Alabama Theatre
1817 3rd Avenue N,
Birmingham,
AL
35203
1817 3rd Avenue N,
Birmingham,
AL
35203
20 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 47 of 47 comments
The following web site that I just discovered:
View link
is a real treasure-trove of Birmingham lore. A 3-part section covers the B'ham theater scene for almost the entire 20th century, with information on the transition from “legitimate” theater to vaudeville to silent movies to talkies to the inevitable decline and fall.
Many of the theaters changed names and identities through this period. For example: the Strand on 2nd Ave. N., built about 1914 and one of the first dedicated silent-film theaters in town, was right next to the Capitol which had previously been named the Alcazar. In the late 1940s the Capitol renamed itself the Newmar, then later took over the Strand and took the name with it. That’s why I remember it as the Newmar in the 1950s. Then in the early 1960s it was renamed back to the Strand—perhaps the old signage was still there under the plaster? Also, the Melba was on 2nd Ave. N. right next to the Comer (later City Federal) building; and the Empire was on 3rd Ave. N. It opened in 1927 as a silent film house, but they put in dressing rooms just in case these new-fangled “movies” didn’t catch on…. (See my previous post above.)
The site has excellent historical notes on the Alabama, Lyric, Ritz, Melba, Empire, and Temple theaters, including period photographs and statistics. By all means check it out if you are into old Birmingham theaters.
And thanks very much to Lost Memory for the link immediately above. It lead to some photos of the interior of the old Lyric, which I hadn’t seen in nearly 50 years. They are planning to restore it at a cost of $11 mill, and I’m glad—but they’ve got their work cut out for them.
Best wishes.
I remember seeing the local opening of “The Shining' at the Alabama. Great place to see such an atmospheric movie. I still have my ‘Helped Save the Alabama’ t-shirt from the campaign back in the mid 80s. Garrison Keeler’s Prairie Home Companion was there in March of ‘93. The reason I remember was because they were post-poned 2 weeks by the Birmingham Blizzard of '93, which surprised the Minnesotans.
Here is an article about the organist at the Alabama:
http://tinyurl.com/rlu62
This link has 106 photos of the theater:
View link
I grew up in Birmingham. I am not old enough to have seen first run. I seen alot of classics there. Best place in the south to see Rocky Horror at.
That’s very nice: I remember it being much darker. Must be during or post-restoration.
Now I have to look up ‘scagliola.'
Thanks for the post.
I really appreciate rabbi’s comments on what a fine city Birmingham is. Sure it’s had its problems, but these days at its heart is a strong artistic community and a lot of forward-thinking people who support art and culture in the region. We have a sucessful film festival, Sidewalk, which shows films at the Alabama, The Lyric and the Carver among others.
I mainly wanted to mention that the Alabama Theatre is also a great venue for concerts, with superb acoustics and an intimate setting. I’ve personally seen Bob Dylan, The Black Crowes, Allison Kraus and many other shows there. I’ll pay extra for a show at the Alabama, because it’s always been a memorable experience. And speaking of films, I also saw Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” there. Too cool.
The main downtown Birmingham theaters in the 1950s-60s were the Melba on 3rd Avenue North (North of the L&N railroad tracks that is) and the Empire on 2nd Avenue N (or maybe it was the other way round), both near 21st St; the Newmar, later renamed the Strand, on 2nd Avenue N between 19th and 20th; the Ritz, on 2nd Avenue N between 17th and 18th; and the Alabama and the Lyric on opposite sides of 3rd Avenue N at 18th St. All were still open as late as 1960. The Lyric closed in the mid-60s, then later sacrificed its right-angle lobby on 3rd Avenue N, built a boxoffice in one of the fire escape doors at the rear of the auditorium on 18th St., and reopened briefly as the “Grand Bijou.” It folded for good in the late 1960s or thereabouts. I saw “Earth Versus the Flying Saucers” and “The Land Unknown” there in 1958. In the Arnold Schwarzenegger-Sally Field classic “Stay Hungry,” besides having Ms. Field’s only known nude scene, in the end credit sequence they have a bunch of body-builders posing on the ornate 18th St. fire escapes of the Lyric. I also remember seeing the original “King Kong,” the original “Mighty Joe Young,” “The Mouse that Roared,” and “The Amazing Colossal Man” among many others at the Newmar/Strand in the 50s, but it was gone without a trace by the mid-60s, replaced by a bank I believe. The Melba and the Empire lasted into the early 1980s. Both were still operating—or at least still standing—when I returned to B'ham in 1983, but were demolished shortly afterwards. The Ritz had gone a little earlier. In the mid 80s I got to tour the Alabama projection booth and the projectionist said some of the Melba/Empire equipment had been saved and taken to the Alabama. The Alabama and the Lyric remain, but another web site states that the Lyric has been completely gutted inside and is used to store equipment for the Alabama. It and the Newmar were by far the oldest, both being pretty run-down even in the 1950s, so that’s not surprising. In the unfortunate era of segregation, there were two or three African American theaters on 4th Avenue N near 16th St., including the Carver, the Famous, and (I think) the Frolic. Can’t tell you much about them. I think the Carver is still functioning as a multicultural performance/concert venue, and last I heard (a long time ago) the Famous had become a civil rights center, but they had kept the facade and the box office. There was also the Homewood Theater in the suburb of the same name, listed elsewhere on this site and now a Schwinn bicycle store. Since I lived in Homewood, I went there a lot as a kid—then later even bought a bicycle there. I guess what goes around comes around.
