Alabama Theatre, Movie theater and performance venue in Birmingham, United States
The Alabama Theatre is a 1927 movie palace at the corner of 3rd Avenue North and 18th Street North in Birmingham, built of concrete and steel clad in tan brick and stone with patterned spandrel panels between the upper windows. A tall vertical sign reading "ALABAMA" in white capitals on green projects above the corner entrance, and a horizontal marquee below it carries the words "SHOWPLACE OF THE SOUTH".
Paramount's Publix Theatres built the Alabama in 1927 as its flagship for the southeastern United States, at a cost of about $1.5 million; it seated 2,500, the largest in Birmingham's theater district. A 1934 fire at the adjacent Loveman's store was stopped by a thick firewall, leaving only smoke stains. Birmingham Landmarks bought it in 1987, restored it in 1998, and it was named the state's historic theater in 1993.
The Alabama's name comes from the state, and its 1927 Publix flagship role shaped local habits: from 1933 the local Mickey Mouse Club met here on Saturdays, growing past 18,000 members, and the Miss Birmingham and Miss Alabama pageants ran here from 1935 to 1966. Today Birmingham Landmarks stages about 250 events a year, from classic films to ballet and opera.
The Alabama stands at the corner of 3rd Avenue North and 18th Street North, across from its sister venue, the Lyric Theatre. The main entrance sits beneath the projecting vertical sign and marquee, with the reader board above the doors. The theater hosts roughly 250 events a year, so check the schedule before visiting; the building is owned by the nonprofit Birmingham Landmarks.
The organ is a Crawford Special-Publix One Mighty Wurlitzer, nicknamed Big Bertha. Only 17 of this model were built, and the Alabama's is one of just three still in its original site. Installed with 20 ranks of pipes, it now has 32, plus percussion and sound effects for silent films.
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