space for pre or post-show events or as a stand alone event space for parties or receptions.
NEW SEATS
One of the recent improvements at the Alabama Theatre that has received a sitting ovation is our new seats. The main floor seating, an exact replica of the original 1927 seating, with one exception they are wider apart sideways and front to back, making them the most comfortable seats of any auditorium in the city. For the first time since 1972 the color actually matches the rest of the auditorium. This replication was created by the seat craftsmen at Irwin Seating Company. Other new seats are installed on the Mezzanine and Dress Circle areas of the auditorium. The last 800 seats in the Balcony will be installed when funding is available. To speed this process you can call the theatre office and place an order to sponsor a seat for $250. Each seat sponsored will be affixed with a brass plaque to commemorate the gift.
LYRIC THEATRE UP-DATE
The 1914 Lyric Theatre, just across 3rd Avenue North from the Alabama, is in the process of getting a lot of attention at this time, all brought on by the Urban Land Institute and the recent City Master Plan study. Both showed that the downtown revitalization could move faster with another theatre in operation. Theatres seem to have a way of moving the critical masses downtown that are needed for a quick revival. The recently designated Theatre District, including the Alabama Theatre, The Lyric Theatre, The Carver Theatre and The Summerfest Caberet Theatre, all within a two block area, have the ability to bring a maximum of 4435 Birmingham area citizens downtown on a single evening if all theatres were open and drawing full houses.
With this figure in mind, we could draw many restaurants, shops and such that would support large numbers of patrons and make downtown Birmingham a real destination for theatre patrons and would certainly help the downtown economy for thousands of loft and apartment dwellers.