BIRMINGHAM THEATER REVIEWS

This weekend the Montevallo Main Street Players present A 1940's RADIO VARIETY SHOW, featuring CASABLANCA. With only two more chances to see this show, August 13 at 7:30 and August 14 at 2, I would say if you want to step back to a simpler time call 665-9207, extension 6 for reservations. Although t...

Central Alabama Theatre has a new home, at Steeple Arts Academy in the Crestline Village area of Mountain Brook. The space actually helped to inspire the first show there- SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN. With its church pews and the pitched ceiling, the building actually becomes part of the pretty, well buil...

South City Theatre's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is silly and campy, but a great escape. It gives you the opportunity to dance, laugh out loud, and forget your humdrum life for a couple of hours. As usual with SCT these days, some shows are sold out already, so go to www.southcitytheatre...

ACTA theatre is presenting SEUSSICAL, THE MUSICAL now through July 31. A mixture of characters from several different stories by Dr. Seuss, with a through line that involves Horton the Elephant, the Cat in the Hat and JoJo, a small boy from Whoville, SEUSSICAL is fast paced and fun. Running July 21,...

After a traumatic few weeks for our nation and around the world, it was a delight to escape into the world of make believe watching Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID, presented by Red Mountain Theatre Company. I was thrilled to be able to forget the horrors of the real world for a couple of hours and see...

When people in the community try their hand at theatre, including people with no experience and do so with fun and love while raising money for a good cause, I think we are all winners. And to quote THE RED VELVET CAKE WARS , 'you can agree with me, or you can be wrong!' Kudos to the Episcopal Chur...

If laughter is the best medicine, then I will not be sick for the rest of the year. Between the hilarious plays I have seen recently and last night's DIE FLEDERMAUS (The Bat), I have certainly had a couple of weeks full of chuckles. Birmingham is certainly the place to be if you need a laugh this we...

THE EXPLORERS CLUB at Theatre Downtown is an Alabama premiere that takes you away from the ordinary and whisks you to 1879 London. Set in the bar and meeting room of an all male club, you quickly forget the world you live in and are transported away....

PALS, an original work written by nine students from Spain Park High School and drama teacher Eric Reid St. John, is based on letters from and some of the events of World War I. When the British joined the war, Lord Kitchener, the Secretary of War decided to make brigades out of groups of young men...

What can an actor do when his series is cancelled and he isn't sure where to go from there? Head to NYC and perform Shakespeare in the park, of course. But what if that actor is scared of playing Hamlet and not sure of his own abilities? And what if he finds himself in John Barrymore's old apartment...

I have been looking forward to tonight ever since I got a small preview of Tam DeBolt as Sophie Tucker during the opening weekend of the Lyric Theatre. And rightly so. SOPHIE TUCKER is one of the most entertaining and real performances I have ever seen....

One of the least talked about and yet most wonderful things about our area is the Alabama School of Fine Arts, situated in downtown Birmingham. It boasts the beautiful Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre. Although I have been to this theatre several times, today was the first time to be in the building duri...

Having just seen a beautiful production of THE SECRET GARDEN at Red Mountain Theatre Company two short weeks ago, I was surprised to turn my calendar and realize I was headed back there so soon for SISTER ACT. Once again, RMTC has outdone themselves with a stellar performance....

Theatre Downtown brings yet another production of STEEL MAGNOLIAS to the Birmingham area. If you haven't seen this classic, don't miss this chance. Since everyone has just done it, it might be awhile before you get the opportunity again....

In sharp contrast to last night's irreverent and rock filled AMERICAN IDIOT, I once again have seen how diverse and amazing theatre is in Birmingham. Tonight I went to see THE SECRET GARDEN at Red Mountain Theatre Company. For all of the cursing, adult themes and rawness of last night, tonight was ...

AMERICAN IDIOT at Birmingham-Southern College is edgy, gritty and all that you want it to be. BSC took a risk doing a current and potentially controversial show and for students of art, a risk like that is almost always worth it....

According to Theatre League president Mark Edelman, FLASHDANCE , which was seen this weekend as part of the Broadway in Birmingham series, is a new production. This tour marks 'the next stage in the development of this work.' In an email to season ticket holders Edelman explains that 'since the prem...

UAB (The University of Alabama at Birmingham) is known for its world class medical school and hospital and lately for having its football program cancelled and then reinstated. But what you might not realize is the superior theatre department that UAB has. After seeing SPRING AWAKENING there last ni...

I have spent many wonderful hours at South City Theatre, both on stage and in the audience. South City has a reputation for picking out enjoyable plays and doing a good job presenting them. I don't usually miss one of their plays, but this time I almost did. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE is not one of my fav...

When life becomes almost too much to handle, where do you turn? I say, to the theatre! And SONS OF THE PROPHET written by Stephen Karam at Birmingham Festival Theatre shows us that humor can get us through the pain. SONS OF THE PROPHET has a warning on its poster- 'This show may cause various emotio...

Following the lives of John and Mary, FIRST KISSES covers over 60 years of friendship. At first the 11 year olds are not sure how they feel about being friends with someone of the opposite sex, but they later look back to realize they loved each other from the start.Going through deaths, lost loves,...

Theatre Downtown billed ALL IN THE TIMING as 'Six plays. Seventeen actors. Lots of Laughs.' and I have to say that they got that right. ALL IN THE TIMING includes six short plays by David Ives and there were lots of new faces and lots of laughs....

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET grabs you from the very first moment with music. With no lead in other than the writing projected on the curtain before the show begins, "Blue Suede Shoes" starts the audience on a fast paced 90 minutes of almost continuous hits. And the music is definitely the star of the sho...

What do the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and NASCAR have in common? Up until last night, I would have said, 'Absolutely nothing!' But last night changed all of that when the Talladega Superspeedway sponsored the world premiere of WHITE LIGHTNING, a 'romantic action adventure' about the roots of sto...