There was an Empire, in 1960 at least. I went to it ( I was 10 at the time). The Melba, Lyric, and Empire were all on the same street if I remember correctly. All were pretty neat places to watch a movie. I saw the “Last Emperor” at the Alabama about 20 years ago, and you could really appreciate a big screen movie in such a big screen venue.
Can any Birmingham oldtimer confirm that there was a movie theater in downtown Bham called the Empire Theater in the 1960s? Or am I mis-remembering?
The downtown theaters in the ‘60s were: The Alabama, The Ritz (equipped for Cinerama movies), the Melba, and I think The Empire. Right?
Sorry for using such words as “ more spectacular ” I was using my pride in Birmingham, especially for them saving such a great place. I too have done much traveling and have seen some great theatre palaces, but I have not seen all that there is to see. Birmingham has for the past several decades sat in the shadow of that city in Georgia, so some think. And I have defended Birmingham as a city of its own. I have on occasion been to the Fox and many rave about its beauty ( which I do not deny ), but the true “ Show Place of the South ” belongs to the Alabama.
I recently attended a free Wurlitzer organ concert at the Alabama in October 2004. After the event I introduced myself to a Alabama Theatre staff member. He happily obliged to give me an in-depth 40 minute tour of the entire facility. We started in the basement below the stage where he showed me the dimmer room which has been stocked with decent NSI Dimming to replace the original system of which a few remnants remained. Next in the basement was a screening room where musicians in the silent movie-era could screen movies before their performance. Down the hall were a few dressing rooms and trap space under the stage for more elaborate productions. He also showed me the screw-jack organ lift and the organ blowers which send wind to the pipes resulting in beautiful symphonic sounds. After the basement tour we ascended several flights to the dressing rooms. Next was the fly grid and main air conditioning room with a massive fan than was suprisingly still working and original to the building. This delightful gentleman also showed me the intricate pipes on the stage left side of the theatre. WOW! The Theatre organ society has done a terrific job maintaining the pipes. At the conclusion of the tour he told me about the little known Lyric Theatre across the street from the Alabama. The gentleman told me the Lyric was much larger than the Alabama but was in terrible shape. Would love to post info on the Lyric but no info yet. Email me at if you have any info
I’m grateful for all the ones left standing too, including the Alabama. I just think it’s odd that it’s described as “classic southern style” (see my comment from 9/14), and that people think there’s none more spectacular. The Alabama is, after all, an average movie theatre for a mid-size city in the 1920’s. So, don’t get me wrong. The Alabama is a great theatre, but no greater than its peers, and not as great as some others.
The Alabama’s sister theatre The Tennessee is pretty darn spectacular especially after the $24 million restoration is completed in January. But I have personally been to many Movie Palaces including the Alabama and I can not rate one as more spectacular than the other. I can remember the big debate over which is the greatest movie palace ever built, the NYC Roxy, or the San Francisco Fox. I think that ALL true movie palaces are special and spectacular in their own way. And I am thankful for all of them that we still have standing.
I don’t like to burst anyone’s bubble, and the Alabama IS a gorgeous and spectacular theatre, but there are, in fact, plenty that are more spectacular. The Loew’s in Syracuse and Columbus, the Paradise in the Bronx, the Fox in Detroit and St. Louis, the Uptown and Oriental in Chicago. Just to name a few.
I know there are some bigger ( seat more ) but there is none more spectacular.
I grew up in Birmingham, 1954-1963, and have many fond memories of Saturday aftenoons at the Alabama. It has to be seen to be believed.
In reference to MikeRadio’s comment. This theatre was designed by Chicago architects, and financed by a company from New York City. The organ came from a factory outside of Buffalo. There are movie palaces all around the country that show classic movies with organ preludes and such, so how is it rated as “Classic Southern Style”?
The architects who designed the Alabama were Graven and Mayger. The Alabama Theatre and the Tennessee Theatre in Knoxville are the only two movie palaces designed by this firm that are still intact.
This is a great theatre to see a movie. The owner/organ player plays the organ before holiday movies and has a sing along.
Classic Southern style!
hello i would like to know if you could tell me when some auditions were being held. i would really appreciate it. thank you
This is the link to THE ALABAMA THEATRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
http://archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_theat.html