Vital to our lives: Birmingham arts groups return to live programming, keep eyes on pandemic
It’s no secret the COVID-19 pandemic — fueled at press time by the Delta variant — has hurt most sectors of the U.S. economy, including the arts organizations that enrich our lives.
For the second year, Iron City Ink presents this fall arts preview with updates on how local arts groups are responding to COVID-19 and what they’ve scheduled this fall.
This is a special arts season, with Theatre UAB, Alabama Ballet, Alabama Symphony Orchestra and Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center at UAB celebrating anniversaries.
Most of these organizations are planning a return to live programming while keeping a wary eye on the pandemic.
Their plans could change, so check their websites and social media for updates.
Performers are certainly ready for a return to normalcy.
“Across the board, I have found that artists are very anxious to get back to performing in front of live audiences again,” said Eric Essix, director of programming at Alys Stephens Center.
Arts organizations have also learned some lessons during the pandemic, said Lili D. Anderson, executive director of UAB Visual and Performing Arts.
“This last year we learned how resilient we can be, how much we need each other, and how vital the arts are to our daily lives,” Anderson told Iron City Ink.
THEATER
Birmingham Children’s Theatre
► 2130 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N.
Birmingham Children’s Theatre at the BJCC has been entertaining young people for nearly 75 years.
At press time, BCT planned to welcome live audiences, with such COVID-19 precautions as masking and limited seating capacity.
In addition to several shows for kids, BCT will present a new, family-friendly take on “A Christmas Carol” with a contemporary setting Dec. 11, 18 and 22.
The adaptation offers “Christmas music, goodwill, and magic,” but isn’t a traditional take on the story, said BCT Executive Artistic Director Ashley Woods.
BCT will also present a virtual holiday show, “E.L.V.E.S. 2.0,” a sequel to last year’s “E.L.V.E.S.: The Experience!”
The pandemic had one benefit for BCT, Woods said.
“The staff has been encouraged to push their creativity into new arenas,” she said, citing such examples as “E.L.V.E.S.” and cardboard puppet theatre.
For details, check the website.
Birmingham Festival Theatre
► 1901 1/2 11th Ave. S.
The highlight of the fall season for Birmingham Festival Theatre will be its presentation of the musical comedy “Puffs” by Matt Cox Oct. 22-Nov. 14.
“It was among the shows we had to cancel due to Covid-19 and to be able to mount it after the year and a half we had, is thrilling to say the least,” said BFT Board President Rhonda Erbrick.
Subtitled “Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic,” Cox’s play — inspired by Harry Potter — follows three heroes trying to make it through a dangerous magic school.
For times and tickets, and information about other events, check the website.
Birmingham-Southern College Theatre
► 900 Arkadelphia Road
► 205-226-4780 or 205-226-4928
Birmingham-Southern College Theatre will present the 2018 Broadway musical “Head Over Heels,” featuring songs by the 1980s rock band The Go-Go’s and based on the “The Arcadia” by Sir Phillip Sydney.
Performances will be Nov. 18-20 at 7:30 p.m and Nov. 21 at 2:30 p.m. on the College Theatre Mainstage.
The play “has a little something for everyone,” said the director, Lusie Cuskey. “Lovers of Shakespeare and obscure 16th century pastoral poetry will enjoy the verse in which many characters speak, Go-Go’s fans will enjoy familiar music and anyone who likes to laugh will have a great time watching farcical hijinks in the woods.”
Red Mountain Theatre
► 1600 Third Ave. S.
Red Mountain Theatre celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2019 and recently moved into a sparkling new $25 million art arts campus in Parkside.
“We’re so excited for the first season of shows to take place at our Arts Campus,” RMT Executive Director Keith Cromwell said.
The 2021-2022 season officially begins Dec. 3-19 with the Red Mountain Theatre Holiday Spectacular, featuring holiday musical classics.
But there are other events this fall. For example, Jason Robert Brown, the Tony Award-winning pianist, will perform Sept. 17-18.
Check the website for more information.
Terrific New Theatre
Founded in 1986, Terrific New Theatre was located at Pepper Place in Lakeview for many years.
However, due to its loss of revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown, TNT moved out of Pepper Place in 2020 and — at press time — was looking for a new home, said TNT Executive Director Tam DeBolt.
“We are very close to announcing our new location, address and plans for reopening, but that will take time, construction months and money,” DeBolt told Iron City Ink in July,
TNT will spend the rest of 2021 raising funds and doing a couple of pop-up shows, DeBolt said.
Theatre UAB
► 1200 10th Ave. S.
Theatre UAB in the Department of Theatre will celebrate its 50th anniversary this fall, according to UAB Media Relations.
The company will present the 2012 version of the 1970s musical “Godspell” Oct. 13-17. The updated version has contemporary references and new arrangements.
The company will stage William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” Nov. 10-13 and 17-19.
For times and tickets, go the website.
Virginia Samford Theatre
► 1116 26th St. S.
At press time, Virginia Samford Theatre was planning a full schedule this fall.
“Our staff has worked continuously during the downtime and has enabled us to come roaring back with our usual Broadway-quality entertainment,” VST Marketing Director Ben Burford told Iron City Ink.
Here are some of VST’s events for the fall:
“Songs for a New World” by Jason Robert Brown, Sept 9-19, is a piece of musical theater featuring contemporary popular music.
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” Oct. 14-24, a quirky, hilarious musical that won Tony and Drama Desk Awards.
The Tennessee Williams classic “The Glass Menagerie” Oct. 28-Nov. 7.
DANCE
Alabama Ballet
► 2726 First Ave. S.
Alabama Ballet will mark its 40th anniversary season in 2021-22, said Artistic Director Tracey Alvey.
At press time, Alabama Ballet planned to announce its complete 2021-22 season sometime in August.
But the company will open the season with an in-studio performance September 10-11 and present its first major production, “Ovation,” a mixed repertory performance, Oct. 22-24.
The company hopes to perform this year with full capacity and no mask requirements, Alvey said in July.
However, “We take everything day by day,” she said.
MUSIC
Birmingham Music Club
► 1807 Third Ave. N.
Birmingham’s oldest cultural arts organization, Birmingham Music Club is 116 years old.
BMC Executive Director Ron Bourdages told Iron City Ink that the organization hopes to present live shows this year if the pandemic allows.
The BMC plans to present its annual concert for elementary school children, called “Maestro Explores TV Music,” at the Alabama Theatre on Oct. 20 at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. If necessary, the show will be moved to March 2022, Bourdages said.
“Our focus is safety first,” Bourdages said.
Opera Birmingham
Opera Birmingham will announce its full schedule Sept. 12, said Eleanor Walter, the organization’s director of marketing and community engagement.
However, the company has set its fall schedule, which it plans to present live.
Opera Birmingham will present a children’s opera, “The Three Little Pigs,” at the Avondale Amphitheatre Oct. 9.
It will screen the broadcast performance of “Unknown,” a song cycle honoring the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery, on Nov. 11 at the Southern Museum of Flight;
The company’s annual holiday concert, “Sounds of the Season,” will take place at Samford University Dec. 19.
Opera Birmingham will also present its Opera Shots pop-up concerts at various locations.
Alabama Symphony Orchestra
► 3621 Sixth Ave. S.
The Alabama Symphony Orchestra is “excited to welcome all music lovers back into the concert hall this year as we celebrate our 100th anniversary season,” said ASO Marketing & Communications Coordinator Taylor Stewart in August. At press time, the ASO had not yet announced its schedule but looked “forward to welcoming back some of our favorite soloists and performing some of the most memorable pieces in music,” she said.
VISUAL ART
Birmingham Museum of Art
► 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd.
The Birmingham Museum of Art downtown has several exhibits running through the fall, with two major new exhibits dealing with Native American culture.
“Lost Realms of the Moundbuilders: Ancient Native Americans of the South and Midwest,” Oct. 9 through Feb. 6, 2022, will feature 175 historic objects Moundville in Alabama and other sites.
“Voices So True: New Native American Art from the Clyde Oyster Bequest,” Oct. 9 through Jan. 20, 2022, will feature photographs, prints, painting and basketry from seven contemporary artists.
Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA)
► 1221 10th Ave. S.
At press time, the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at UAB remained closed due to the pandemic but has several events planned for the fall, according to UAB University Relations. The exhibition “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” from Sept. 17-Dec. 1 explores the impact of the U.S. prison system on visual art. AEIVA will present programing virtually if necessary.
LARGE VENUES
Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center
► 1200 10th Ave. S.
Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center is celebrating its 25th anniversary and, at press time, plans to hold in-person events. The ASC was to announce its full 2021-22 schedule by Aug. 31, but some fall events are set. For example, blues legend Robert Cray will play the ASC Nov. 9.
The Historic Alabama and Lyric Theatres
► 1817 Third Ave. N.
These historic venues — owned by the nonprofit Birmingham Landmarks Inc. — were hit hard by the pandemic but are again booking events, said Executive Director Brant Beene.
The pandemic is still a factor. “The Delta variant may put a serious kink in everybody’s plans for normalizing,” Beene told Iron City Ink.
And the nonprofit is still asking for donations — through its GoFundMe account and the websites — to help support the venues, Beene said.
Dorothy Jemison Day Theater, Alabama School of Fine Arts
► 1800 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd.
The 500-seat Dorothy Jemison Day Theater at the Alabama School of Fine Arts will host ArtWorks@TheDJD, a performance series that will feature five award-winning national theatre and musical acts. The series begins Nov. 13 with “The Vicious Hillbilly” by folk musician and comedic storyteller Dawn Larsen, a poignant comedy of the lessons she learns on a journey of discovery. For details, go to the website.